As a career highlight, commissioning New Zealand’s largest solar farm is right up there for this year’s stand out trainee in the energy and telecommunication sectors. Greymouth’s Ben Aynsley was the Overall Trainee of the Year winner and one of six category winners announced last night at the 2021 Connexis Industry Excellence Awards, where Infrastructure Minister Hon Grant Robertson was …
An appreciation of the challenge of fitting training in with fulltime work was one of the biggest learnings Toby Beaglehole took from his New Zealand Certificate in Workplace Health and Safety Level 3. The Chief Executive of Te Pūkenga Work Based Learning Limited (WBL) started the on-job training programme back in 2019, when he headed up Connexis. He wanted to …
Kia ora koutou, Industry training, aligned to formal qualifications, has never been more in demand across the infrastructure sector. The increased accessiblity to qualification training through government subsidies in response to Covid – the Targeted Training and Apprenticeship Fund and Apprenticeship Boost – has seen employers taking the opportunity to skill up their local workforce. We have seen unprecedented growth in enrolments this year …
Kia ora koutou, This month, while we have been forging ahead with our transition plans and resourcing up to meet our increased trainee and apprentice numbers, we have also been reflecting on 2020 in the run up to the Annual General Meeting. The past 18 months have been marked by unprecedented change for both Connexis and the industries we serve. First Covid, …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
The Annual Connection Excellence Awards celebrate the best and brightest trainees working in the Electricity Supply and Telecommunications industries. They also recognise those who have made a significant contribution to the industry through their enthusiasm and commitment to industry training. Over the three days of competitions at Annual Connection competitors showcased the very best practices for completing jobs safely and …
