Girls with Hi-Vis® is well underway and has been getting national attention with an article in the New Zealand Herald. On Friday 11 June, the NZ Herald ran a feature on the Girls with Hi-Vis® (GWHV) initiative and the value women can bring to the infrastructure industries. Read the article here, including a profile of Ultimit Ambassador Kat Kaiwai of Tairāwhiti …
The highlight of Katareina Kaiwai’s four-year journey to achieve her Civil Infrastructure Apprenticeship was getting it finished. That is not to say that Kat, who now runs her own roading firm, Tairāwhiti Contractors, did not enjoy her training. In fact, one of the first things she did after completing her Apprenticeship was to ask her Connexis Customer Service Account Manager (CSAM) what qualification she could do next. However, she says it was only once she got to the end of her training that she …
Kia ora koutou, There’s a lot of change happening in our sector, and we’ve embraced that with some changes of our own. At the end of the year I’ll be leaving Connexis to join BCITO (the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation) and Kaarin Gaukrodger, our very able and experienced General Manager, will be taking over the reins. I’m immensely proud of the team at Connexis and …
A new ‘user-friendly’ qualification, eligible for free trades training, has gained a big thumbs up from Rural Contractors New Zealand for workplace evidence such as photos being accepted as one way to recognise the skills of people working in rural contracting. The New Zealand Certification in Rural Contracting level 3 was unveiled by the Industry Training Organisation Connexis at this …
The Government’s recently announced Free Trades Training scheme is a welcome boost for the Infrastructure Industry. It provides a platform for attracting keen new workers to build the required workforce capacity and capability to deliver on the pipeline of infrastructure projects. The Targeted Training and Apprenticeship Fund (TTAF – also called Free Trades Training) of $320 million was announced by …
Civil infrastructure trainees around the country put the recent Level 4 lockdown hours to good use hitting the books and studying toward their apprenticeships. Lateisha Jeeves, Fulton Hogan Whangarei and Quaid Leech, Extreme Earthmoving Ltd in Auckland, switched their study from the workplace to home making the most of the lockdown hours. Lateisha is part of Fulton Hogan’s road maintenance …
TOBY BEAGLEHOLE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, CONNEXIS INFRASTRUCTURE INDUSTRY TRAINING As published in Contractor Magazine January ‘Perspectives 2020’ As a newbie to vocational education and industry training in New Zealand, I was caught on the hop by the Government’s proposals in its Review of Vocational Education (RoVE) in February 2019. The biggest revamp of industry education in more than 25 years, RoVE …
The Government’s announcement to future-proof New Zealand with a $12 billion investment in infrastructure is a positive sign for the country’s future. With $6.8 billion tagged to developing transport, this will provide some much-needed certainty of forward work for the civil infrastructure sector and has been welcomed by the nation’s infrastructure sector training organisation Connexis. Connexis Infrastructure Industry Training Chief …
Kia ora, As the calendar year draws to a close, I’m pleased to report that 2019 has brought a wide range of successes. As the standard-setting body for the infrastructure industries, Connexis shares the Government’s commitment to raising the profile of vocational education. This includes working with schools and communities around New Zealand and providing more flexible workplace-based learning, while actively supporting …
When you start at the bottom it’s important to be recognised as you move up within your chosen industry, says one of three civil construction stalwarts who gained Civil Trades Certification at Quality Roading and Services (QRS) last month. “It’s given us industry recognition and distinction as skilled tradespeople,” says QRS project supervisor Joe Winiana. “There’s a huge difference to …
