Caroline Stretch worked at Countdown for 20 years when an injury made her rethink her career and prompted her to make a change. While at Countdown, Caroline had gained her liquor licence, first aid certificate, food hygiene certificates and forklift licence. These were the only qualifications she had out of school. A career change would mean retraining, while still undergoing extensive surgery.
Alan Brenner has always been interested in nature and landscaping, so when he saw Wintec’s Horticulture programme was held at the Hamilton Gardens he immediately signed up.
The first offering of the Tōia Mai Suite of Trainings for 2023 kicked off in the April school holidays. Beginning at Te Kōpū Mānia o Kirikiriroa Marae, participants received an immersive experience on the marae and later by the Waikato River.
It’s hard to miss Design Factory NZ’s new location on campus. Just look for the striking and colourful vinyl designs on the windows of the ground-floor workshop spaces, situated in A Block opposite The Hub and Library.
Meet artist and educator Dr Tamsin Green, the newly appointed Ramp Gallery curator. She moved to the Waikato along with her partner in 2020 after a four-year stint in New York and has since become a fixture in the region's art community. She’s now settling into her role at Wintec | Te Pūkenga, focusing on the educational and community potential of Ramp Gallery.
Nurses play a vital role in our health care. Without nurses our hospitals and health centres wouldn’t be able to operate. Today is International Nurses Day and we have so many amazing nursing students and kaiako at Wintec | Te Pūkenga that we want to thank them for all of their hard work.
This International Nurses Day, Wintec | Te Pūkenga will be celebrating a major milestone for its Tihei Mauri Ora Māori nursing programme, which has been improving Māori health outcomes in the community for 30 years. On Friday 12 May, founders of this ground-breaking programme, past students and others who have been instrumental in the programme’s journey are coming together to celebrate the past, and look to the future for Māori nursing in Aotearoa.
The 18th Annual Waikato Culinary Fare will take place late next month and entries are now open. Wintec has proudly held the Waikato Culinary Fare, in partnership with Cater Plus, since its conception in 2004. Almost 300 intermediate, secondary and tertiary wannabe chefs showcased their skills at the Waikato Culinary Fare last year and this year the competition is expected to get the kitchen just as hot.
Wintec nursing students are advocating for all marae to have an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) installed. Nesca Bowlin, Academic Staff Member at Wintec | Te Pūkenga Centre for Health and Social Practice had the privilege of travelling to Whakatane to visit our nursing students on the final week of their Rural Health Immersion Programme industry placements in February.
Wintec | Te Pūkenga has recently unveiled Tupu Te Ako, a new teacher training initiative aimed at welcoming new kaiako to the organisation and promoting a culture of continuous improvement towards demonstrable Te Tiriti partnerships and equity for Māori learners.
It’s International Midwives Day on May 5 every year and this year we wanted to celebrate some of our amazing midwifery teaching staff. Read on below to learn about three incredible kaiako we have at Wintec and make sure to thank a midwife you know for all their hard work.
Wintec helped Stats NZ boost 2023 Census numbers through their student hubs. With more 2023 Census forms to be returned to Stats NZ, and factors such as recent extreme weather impacting participation, Waikato Area Manager for Stats NZ, Godfrey Bridger, reached out to Wintec to see if they could help by trialing an innovative new approach to increase census responses.