Kia ora koutou,
Karanga te pō, karanga te ao, karanga te kaupapa o te rā ko Ngā Taipitopito o Te Pūkenga e tere atu nei, tihei mauriora!
Since our last update, across the motu (country) we’ve moved to the Orange setting of the COVID-19 Protection Framework. For those campus-based colleagues in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, this time also marks a shift towards a return to more on-site delivery. Since our last update, across the motu (country) we’ve moved to the Orange setting of the COVID-19 Protection Framework. For those campus-based colleagues in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, this time also marks a shift towards a return to more on-site delivery. With the majority of your delivery occurring online since August last year, I’m sure this will be a significant change for kaimahi and learners.
With each shift in our public health settings comes a period of adjustment as we remind ourselves what this phase means, how we can keep ourselves, our learners and our whānau safe and how we can support local and connect with each other.
COVID-19 hasn’t gone away. We must continue to be considered and deliberate in our approach and draw on public health measures to slow the spread of this virus. Keeping up good hygiene practices and mask wearing in close-contact and confined spaces will help us go about our work as safely as possible. Continue looking after your wellbeing and your wellness – as well as those around you.
In our last newsletter we included a link to a TEU State of the Tertiary Sector survey. We thought by sharing the link in this manner that more tertiary sector staff may decide to complete the survey. We didn’t anticipate some of the concerns that have been raised. For this we unreservedly apologise and will take more care to explain why any survey might be included in the fortnightly newsletter in the future.
Finally, I wanted to share a little more information with you about the early move of Toi Ohomai and Wintec into Te Pūkenga. Below you’ll find a link to a recording of the announcement, as well as some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
As I mentioned in the last edition, there are no changes to roles in the Early Mover ITPs workstream, with the exception of Chief Executives and governance arrangements. Dave and Leon are important leaders and will continue to be as we move through this change. Their significance and value will be preserved through this process and we will support our colleagues across the network through this stage of the journey.
Ngā mihi,
Stephen Town
Chief Executive
Our updates
Meet ELT: Deputy Chief Executive, Operations Vaughan Payne
Over the next few months we’ll be sharing some short videos that showcases Te Pūkenga leaders, what drives them and why they’re passionate about the mahi they’re doing. This week, get to know Te Pūkenga Deputy Chief Executive, Operations, Vaughan Payne.
We need your help to develop our People, Culture and Wellbeing Strategy
We’re visiting locations across the motu next month to get your thoughts on what should be included in our People, Culture and Wellbeing Strategy for 2023-2027.
Find out more information here.
Piloting a new digital wellbeing platform
In our recent Aromātai Kaimahi network employee survey, a key area you told us to focus on was wellbeing. Kaimahi wellbeing is central to our mahi, now and in the future, so we’re looking at ways that we can best support you now and as we move to a single network in 2023.
We’ve got the opportunity to trial a digital platform called Synergy Health which is used by several public and private organisations within Aotearoa New Zealand.
Synergy Health has educational resources, challenges, competitions and special offers to support your wellbeing. Whether its fitness, nutrition, sleep, resilience or mindfulness, Synergy Health takes a holistic approach to supporting your wellbeing in ways that work for you. It’s personalised to show the things that matter to you, and includes wide, varied and constantly growing range of wellbeing resources for you to access.
The following subsidiaries have signed up to take part in the pilot:
- BCITO
- MITO
- Unitec
- MIT
- Wintec
- EIT
- Open Polytechnic
- UCOL
- Otago Polytechnic
- Tai Poutini Polytechnic
- Toi Ohomai
Synergy Health will launch for these subsidiaries on Monday 9 May. If you are a kaimahi at one of these subsidiaries, you’ll receive more information about how to log in and get started soon.
This platform is designed with you in mind, so we will be checking in periodically to see how you’re finding it. We’d also love to hear any ideas you have about content we can add in the future, including any awesome things you may have seen in your subsidiary that would work well for our network.
The pilot is expected to run for five months.
WBL Executive Leadership Team introduction
This update introduces the team leading WBL, one of the four key workstreams of the Operating Model.
In future updates we’ll share details about the work WBL is doing, and how it supports Te Pūkenga vision He akoranga whaihua – kia waihanga i te ao o āpōpō | Learning with purpose, creating our futures.
With the recent recruitment of Sonya Bishara as Kaikokiri Ōritetanga (Director, Equity & Partnerships) WBL now has a full Executive Leadership Team in place. Toby Beaglehole, WBL’s Chief Executive, is delighted to have attracted someone of Sonya’s calibre to this role. The whole WBL Executive Leadership Team is committed to the mahi ahead to support Tiriti partnership, equity and improve outcomes for underserved learners.
By building our strength in equity and developing our knowledge of and confidence in Te Tiriti, WBL is setting out to assist and align with Te Pūkenga’s strategy and initiatives.
WBL Executive Team
Toby Beaglehole, Chief Executive
Enabling Functions
- Sonya Bishara, Kaikōkiri/Director, Partnership & Equity
- Sean Kirk, Chief Financial Officer
- Amanda Herron-Quan, Group Manager, People & Culture
- Peter Fletcher-Dobson, Chief Digital Officer
Divisional Directors
- Amanda Wheeler, Competenz
- Kaarin Gaukrodger, Connexis
- Jason Hungerford, BCITO
- Verna Niao, MITO
Change Leaders
- Di Lithgow, Transition Director, Networks
- Cathy Hardinge, Transition Director, Internal
Next steps
You will continue to hear about WBL mahi and support for Te Pūkenga Operating Model through future editions of Ngā Taipitopito. In the next edition, we will share information about Transitional Industry Training Organisation transitions, both those that have happened and those that are being worked on at the moment.