It has been a busy start to the year for the Careers and Transition Faculty, with multiple new staff and increased class numbers on previous years. Nigel Timpson (Careers Assistant), Tracy Quigley and Gareth Pugh (teaching Employment Skills and Careers Development) have all joined the faculty and all bring a wealth of knowledge and experience from their previous roles.

2022 has also seen an increase in our number of students involved in local Trades Academy courses. Presently we have 35 students completing programs in Automotive Engineering, Wine Cellar Operations and Manaaki Tāpoi. This involves the Automotive and Wine Cellar students being out each Thursday at the NMIT campus in Blenheim, while the Manaki Tāpoi program is completed in 4 one week blocks, the first of which has been this week. Some of the Wine Cellar students will also be completing a Vintage as part of their program, which will be a great experience for them.

Our Gateway Program also continues to grow with a strong uptake so far this year, keeping our Gateway Coordinator Peter Baker, a very busy man. Presently we have about 30 students who have applied to be on the program, with many of them already placed in jobs. Overall, we have scope for 60 students to be on the program, so I would encourage any interested students who are taking a Careers Development course to come and grab an application form.