Eleven apprentices completed the five month pilot, and the results were so transformational that the programme will now be rolled out again, with the next cohort kicking off on September 8.

“The benefits of the course were significant and far reaching,” says Education Unlimited Director Tina Rose.  “Individual apprentices have moved from no progress on the BCITO portal to over 50% in just five months. Others set personal goals and achieved them including sitting and passing their restricted drivers licence, and one talked of being a better dad and having more patience with his whānau.”

The programme’s success heralds great news, not only for the apprentices themselves but also for Northland’s construction sector, which records lagging apprenticeship completion rates. According to BCITO, Te Tai Tokerau has the lowest academic rates for apprentices coming into training - 29.62% enter their apprenticeship with a qualification at or below Level 1, compared to 21.6% nationwide.  Add to that the fact that 37% of Te Tai Tokerau apprentices identify as Māori (and lower than average apprenticeship completion rates among Māori and Pasifika are well documented), and it’s clear that the region’s apprentices need more hands-on support.

“Significant numbers don’t finish their qualification or languish over duration, essentially working as semi-skilled labourers. By supporting these apprentices to not only be great on the job, but also do the formal mahi, we’re empowering them for success and building workforce resilience,” explains Tina.

The Critical Skills Apprenticeship Programme teaches learners how to navigate the BCITO app – including uploading evidence – and teaches invaluable life skills such as goal setting, mental health awareness, money management, time management and behaviour. Learners also gain their Site Safe FPBC (Foundation Passport Building Construction) ticket and have access to one-on-one literacy support sessions if needed. These sessions were a lifeline for the 27% of apprentices on the pilot programme living with learning difficulties such as dyslexia. Whangarei’s Hamiora Keefe was among them, and he reckons his weekly sessions with Education Unlimited Learning Disorder Specialist Jeanie Raffills were game-changing.

“When I first started my apprenticeship and opened up the BCITO box, I was like ‘damn, that’s a lot of books’, and I found every excuse not to open them,” admits Hamiora.  “But since doing the course and working with Jeanie I’ve been making much better progress. We are up to book ten now.”

With powerful success stories like these, it’s not surprising that BCITO|Te Pūkenga Area Manager Te Tai Tokerau, Julian Blank, is excited to be offering the programme up again to another cohort of Northland tradies.

“The ākonga (learners) starting with BCITO bring diverse and unique needs that can require additional support to help them navigate and progress through their qualification,” says Julian. “The programme Education Unlimited delivered was responsive and empowering for the learners involved. Being learner centred and showing equity in action has led to learners gaining additional skills and knowledge that will benefit them progressing in their qualification, and also in other areas of their life. This has enabled learners involved to have improved confidence, resilience, motivation and a clear direction.”

For Tina and her team there’s nothing more rewarding than supporting people to fulfil their potential, and results like these are precisely what gets them out of bed in the morning.

Says Tina, “We set out to deliver an innovative programme that met the needs of individuals, employers and ‘the system’ to empower a specific group of apprentices languishing to set them on a path of genuine success. Bringing apprentices together to learn, grow, eat, have fun and be challenged is hard work but the effort paid dividends. 

“The biggest win was creating a scalable programme model - when all stakeholders paddle the waka in the same direction, great things happen. Training advisors spent quality time with apprentices off the worksite and apprentices finished the course with a whole bunch of new friends who are walking the same path as them.

“This was much more than a programme. It was a journey of discovery.”