Kia ora
Ngā mihi o te ahiahi
I want to start by acknowledging a move back to an environment where we have COVID-19 infections in the community. The situation will undoubtedly bring with it social and economic impacts that we will all need to grapple with.
Look after yourselves. Please do what you can to ensure you and your family, friends and colleagues are as healthy and safe as possible during these uncertain times. We are here to help in whatever way we can.
There is a lot going on within NZIST, and I wanted to take this opportunity to update you on the progress we are making.
Earlier today I was very pleased to announce the appointment of six Deputy Chief Executives who will join me as NZIST’s senior leadership team. The new team brings a diverse, multi-faceted set of skills, knowledge and experience that I think is exactly what we need. You can read more below.
NZIST recently received our Letter of Expectations from the Education Minister, Hon Chris Hipkins. I’d encourage you to take a look. It provides you with a very clear outline of the Minister’s medium-term expectations of NZIST. With our new leadership team on board, and a significant amount of work underway, I’m confident we are strongly focused on delivering what’s expected. Take care.
Ngā mihi
Stephen Town
Chief Executive
Voices will be heard
We are establishing our national Māori Advisory Committee, our Staff Committee and our Learner Committee. These unique voices need to be heard all the way through NZIST and its subsidiaries. It is early days, but once established, each committee will have a representative on our national Council.
This week, Māori representatives from NZIST’s 16 subsidiaries came together for a hui to discuss a range of issues including the establishment of a national advisory committee that will report to and advise the NZIST Council. This mahi will be done in partnership with Māori at all stages and focus on the overall outcome of achieving equity for Māori. Will Workman is leading this workstream, with the support of Phil Alexander-Crawford, who has been seconded to NZIST from subsidiary Northtec.
Next week, NZIST will be hosting workshops with regional staff, learner representatives and unions to collaborate on how we could establish the national committees. The workshops will ponder such things as how local and regional structures will support national structures, how to ensure appropriate representation, and how we might run a fair, transparent and accessible election process.
Māori Partnership and Equity
Ensuring NZIST’s systems and services work well for Māori, as well as responding with excellence to the needs of Māori learners and their whānau are priorities for NZIST. NZIST needs to support and foster the aspirations of iwi and Māori communities throughout Aotearoa.
To begin this important work, several work groups have been formed. They include:
- Embedding a Treaty Excellence Framework in NZIST
- Tiriti Partnerships and Māori Stakeholder Voice
- Ōritetanga (focuses on interventions that improve equity)
- Educational Delivery
- Mātauranga (focuses on Māori content and artefacts used by NZIST)
We look forward to keeping you updated on this important mahi as it progresses.
Putting learners at the centre
Putting the learner at the centre is something NZIST is committed to doing. We’ve started a couple of initiatives that will help us do just that. The Learner at the Centre (LATC) workstream, being led by Debbie Preston who is seconded to NZIST from subsidiary Wintec, will be collating and creating really important information about barriers and enablers to online, work-based and campus-based learner success.
The workstream needs a deep and wide understanding of every stage of journey for all learners, including underserved and prospective learners. The workstream team is planning its regional engagement approach and will be looking at ways to provide opportunities for staff and learners to share their perspectives and help shape the future of the NZIST.
Work with us
Find out about roles at NZIST and our subsidiaries on our work with us page.