“The nerves turned into excitement and focus as soon as the hooter went.” Simon Bayliss, foreman for Top Energy’s winning line mechanic crew at Annual Connection 2024, says with all of the team members new to Annual Connection there were plenty of nerves ahead of the competition start in Te Awamutu. “Our team had a two-week training block prior to …
Two decades of Annual Connection
“People don’t think about this industry much except when the weather’s bad and the power goes off, so Annual Connection is a way to showcase the skills in the industry and recognise some of the best performers.” Rick Johnson has seen some of today’s electricity supply industry top performers and leaders rise through the ranks from being fresh-faced trainees, having …
TTM Recognition of Prior Learning now available
Holders of Temporary Traffic Management (TTM) warrants can now apply through Connexis to have their previous learning recognised for Level 3 unit standards. As of 1 November 2024, New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi no longer registers some TTM warrants, as part of a shift to the new risk-based approach to TTM outlined in the NZ Guide to Temporary Traffic …
Connexis delivers first risk-based TTM micro-credential
On Wednesday 30 October Connexis launched the Temporary Traffic Management Risk Assessment (Level 4) micro-credential, the first Tertiary Education Organisation (TEO) to offer the micro-credential in New Zealand. Temporary Traffic Management (TTM) is a core skill requirement affecting almost any infrastructure project, whether it is building new roads, or maintaining the country’s energy, water and telecommunications networks. The micro-credential, which …
Celebrating the faces of New Zealand’s energy future
PRESS RELEASE Te Awamutu, October 25, 2024: The future of New Zealand’s electricity supply industry (ESI) looks bright, with the country’s top trainees recognised at an awards ceremony in Waikato. The Connexis Excellence Awards, recognising the best and brightest trainees in New Zealand’s ESI were named at a ceremony to close the industry’s iconic Annual Connection event with Southland’s Angelo …
Final-year Fees Free update
The Government has announced that Fees Free for the first year of study or training will finish at the end of 2024. A final-year Fees Free policy will replace it, starting from 1 January 2025. If you are a first-time tertiary learner in 2025, you may be able to get Fees Free for your final year of study or training. …
Electrifying New Zealand
Sparks are set to fly in the Waikato later this month as New Zealand’s best line mechanics and cable jointers go head-to-head in a competition designed to showcase the electricity supply industry skills that keep the country connected. Annual Connection 2024 will see cable jointers and line mechanic teams from energy companies around the country competing over three days and judged …
Earning and Learning Sparks Britney’s Career Change
When Britney Scammell was at school she always wanted to be a nurse. “I had no back-up plan.” Part-way through a nursing degree, however, Britney realised nursing wasn’t for her, and she began to look around for new career ideas. At first, thinking it made sense to stay in the health sector, she worked for several years in dentistry. All …
GWHV connects trainee to bright future
A visit to a Girls With Hi-Vis event in 2023 opened up a whole new world for then 16-year-old Sofie McCormick. Sofie attended a Canterbury GWHV event hosted by infrastructure services company Ventia while still a student at local Ellesmere College. With her interest piqued in an infrastructure trade career, Sofie then landed an introduction to a possible apprenticeship with …
Powering dreams as a Senior Faults Coordinator
“It wasn’t as overwhelming as I thought it would be. I remember my first day at Aurora six years ago, seeing the system that they used and thinking I could never do that job. “Here I am now, doing exactly that job,” she says. The biggest challenge for Courtney so far has been that she started the role without an …
