iskills have had some huge achievements this year including excellent results in the NZQA External Evaluation Review and becoming a Totika Health & Safety Pre-Qualification scheme provider.
We continue to grow and have recently opened an office in Auckland. iskills Account Manager Dennis McErlane, Implementation Project Manager Shamma Singh, new Trainer/Assessor Robert Davis and Trainer/Assessor Lian Rautenbach, are based in our Auckland office and will be working closely with clients from Auckland and across New Zealand.
This September we are looking forward to attending the Electricity Engineers’ Association Conference and Trade Exhibition. Our Management team and some of our product team out of Australia will be at the Conference and we look forward to meeting with delegates from our stand at the trade exhibition.
In the coming months you will see some brand changes from iskills, more information on these exciting developments in our next newsletter.
Warm regards,
Sharon Macquarie
General Manager NZ
Congratulations to all our graduates
This year we have already seen over 100 learners graduate from our qualification programmes. These programmes offer a mixture of learning, face to face block courses with assessments and on-job assessments where the learner, manager or supervisor has input through attestations.
iskills Qualifications include:
NZ Certificate in Electricity Supply Level 2
NZ Certificate in Telecommunications Level 3
NZ Certificate in Electricity Supply (Fault Response & Switching) Level 4
NZ Certificate in Electricity Supply Line Mechanic Distribution Level 4
Here’s what some of our graduates have to say…
“What an experience. After completing an electrical apprenticeship i decided to expand my knowledge and become a line mechanic. I signed up with iskills and never looked back. Steve and the other tutors knowledge and experience was second to none. The course was full of fun but learning never took a back step. I would highly recommend iskills and this course to anyone looking at getting into a trade or any other course”. Ryan Tomsett
“I’ve completed the Line Mechanic Level 4 through iskills. I thoroughly enjoyed the course and gained lifelong knowledge and a very decent trade. The course was delivered immaculately by the tutors with a vast knowledge on the topics. A very good and helpful resource for a beginner in the industry. Steve – you’re the man bro”. Charlie Sahota
Competency Team Development Day
The competency management team recently spent some time together to identify and reflect on what was important to them around people engagement and how our companies priority behaviours dovetails into this.
As an output of this day, the two areas we are putting some real focus on as a team are learning and development along with alignment and involvement.
When we considered our priority behaviours, a focus around customer delights really shone through with all of our team talking openly around how they deeply care about the outcomes for our customers. As a team we are proud of the commitment and dedication demonstrated by our people every day in their commitment of ensuring our learners have the right training at the right time for the role they are doing. The contribution to keeping people safe on job is our number one focus.
iskills achieves NZQA’s highest quality assurance
This year iskills has once again rated ‘Highly Confident’ in both educational performance and self-assessment by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) in our External Evaluation Review (EER). This is the twelfth consecutive year we have received the Category One rating.
The newest EER report states “iskills is a valued contributor to compliance management and workforce development, delivering relevant and practical training required by businesses operating within highly regulated environments.”
The NZQA evaluation recognises the iskills New Zealand Certificate in Telecommunications (Level 3) programme for enabling students to achieve the essential minimum qualification required by NZ’s telecommunications networks. The authority notes more candidates are seeking this option to gain recognition for work experience and knowledge. NZQA adds the evidence requirements and assessment processes are clearly defined and align with the authority’s requirements.
“The outcome speaks to our robust quality system and processes, commitment to continuous improvement, solid leadership, and outstanding training and assessment delivery,” said Sharon Macquarie, iskills General Manager NZ. “Our trainers do an amazing job and are supported by fantastic management, admin and coordination teams. We’re very proud of this result.”
For more information on the EER review click here.
Brendha from the competency team was able to attend a TTM Course in Tauranga recently, a great opportunity to see and understand what traffic workers are learning.
“I embraced the opportunity to see and understand what these guys do working on the roads. Recently Woka Kotahi has changed the traffic management rules for the traffic workers so this was a great time to go out there and learn about everything they have to do on daily basis.
In this photo I’m doing my “plastering” which is what they refer to for the positioning of the cones. I also set up signs by myself and did 10 min of “stop and go” which I found very hard!”
Commonwealth Games at iskills
Our team recently showed their support at our Commonwealth Games breakfast and the chance to watch some of the games live.
Congratulations to all the participants in the 2022 Commonwealth Games and our team who won medal places for the best dressed!
Lezahn from the competency team was able to join Downer Power & Gas Paeroa at the yearly Live Line Glove & Barrier Audit earlier this year.
A great opportunity to catch up with the Paeroa team who we work with to ensure all their training needs are met.
Totika Health & Safety Pre-Qualification
New Zealand contractors can now obtain Tōtika Health and Safety Pre-Qualification from iskills.
Tōtika is New Zealand’s independent cross-industry health and safety pre-qualification scheme, creating a common standard for New Zealand suppliers and contractors. The framework builds efficiency in the supply chain with a central registrar, meaning suppliers only need to complete a pre-qualification assessment once, instead of duplicating effort for each new client and opportunity.
The pre-qualification process ensures contracting companies are qualified to work in the construction sector in New Zealand under the Tōtika standard developed by CHASNZ. It helps them to keep company information up to date in one place online, and to ensure their company documents are always correct and current.
The benefit of pre-qualifying through the iskills team is that there is a team of compliance and competency experts on hand to assist contractors with the pre-qualification process along with expert advice on industry competency requirements.
“Assessment and pre-qualification of contractor health and safety is an important part of any robust procurement process,” said Sharon Macquarie, iskills General Manager NZ. “Our accredited Tōtika scheme helps companies to manage their workforce, manage risk, and ensure only qualified and compliant contractors and workers are allowed on sites and projects.”
For more information on the iskills pre-qualification member scheme visit our website.
Electricity Engineers’ Association Trade Exhibition & Conference
The iskills management team are attending the upcoming Electricity Engineers’ Association (EEA) Exhibition and Conference 19 – 21 September.
EEA 2022 is the power industry’s largest collaborative forum in New Zealand, focused on delivering clarity on complex issues, practical support and technology solutions, and market intelligence to industry. We look forward to meeting existing and future clients at the event and encourage you to stop by our exhibition stand. Our key management team will be on site and look forward to meeting you.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Get more information or book a time to meet with the team at EEA 2022 here.
PASA Connect Big Brekkie
Avetta is a proud sponsor of the PASA Connect Big Brekkie coming up on September 15 in Auckland.
We encourage you to join us and procurement leaders, managers and professionals from across the Auckland region to get abreast of the key issues facing procurement, both now and post-pandemic. Senior team members from leading Auckland organisations in both private and public sectors will attend, including leading not-for-profit organisations as well.
PASA CONNECT is a peer-to-peer membership network to support procurement professional’s learning and development in Australia and New Zealand.
For more information and to book for the event visit the PASA CONNECT website
Free Trades Training Changes to Funding
Apprenticeships and most training programmes have been fully funded by the government since July 2020 through the TTAF scheme.
The Targeted Training and Apprenticeship Fund (TTAF) is set to finish on 31 December 2022, meaning any apprenticeships and training started from 1 January 2023 onwards will be subject to fees.
Programmes started under TTAF but continue into 2023 and beyond will also be subject to fees. Fees will only be charged for the time the programme runs beyond the TTAF end date.
iskills continue to offer our full range of qualifications and short courses, visit our website for more information.
We offer training opportunities throughout New Zealand. If you are interested in attending one of our short courses or need a tailored solution for your business give our friendly team a call.