NORTHCOTE COLLEGE ADULT & COMMUNITY EDUCATION

CHARTER 2004

MISSION

Our mission is to offer a Community Education Programme that enhances the economic, social and cultural development of the community by providing affordable and accessible Life-Long Learning opportunities for adults.

SPECIAL CHARACTER OF ACE AT NORTHCOTE COLLEGE

OUR COMMUNITY:

We serve one of the most established communities in Auckland, let alone New Zealand, but nevertheless a community which has seen recent change.

Northcote College commenced in 1877 on its present site as a primary school and evolved into a college. Since 1949 we have offered a Community Education programme. Together we have served our community for nearly 130 years. The community is diverse in that it has pockets of low socio-economic housing and state housing alongside some high value housing. This means that there is a refugee community, new immigrant community, middle class and working families and also a significant retired population. The 2001 census showed our community’s ethnicities to be 9.9% Maori, 6.9% Pacific Island, and 12.7% Asian with the balance mainly European. We are situated just over the harbour bridge from Auckland City.

OUR PROGRAMME:

Our ACE programme, Education for Life, attracts adults from across the North Shore as well as the inner city suburbs.

We offer a wide range of courses encouraging life-long learning for all. These range from arts & crafts through computing and languages to workshop technology and boating safety (particularly relevant in our maritime environment).

Our area has a large population of new immigrants and so we offer ESOL courses at a variety of levels to help them improve their English language skills. We also encourage our ESOL students to try other types of courses so they can mix and meet with other New Zealanders and further improve their communication skills.

Northcote College has excellent facilities, computer suites, art rooms, kitchens, gymnasia, workshops etc, and our community education programme makes good use of these.

ACE courses are held in the evenings and on Saturdays so that working people, as well as parents who lack childcare during weekdays, can access lifelong learning.

Non-intimidating, small classes operate in a friendly environment, with tea and coffee provided at weekend courses to encourage social interaction between students and tutors. The majority of our courses are available only through community education, and our tutors are mainly enthusiastic locals, who enjoy sharing their considerable knowledge with others in our community.

Courses are short and affordable, and offer an opportunity to try something new without committing to high tuition fees - good value for money!

Northcote College is easily accessible, being on the bus route from Auckland city and several North Shore suburbs, and with good parking available.

CONTRIBUTION TO NEW ZEALAND’S IDENTITY
AND ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT

ACE at Northcote College offers basic skills such as literacy, numeracy and ESOL, as well as courses for people who wish to upskill or re-skill so they can return to the workforce. Few courses have a pre-requisite – thus they cater for all adults – promoting a positive use of spare time with a holistic approach encouraging the development of the whole person.

In particular the various course areas provided contribute in the following ways.

• Arts, Crafts & Photography - encourage people to develop their skills and to foster their creativity. May also lead to employment opportunities.

• Business & Career - help people to set up and run their own small business, and to improve their management skills. ie assists students’ employment opportunities.

• Computing – skills offered in a wide range of commonly used software applications, as well as the Internet – facilitates research, enhances work opportunities.

• Cooking – encourages students into a healthier way of eating, away from the takeaway trap. Our tutors have found many students lack basic cooking skills (eg poaching an egg) so these basics are covered along with more advanced culinary skills.

• ESOL - assists new immigrants to cope with their new surroundings and prepare for the workplace. Also useful for travellers who wish to learn more about New Zealand’s language, customs and culture.

• Environment, Home and Garden - helps people to value our natural environment and the importance of protecting it. Encourages exercise and promotes a social conscience.

• Maritime Education - of particular importance in our community where so many people own a boat. Students are encouraged to complete the NZ Coastguard examinations at the end of relevant courses. NZ Boatmaster ® is a qualification recognised by employers.

• Maori Language and Tikanga – encourage Tangata Whenua to rediscover, and Tau iwi to achieve, a better understanding of taha Maori. Promotes the development of a bicultural society. Enhances career opportunities.

• Music, Culture and the Arts – for those who want to (re)discover the classics and meet with others with similar interests. Encourages lifelong learning.

• Other Languages – important for those doing business with companies overseas, and for those wishing to travel for business or leisure. Furthers understanding between cultures. In particular we offer Spanish, French, Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean - all languages spoken by our emerging trading partners on the Pacific rim.

• Personal Development – these courses improve lifeskills, assertiveness, self esteem and self confidence.

• Health, Recreation, Exercise and dance classes - our community along with the rest of the developed world, is beset with problems of obesity. These courses promote the importance of physical activity, and encourage people to build exercise into their routine. Healthy bodies – healthy minds – healthy community.

• Workshop Technology – training for work opportunities, increasing creativity, encourages constructive use of leisure time. Learning practical skills such as welding, cabinet making and furniture restoration are all intrinsically useful and can also open doors to new fields of employment.

• Through passing on funding to local community groups we are able to reach a different sector of our community who may not be comfortable with the idea of returning to a “school.” Training of Community Volunteers, Parent Education and Lifeskills such as Anger Management are all supported by our programme.

CONTRIBUTION TO THE TERTIARY EDUCATION SYSTEM AS A WHOLE

TES Strategy 3
– Raise foundation skills so all people can participate in our knowledge Society.

In particular our Literacy, Te Reo, Numeracy, ESOL and ICT courses contribute to Strategy 3. Strategy 3 also mentions teamwork, technology, learning to learn, communication skills and self-confidence as core skills. We have a range of courses available, from Drama to Public Speaking, Mind Games and Lateral Thinking to Self Coaching which improve these skills.

Objective 14
- significantly improved adult foundation skills … in a range of learning contexts.

The Education for Life programme offers an opportunity to those whose skills have become out-dated. Courses are a stepping stone for those who want to get (back) in to the workforce or advance their career.

TES Strategy 4
– develop the skills New Zealanders need for our knowledge society .

 Our courses give students the confidence to return to more formal learning, or to work. The nature of our courses (ie. short, once or twice a week) means we can cater for a market not met by other Tertiary organisations, and for students who may not have the time or money to commit to more formal full-time education. We provide a positive experience of ‘education’ which may encourage students to try a more formal course in the future.

Objective 20
- Equity of access for all learners
– there are no pre-requisites for almost all of our courses apart from some of the more advanced computing courses. All adults are welcome to attend our courses.

Objective 22
– High level generic skills
eg interpersonal skills, adaptability, critical thinking, creative & problem solving skills are central to people’s participation in & contribution to a knowledge society. … These skills are critical to the maintenance of a healthy democracy and to the development of engaged and productive citizens.

Many of our courses could be shown to develop these skills. Working in groups, participation in discussion etc is encouraged in many courses improving interpersonal skills, while courses with a practical focus (arts and crafts, cooking, workshop technologies, computing) encourage problem solving & creative skills. People involved in life-long learning are engaged and productive citizens.

Further we contribute to the

ACE priorities of raising foundation skills, encouraging life-long learning and strengthening social cohesion.

Our ESOL courses are designed to help new migrants to adjust to their new life in New Zealand. We encourage these students to join other courses (such as cooking, dance, arts & crafts) to help them improve their English language skills as well as to mix and meet with other New Zealanders.

Providing a venue where members of our community can come and make new friends whilst learning new skills strengthens community cohesion. While our courses are not exam based, they all encourage our community to undertake further study throughout life, and promote the discovery that learning can be fun! Continual up-skilling helps people in their working lives, while those not in full-time employment, the retired or those caring for others, are kept mentally active, decreasing the need for government spending on health care.

APPROACH TO COLLABORATION & COOPERATION
WITH OTHER TERTIARY PROVIDERS

All North Shore Schools that deliver ACE, meet regularly, and use a common newspaper format to advertise courses to all households in our area. We contribute to a shared database listing all courses available at all North Shore Schools, so clients can be assisted to find the course they require at the most convenient time and venue. We also share resources such as tutors with the other school-based ACE programmes.

We regularly attend meetings of the Birkenhead Northcote Community Network, both to promote awareness of the lifelong learning opportunities available at Northcote College and to help determine community needs. A wider ACE network is being re-established to enable better collaboration between all providers of adult and community education on the North Shore.

We also regularly attend meetings of ASCEA, the Auckland-wide Schools’ Community Education Association. We share information about popular courses, availability of tutors, etc. We are a member of CLASS, the national association for community education through Schools, as well as ACEA, the umbrella group for Adult and Community Learning throughout Aotearoa.

Over the past few years we have distributed more than the required 15% of our funded tutor hours to local Community Groups, to assist in delivery of ACE to adults in their fields.

Other Links

• PTO’s
  Free B, which runs Free Computer courses in our local shopping mall, (funded through MIT) holds our brochures specifically for courses that we provide and they don’t.

Extramile Training, a TEO based in Takapuna, provides training for people returning to work in IT and Office Skills. They hold our brochures and we reciprocate.

NZIE , a TEO based in Takapuna holds supplies of our brochures. We reciprocate providing our students with information on their courses which may be a stepping stone to further tertiary learning.

North Shore City Council and ARC : We have developed links with their environmental departments and share information on environmental awareness and education programmes.

WINZ offices across North Shore City are aware of the Education for Life programme and pass on our brochure to their clients.

APPROACH TO FULFILLING TE TIRITI O WAITANGI OBLIGATIONS

See School ’s Charter.

We provide Te Reo and Tikanga Maori courses, as well as Harakeke (NZ flax) weaving.

Maori make up around 3% of our total enrolments.

Funding is provided through tutor hours to the Onepoto Awhina, which has a strong Maori base. We plan to consult with our local Marae as well as having further discussion with the Northcote Community House - Onepoto Awhina.

While enrolments from local Maori into courses of their choice is a goal, so too is enrolment from non-Maori into courses on Tikanga and Te Reo, as we believe this fosters a greater degree of understanding in society.

APPROACH TO MEETING THE NEEDS OF PASIFIKA

Pacific people are under-represented at courses at Northcote.

Tutor hours are provided to de Paul House and Onepoto Awhina, both of which cater to many Pacific Island peoples.

We plan to organise meetings with local Church people to try and determine the needs of our Pacific Island Community and how we can help to meet them. We will try to discover if there are other local community groups who could be helped by the provision of tutor hours to fund courses for this group of people who are often young and living in low income, multiple-family households.

APPROACH TO MEETING THE EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OF LEARNERS

• Education for Life classes are “Student centred” – our tutors are flexible and respond to the needs of the particular group of students in each class.

• Tutors complete a course outline stating desired learning outcomes to be attained by the end of a course.

• Classes are visited regularly to check on tutor competence.

• Tutors are appraised by the ACE Coordinator.

• Evaluation forms are given out to all course attendees to provide feedback on courses and tutors.

• Each year we survey both our students and the wider community to determine the kind of courses they would like to attend. In our brochure and newspaper advertisements we ask the public for their course requests.

• Further we consult with our Advisory Committee, as well as our local community networks, to discover our community’s educational needs.

APPROACH TO ENSURING THAT THE ORGANISATION DEVELOPS AND SUPPORTS A STAFF PROFILE THAT REFLECTS ITS MISSION AND SPECIAL CHARACTER, GOVERNANCE & MANAGEMENT STRUCTURES

• The Education for Life programme offers a range of courses to improve the economic, social and cultural development of our community. Tutors with suitable skills and qualifications are selected to deliver the courses.
  Our tuition fees are affordable. We offer 2 places at half-price in each class to people on low incomes (eligibility is determined by their holding a Community Services card.) Further we are happy to organise with students so they can pay as their course progresses if their financial situation doesn’t allow them to pay full tuition costs “up-front.” The times and venues are such that our students can attend ie the courses are easily accessible. We trial different nights of the week, times of the day, etc to see what works for our community.

• ACE at Northcote has a coordinator and an administration/community liaison person, each working 30 hours per week.

• Staff are committed to ACE, and knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the benefits of lifelong learning. Professional but friendly, they have good communication skills, and are culturally sensitive to the needs of our multi-ethnic community. They are patient and approachable, encouraging those people who may have negative past experiences to take the first steps back into the education system.

• Annual appraisal of administration staff.

• Ongoing tutor appraisal, through Course Evaluation forms given to all students at the end of every course and Coordinator appraisal.

• We encourage our staff to undergo appropriate professional development.

• The coordinator meets fortnightly with the College Principal who reports monthly to the Board of Trustees.

• The Advisory Committee meets twice a year.

CONSULTATION UNDERTAKEN IN PREPARATION OF THIS CHARTER

A joint advertisement, with 5 other North Shore Schools which offer Community Education courses, alerting stakeholders to the development of our ACE Tertiary Charters, was placed in the North Shore Time Advertiser on Thursday 1 July 2004.

This listed our stakeholders as:

Adults on the North Shore including parents and caregivers of school students,

School staff, ACE tutors, ACE students, North Shore Community Groups, Local Iwi & Pasifika communities, WINZ, NZIS, NSCC, local businesses, other TEO's.

Our Advisory Board was asked for feedback.

Students and Tutors were informed, by e-mail and class notices, that their input was welcomed.

We will continue to engage in ongoing consultation through participation in the revitalised North Shore/Rodney ACE Network, and with our local Birkenhead Northcote Community Network to ensure that the courses we provide meet our community’s needs.

Signed:

…………………………………………………………………………….. BOT

…………………………………………………………………………….. Principal

…………………………………………………………………………….. ACE Coordinator

July 2004