Are you ready for the Gateway program?

Gateway is a government funded initiative to help students transition easily from school to work. However, in reality, it gives our senior students so much more!

Students that are over 16 years old have a choice of two industry pathways from the six main industry sectors (Construction, Manufacture, Community Services, Customer Services, Primary Industries and Creative). They must work toward meeting 20 credits and attending at least a term of work placement from within their chosen industry.

For example, this means that if they choose a trade, they can potentially have 6 months of apprenticeship training completed while they are still attending school. This then opens a lot of doors once the school year is completed. Opihi College has an excellent student to apprenticeship/full time work success rate.

Many of our students get certificates in skills that they will need for their chosen job sector. We pay for certifications that look great on a CV, letting employers know that our kids are serious about working! We also cover the cost of any PPE that the students may need, any additional training or education that they may need to make their dream career a reality. Special career expos, tasters and events are offered right throughout the year, with a great attendence rate for all of these!

Students work with their family and friend network to search for a potential workplace that can support them during their term of work placement. We have students placed with some incredible mentors from our local South Cantebury community.

This year we had students placed with Temuka New World, Millars Engineering, McDonalds, Fonterra, Drummond & Etheridge, Timaru Sewing Center, Centra Motor Group, Ritchies Transport, Ranger Coatings and All About Signs to name just a few. Supporting a student is a fantastic legacy that you can provide, and we are always keen to hear from new mentors that would like to join the program.

Our Gateway students are some of the hardest working kids in the school. On top of their Gateway work, they are expected to keep up with their other classes, they must maintain attendance and attitude appropriate to being representatives of the college.

In a way, our Gateway students become leaders within the school, and are looked up to by the younger seniors that are perhaps also dreaming of leaving school with an apprenticeship or employment.

If you believe your child would be a good fit for this program, they will need to complete their Gateway 2025 application by September 6th.