Pool Party with YCD
20th Feb 2023
We had the best time this evening with the crew from YCD - thanks again for coming up!!
2022 Highlight Reel - Merry Christmas Everyone!
23rd Dec 2022
Today is our last day in the office for 2022! With that in mind we wanted to share some of our epic highlights from the past year!
Driving (January - November 2022)
- 31 people passed their Learners Licence
- 36 people passed their Restricted Licence
- 15 people passed their Full Licence
- 7 people passed their HT Learners Licence
- 9 people passed their Class 2 Full Licence
- and 6 people passed their Class 4 Learners Licence
We've hosted 119 Driver Mentoring Sessions with Mike McCann, and 290 Driving Lessons with our Driving Instructor Rob Roche!
We have also organised and supported people to attend local Defensive Driving Courses (which 31 people attended), a Learner Licence Course, Forklift Courses, Wheels Tracks and Rollers Course and a Class 4 Full Licence Course!
We also purchased our very own "immersive virtual reality simulator" - CoDriVR! This driving simulator uses real NZ roads and rules - making it perfect for preparing Learner Drivers for what they're going to face when they get behind the wheel!
Mayor's Taskforce for Jobs
We've had a huge number of participants in courses this year...
19 people completed a First Aid Refresher course, and 41 people completed a Comprehensive First Aid course. 24 people attended Rebel Business School. 39 people completed their LCQ. We had 10 people take part in a PresentMe CV workshop - creating their own online CV's with PresentMe. We also organised Growsafe, Chainsaw Safety, Hoticulture and Barista courses.
19 people were placed into apprenticeships throughout Kaikōura - beginning their careers in various trades, such as; carpentry, construction, plumbing, butchery, electrical, painting, retail, cooking and hospitality.
Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu
We celebrated our 12 ākonga that we work alongside who are studying through correspondence school at our Pō Whakanuia on Thursday, December 1st. Click here to read all about it!
Highlights of my year with Te Hā o Mātauranga
My number one highlight was our Kaiwhai Oranga trip to Wellington in October. I liked hanging out with our group, and playing games at night - Werewolf with the crew was hilarious! We also got to visit the old high court which looked really cool inside - like off the movies. The number two highlight is just hanging out at Te Hā. There's always something going on, and good people around. My last highlight I want to share with you is that coming to Te Hā gives me lots of opportunities I wouldn’t normally get to experience. Things like rafting on the Waiau Toa, doing the escape room, and all the trips we go on. Te Hā has helped me tremendously, I wouldn't be where I am now without them.
Hailey - Te Kura Student
Youth Development Opportunities
We've offered various oportunities throughout the year for young people to try something new, connect with others, and develop their sense of identity in our Ko Wai Au project - funded by the Ministry of Youth Development. This has included Kaiwhai Oranga - a programme for wāhine Māori to learn more about their culture and connect with their whakapapa - hosted by Rosie Poharama-Hepi and Cheyenne Laugesen. A Spray Paint Mural making afternoon in the local Scout Hall with artists Guy and Nick. 'Hit the Wall' - a Sticker Workshop hosted by local artist Matt Moriarty from Canyon Creative. A Cyanotype Course with local photographer and artist Susie Baker. A DJ Workshop / kapahaka / danceparty / haircut session with Youth & Cultural Development. Lateral Youth; an ongoing youth programme for 12-24yr olds that runs every Friday night, facillitated by Elbie Burnett. The most recent opportunity was a Special FX / Stage Makeup Course with Laura - click here to read more about it!
The biggest hit from our Whakaaro Nui entrpreneurial adventures was our annual 'Side Hustle' programme! We gave budding entrpreneurs $100 each and 5 weeks of tutorials/coaching, to allow for rapid experimentation of ideas and to learn from doing! We were amazed by the creativity and excitement these rangatahi brought to the plate when developing their very own start ups!
Youth Council
"Kaikōura Youth Council’s 2022 Youth Ball was a smashing success, with over 80 amazingly-dressed attendees. Beautiful photos, the popular ping pong room, delicious food and fun drinks prepared by lovely supporting staff from Te Hā helped make a wonderful night for local rangatahi to remember."
Theo Rae - KYC Secretary
At their 2022 AGM, Youth Council elected Jade Cullen as Chairperson, Grace Pettit as Deputy Chairperson and Theo Rae as Secretary. The group will be looking for new members to join at the start of 2023! Keep an eye out on their social media for updates, and find out more on their website https://www.kaikourayouthcouncil.org.nz/
Thankyous
We want to say the biggest thankyou to all of our volunteers this year!
Thankyou to our Kaikōura Education Trust Board Members; Hazel Phillips, Cheyenne Laugesen, Susi Haberstock, Craig Mackle, Rachel Vaughan, Ari Boyd, Hannah Simpson, Riria Allen and Judith Ford.
Thankyou to all the volunteers we have that have worked throughout the year in our community garden - especially to Chloe, Kenny and Jervis for your dedication to keeping this community space going.
Thankyou to all our wonderful volunteers in the community shed - Darryl, Dave, Pete and Dennis - and to Blou and our crew who come in every Tuesday morning!
A massive thankyou to Jane, who runs our weekly Wednesday afternoon math group.
And finally a big thankyou to everyone else who comes in, has pitched in at events, donated time to our gardens, shed or at the Scout Hall, donated food to the Ka pai puku stall and dropped off books at out Little Library - your contribution to the community is so appreciated!
We said goodbye to a few staff this year who have all moved on to new adventures!
We wanted to say goodbye and thankyou once again to Mani, Maryanne, Maree, Rosie and Dayna for all your dedication and hardwork! You all made such a difference in your roles and we can't wait to see what everyone gets up to out in the big wide world!
Jess, our Kaitautoko Ākonga, is finishing up her role here today to tackle her next adventure... We are so excited for you in your upcoming role, and want to say thankyou again for all the time and effort you put into working alongside our Te Kura ākonga.
Finally, thankyou to our wonderful staff; Sarah, Sean, Elbie, Vicki, Renee, Rob, Petra, Theo, and Toni.
We will be closed until January 9th, 2023, to give our staff a well earned break.
For any Youth Service needs, you will still be able to reach us on 027 644 6144.
Organic Gardening
17th Dec 2022
We were super excited to have Chloe Rowe, an experienced organic gardener and qualified horticulturist, tutor a series of six sessions in our Community Garden. Funded partly through the Kaikōura District Council Community Initiative Fund and supported by REAP Marlborough, this was a great opportunity for people to up their skills in organic gardening.
Topics included: What’s organic, what’s not?, Soil science, Crop rotation/intercropping/moon planting, Compost and fertiliser, Pest control and beneficial insects, and the last week is saved for topics of high interest that come up during the course.
It was so great to see some new faces in our community garden! Thankyou to everyone for coming along and to Chloe for running this awesome course for our community!
Special FX!
14th Dec 2022
A massive thank you to the amazing Laura who came up and spent two days with these very cool rangatahi creating some awesome characters!
Day one was spent creating awesome fish/mermaid/dragon/lizard/alien???? faces! Learning the basics of layering colours and paints to create intriguing and professional looking special effects makeup. They also spent some time practicing using latex to create all sorts of gory looking effects on their hands!
Day two Laura took the group through the process of making themselves into "zombie grannies" - combining the art of aging up stage makeup and using latex to create zombie special effects! The group also got to put together a look on their own - making use of all the awesome techniques Laura had shown them!
MTFJ - Supporting Local Youth into Employment
13th Dec 2022
Emma Fissenden is excited to be started a career in the farming industry. At 16 she has been brought up on farms all her life. She has 2 dogs already with an interest also in Dog trialling. The Cadetship is 2years through a new programme called Growing Future Farmers. This is an on farm learning environment where she gets immersed in everyday farming. One day a week she is in the classroom with courses from chainsaw skills, wool classing and atv driving.
Emma says one extra bonus is she gets 2 new pups to train, 1 heading dog and 1 huntaway.
She’ll be located in Waiau and thanks the MTJF for assisting her in getting the clothing kit she needs.
Get in touch with Sean on 027 372 2248 for any MTFJ needs!
Our superstar volunteers!
8th Dec 2022
We held our volunteers lunch today at the Scout Hall! What a wonderful team of volunteers - thanks so much everyone for the mahi you do for our community - you are all superstars!
Computer Skills Course
7th Dec 2022
We have partnered with REAP Marlborough to run a women’s computer programme. Aimed at women who are wanting to upskill their computer skills, this course had the added bonus of the support of the New Life Church women's group; these lovely ladies hosted us at the New Life Church, where they put on a fabulous morning tea and offered their babysittinbg services for the morning. The course ran for 6 weeks, and had seven regular attendees. Thankyou to these ladies for coming along - you made it a brilliant time - and a massive thankyou also to Kaikōura New Life Church for supplying the venue and morning tea for this course!
Pō Whakanuia
2nd Dec 2022
Yesterday was our Pō Whakanuia - Ākonga Graduation and Industry Training Graduation combined! The evening was put together with the support of Mayor's Taskforce for Jobs. Congratulations to all the graduates, and thankyou to everyone who attended!
Industry Training Graduation
There were five graduates in attendance who completed certificates in various fields to celebrate!
Natasja Hill completed Certificate 4 in Cookery.
Michael Waite, Holly Horsfall and Cherize Buekes all completed the New Zealand Certificate Cookery Level 4.
Sabina Aitken completed the New Zealand Certificate in Pest Operations with strands in Rural Pest Monitoring, and Urban Pest Contol.
Ākonga Graduation
Tēnā tātou katoa, he mihi nui ki a koutou e te hāpori o Kaikōura, he mihi harikoa o te wā kirihīmete. Kua tae te wā hei whakanuia i ngā ākonga e ako ana i raro i te maru o Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu. Ānei te pitopito kōrero mō tō tātou pō whakanuia.
Whaia te iti Kahurangi, ki te tuohu koe me he maunga teitei, this whakatauki is about perseverance and endurance; refusing to let obstacles get in your way while striving to reach your goals and it perfectly describes our Rangatahi who are studying through Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu.
On Thursday, December 1st, we celebrated and acknowledged our 12 Rangatahi who are studying through Te Kura. They each received a taonga to acknowledge their own unique and individual learning journeys. Each taonga was hand woven with harakeke from Takahanga Marae and represents the woven relationship between the student, Te Kura and Te Hā o Mātauranga. Learning comes with many challenges and these Rangatahi have definitely faced their fair share. We acknowledged all our learners for their determination, perseverance, resilience and the self-discipline that they have shown throughout the year. We also must highlight their hard work and dedication towards reaching their goals; they have been working towards NCEA Literacy and Numeracy Level 1 this year with some great results. Achievements come in many forms and there were many achievements to celebrate amongst the group with students achieving a range of accomplishments such as Literacy, Numeracy, NCEA Level 1 and some achieving NCEA Level 2.
“Mā te huruhuru, ka rere te manu”.
Jess Mill - Kaitautoko Ākonga
