From the Te Pūkenga Chief Executive

 Kia ora koutou

I hope you’ve all been keeping well in your bubbles. The past few weeks in lockdown and waiting to see the extent of the outbreak and what this will mean for each of us can be a challenge. I want to share my thanks to those across our network who made sure our learners were able to quickly move to online delivery – ka pai, you made a real difference for our ākonga.

Recently we were pleased to welcome Connexis to our Te Pūkenga whānau with a virtual whakatau. Connexis is the second Transitional Industry Training Organisation (TITO) to transfer and bring a fast-growing base of infrastructure learners and employers who keep New Zealand connected.

We look forward to working with them to develop a skilled workforce that continues to build New Zealand.

In line with this, the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) has approved the transition of the Building and Construction ITO (BCITO) to Te Pūkenga on 4 October. We look forward to welcoming them to our whānau next month.

You may have also seen the appointment of Toby Beaglehole as Chief Executive of Te Pūkenga Work Based Learning. Toby will start in the role on 4 October, with Acting Chief Executive Fiona Kingsford continuing to support the transition until the end of November. Jason Hungerford and Kaarin Gaukrodger have been appointed Directors of the BCITO and Connexis Business Divisions of WBL respectively. We’re pleased to have such a strong team supporting these key areas of on-job learning.

On 4 October the six new Workforce Development Councils (WDCs) will also become operational. They will work with their industries to develop and maintain a strategic view of the skills required, now and in the future. Their role is to set standards, develop qualifications as well as take on responsibility for external moderation and endorsing consent to assess for unit standards within their coverage areas.

We look forward to what the next month brings, and all the important mahi that will take place.

Ngā mihi nui

Stephen Town 

Te Pūkenga Chief Executive

More News 

Te Pūkenga News

We’re enjoying the new Te Pūkenga fortnightly information update – One Voice / Te Reo Kotahi. 

Te Pūkenga is planning to share its work on the operating model development in October this year. A collaborative process has been underway to develop the operating model, outlining what Te Pūkenga will be, what Te Pūkenga will do, and how Te Pūkenga will be different. The operating model is a view of how all the elements of Te Pūkenga will be structured, operated, and managed together to help the organisation deliver on its vision. Work is underway now to plan the roll-out of the new operating model, which will include briefings for Chairs and CEs of subsidiaries, online presentations and workstream engagement with key audiences. The Operating Model will give the big picture outline of how exactly what Te Pūkenga does and how – it does not include detail such as organisational design or structure, roles and responsibilities, business planning or job descriptions.

Read Te Pūkenga’s September newsletter at Kōtui Kōrero newsletter - September 2021 | Te Pūkenga here.

It has updates and information on:

• Connexis the second TITO to transition to Te Pūkenga
• New research highlights what Pacific learners need to succeed
• Research on the needs of disabled learners
• Links to news and updates from subsidiaries around the country
• Heather Geddes, Acting Director Transition and Transformation, will be leaving Te Pūkenga on Thursday 30 September. Her decision to take some time out to refresh herself comes as we reach important milestones in the establishment of Te Pūkenga, namely the completion of the Conceptual Design of the Operating Model and the draft Digital Strategy.
• The Director PMO Te Pūkenga has been named as Stephen Henry, who moves from his current role with TEC
• New Director of the RoVE Programme: following David Strong’s resignation, Tim Fowler, CEO of TEC announced that Paul Delahunty would take over on 26 October. Paul is a senior leader with over 15 years’ experience creating and leading high performing teams in the public and private sector.

More RoVE document releases below