Many changes are afoot in the Future Pathways Department. Sadly for the entire Aquinas community our long-serving Head of Future Pathways, Mikaere Smith, will be departing before the end of term.

There will be plenty more to say to acknowledge the immense support Mikaere has provided to our students over his 20 years at AC (his farewell article is just a start.) Thankfully, Tasha Kahle is staying with us as Future Pathways Administrator, and she’ll be joined by Andy Howells, who is taking up Mikaere's role.

Level 3 Sport Coaching Programme

Alongside our Service Sector Skills (Barista) programme that has been running successfully for several years, we are pleased to announce a new Gateway programme for 2025.

In conjunction with the AC Sport department and external providers The Learning Place, we are launching a new Level 3 Sport Coaching programme. As always, the college is in need of committed and effective sports coaches to service the many winter sports teams our students participate in.

This programme is designed to equip student coaches with skills in:

• Coaching and communication

• Prevention and management of injuries

• Planning effective coaching sessions 

Added to standards in planning a community activity, career pathway planning, First Aid, and in contributing in group settings, we are able to offer a comprehensive microcredential package of 20+ credits upon successful completion. This not only contributes to students’ current NCEA requirements, but also provides them a recognised, transferable qualification that would support further study or employment in the sport sector.

The key details are:

• Free course (provided students fully complete all aspects, including a full season commitment to coaching an AC sports team)

• Commitment of four full days out of regular classes (two for Sport Coaching, two for First Aid)

• Sport Coaching course dates: Tuesday, April 29th and Wednesday, April 30 (Week 1 of Term 2)

• Preference given to Year 13s with a clear commitment to coaching an AC sports team

• Additional note: We will not be running the Service Sector Skills programme originally scheduled for Term 3 this year. This Sport Coaching course will replace it.

Any Year 13 or Year 12 student keen to coach needs to get in touch in the coming weeks to register their interest.

2026 Plans

Speaking of Year 12s and 13s, we encourage you to ensure you’ve spoken to us ASAP about your plans for next year so that we are best placed to support your decision-making. You’ll find the year moves rapidly and if the first we’ve seen of you is in late Term 2 and Term 3 when applications for tertiary study courses are open, it’s likely you will have missed out on valuable advice and opportunities to nail that next step with a higher degree of confidence. Note that one of us is generally available in the Future Pathways office during break-times. Or you can get in touch to make an appointment for a more in-depth korero via email: nkahle@aquinas.school.nz or ahowells@aquinas.school.nz

Sign Up for AC CareerWise

Lastly from us, the best way to keep up to date with the latest in the careers and employment space is through our AC CareerWise newsletter. This comes out approximately once a fortnight and includes notifications of upcoming events, announcements about new courses or development programmes, news about what the various tertiary institutions are doing and advice on job-seeking, scholarships and a whole lot more. All Year 12 and 13 students at AC should be subscribed to receive this, along with at least one parent/caregiver. It is in your interest to remain subscribed and to ensure you read over these as they are released. For anyone not subscribed who would like to be, please contact me with the email address you want to use: ahowells@aquinas.school.nz