Good news leading into 2015-2016 funding round...

So often I hear people in my community expressing dismay at decisions made by the New Zealand Government.  Whether their grievances hold water or not, what is agreed is that big decisions are made at 'the top' which affect the people at the grassroots of NZ society.

And so it is with great pleasure that I announce some good news!  Some positive and proactive news for the people of our Northland region.  The Ministry of Education have recently announced that 100 more families will be funded to participate in our Computers in Homes programme through 2015-2016.  See?  There are good decisions made at 'the top' too you know?

I can't wait to meet the new families from a number of new CIH schools and watch their learning journey.  The job satisfaction I receive by attending graduations of CIH families is second to none in my working day!

Watch out 2015-2016, here we come!

CIH Northland like a machine in two thousand and fifteen!

We are off with a hiss and a roar this year with plenty of classes and different programmes in the pipeline.  I'm really looking forward to coordinating Computers in Homes, Stepping UP, KiwiSkills and BYOD training within schools and learning centres.

There are six Northland schools in various stages of planning and implementation.  Whangarei Primary School has their suite installed and are collating their families.  Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Rawhiti Roa already has their participants and has a whanau information night booked for 18 March.  Ruakaka, Tinopai and Matakohe Schools are still planning but keen to get going, and Te Roroa Learning Assistance has a bunch of people on waiting lists who are just looking for the go ahead.  Phew! And that's only the CIH programme!

2020 Communications Trust is becoming involved in the Te Puawai Education Trust's BYOD programme.  Six schools in Whangarei will have at least one (some have more) fully digital classrooms this year and whilst the kids are already savvy with their Chromebooks, their Mums and Dads may not be.  So 2020 Trust has agreed to train the parents and give them the helping hand they'll need to fully engage in their tamariki's education and homework.  There's obviously more to this and I'll keep you updated in weeks to come.

We hope to continue our relationship with the newly formed Otangarei ICT hub by offering the Kiwiskills 21C programme.  This programme is for unemployed people who want to gain essential digital skills to help them find work. They attend weekly classes over 10 weeks studying and taking tests to gain an ICDL qualification covering modules Computer Essentials, Online Essentials, Word Processing and Spreadsheets. 

Over the past two years, our Stepping UP programme that was developed for CIH graduates to continue their learning, has been running at the Whangarei Central Library.  The response to this free training has always been outstanding.  Whether we will run it again this year is yet to be determined, but I do hope so as feedback from participants is awesome and always positive!

Thanks for reading my blog, feel free to comment and ask any questions, and you'll be hearing from me in the very near future!