Three CiH Waikato Graduations to end 2016

At the end of November and beginning of December 2016 WAWT celebrated the graduation of 46 whanau and friends at three different locations across the Waikato region.  Whanau who joined the program were inspired and engaging throughout the courses and as a result other providers are now ear marked for courses in 2017. 

Putaruru College is now onboard with other community providers including Schools around the region.  It is humbling that WAWT are also negotiating with Ngatira marae and surrounding Marae to join the digital journey in February 2017.  What a privilege it is to be part of such an awesome opportunity to engage and educate whānau using digital technology to support their children’s future learning. Kia ora.  

Nā to rourou, nā taku rourou, ka ora te iwi,

Through combined collaborations, everyone benefits.

Meri Kirihimete me te tau hou

Three Planned Graduations to end 2016 in the Waikato

Tēnā koutou katoa

He mihi mahana tēnei ki a koutou 

My name is Pania Peta-Herewini and I am the new Manager for Web Access Waikato Trust (WAWT) coordinating the Computers in Homes (CiH) for the Waikato area.

                      

I have a 30 year background in Education beginning with Te Kohanga Reo, to Primary training in Otago, graduating with a Bachelor in Education in 2005 from Otago University.  I then went on to teach in Secondary Schools in Dunedin and the Manawatū area as an HOD for 12 years and moved into Adult Education in 2014. I am also studying towards a Masters in Adult Literacy and Numeracy with AUT.

I am blessed to have the opportunity to manage this position since September of this year and am very excited to be able engage and educate whānau using digital technology to support their children and mokos future learning.

I am now coordinating the first of three graduations around the Waikato region.  The first is to be held at Single Parent Services (SPS) or Link House on the 29^th of November where 13 students will graduate, who have committed their time to learning taking away a new found knowledge and a laptop for their commitment to the program.

Ngaruawāhia Community House has been buzzing since the beginning of their two day 3 hour workshops and it has been humbling to see so many turn up on Fridays (in their own time) to practice.  We are to graduate 20 whānau on the 30^th of November and more are already ringing up to enroll for the next classes in 2017.

The final of three planned graduations will end with 23 Teen Parents graduating on the 9^th of December at He Puawai – Fraser High School Teen Parent Unit (TPU) in Hamilton.  It is a really exciting time for the students as they are looking forward to working with MOODLE, a student management system in 2017 as well as other programs and relevant websites.  It is about being able to engage with learning while looking after their babies or whānau that is important, and CiH is able to make that a reality. There are so many possibilities in delivering to these students and my tutors are looking forward to the challenge

Keep a lookout for the next blog with photos and updates for the remaining year.  Kia kaha, kia maia, kia manawanui.

CIH Waikato 2015/2016 round finishes on a high!

The 2015/2016 year finished on a high for Web Access Waikato / Computers in Homes rohe managing to graduate a total of 105 families from a number of areas across the Waikato region.

It was awesome to be able to work with new organisations such as Kirikiriroa Marae as well as keeping strong ties with those important agencies such as Single Parent Services and                        Te Whare Kokonga (Melville Community House) who play a pivotal role in providing a number of much needed support services and advocacy to those who need it in the community.

We were also able to run a CIH course at Melville Primary School for the first time which was highly successful and saw 10 happy graduates walk away with their well earnt laptops after completing their 20 hours of computer training at the kura with their Tutor Kaye-Marie McCaskill-Day. The laptops they received were the first roll out of this kind for Web Access Waikato and feedback from the participants since completing the course has been awesome in terms of their portability and being able to access home work sites at the library when students need too. Tau ke whanau!

2016/2017 is already shaping up to be another busy round with another 100 families being supported thanks to CIH so watch this space!