Whats new at the Tairawhiti Polytechnic?

School leavers and adults who want to study for a great career in 2007 should check out the huge range of popular and new programmes offered locally at Tair�whiti Polytechnic.

Along with courses that have been offered successfully for a number of years, there are four unique new programmes commencing this year; A Bachelor of Maori Visual Arts - Te Toi O Nga Rangi(waiting on final approval), a National Certificate in Museum Practice, a National Certificate in Adult Literacy Education and a Certificate in Waka Ama.

All these programmes have been developed in partnership with local and national industry advisory boards so students can be sure they are learning skills that the industry needs and will be ready to hit the ground running when they graduate.

The new programmes�

Bachelor of Maori Visual Arts - Te Toi O Nga Rangi
This will be Tairawhiti Polytechnics first degree programme offered out of Toihoukura Tairawhiti Polytechnic�s School of Visual Arts and Design. After a long and stringent accreditation process that bought some of New Zealands top academics to Gisborne, Tairawhiti Polytechnic is into the final stages of approval to run this degree in 2007. Taught by some of New Zealand's premier Maori artists, this three-year programme is designed to impart practical skills and inspire creativity. It is a broad based programme introducing a range of disciplines with a view to specialisation. Toihoukura's continuing exhibition and marae based wananga programme guarantees valuable exposure and a constant goal to work toward.

National Certificate in Adult Literacy Education
In response to the identified need to address the low levels of literacy in this district, Tairawhiti Polytechnic has developed a new qualification aimed at developing the skills needed to support literacy development within teaching.

Certificate in Waka Ama
As the home of national and international waka ama champions and after delivering waka ama short courses for the last few years, the huge demand for this type of training has been translated into a formal qualification. The certificate was developed after extensive consultation with Waka Ama clubs, Runanga, schools, iwi, hapu, whanau and marae groups. The qualification has an emphasis on developing practical waka ama skills alongside a knowledge of water health and safety and traditional Maori navigation skills.  Offered full and or part time. 

National Certificate in Museum Practice
This is New Zealand�s first museum practice programme which will lead to the Diploma in Heritage and Museum Studies. It was developed by former Tairawhiti Museum director Mike Spedding to address the need identified by museums nationally for formal qualifications at the applied practitioner level. Tairawhiti Polytechnic has close associations with the Tairawhiti Museum, and nationally with Te Papa. Both have supported the polytechnic formalising its strengths in this subject area. Development included extensive consultation with a number of local and national experts. (ATTTO, Aviation, Tourism and Travel Training Organisation and National Services Te Paerangi (Te Papa)

More Part time options

With higher levels of employment in this district and a desperate need for skilled workers Tairawhiti Polytechnic is responding by also offering more and more of its formal qualifications on a part time basis. This means students can continue working while studying one or two courses to ultimately gain a valued qualification and expand their workplaces� expertise. All business, computing and IT qualifications can be studied course by course including the Certificate in Internet and Computing, which is fully flexible and can be studied from home.
Other options include Reo Maori, social work qualifications, horticulture, sport, and literacy.

So what are you waiting for? Get down to Tairawhiti Polytechnic and explore the exciting options for your future.

http://www.tairawhiti.ac.nz