Te Kura’s Summer School has supported 633 students to achieve results in NCEA. This is the third year Te Kura has offered Summer School, when students can study NCEA over what has traditionally been the summer break.
Our Chief Executive Mike Hollings says students enrol for a range of reasons. Many students need to complete a few credits to go onto further training, education or employment in 2018.
Mike says, “We are always looking for ways to give our students and their whānau more options for their learning and Summer School is another offering.
“Online delivery is really important to being able to offer Summer School; with the tight timeframes, and many students working or travelling over this time, being able to access their learning online really supported them to succeed”.
The school had 1358 enrolments in Summer School 2017/18. This is an increase from 776 students the previous year, and 201 students in the first year 2015/16.
Almost 400 students in the recent Summer School were Te Kura students either completing their studies or continuing through, or new students starting early and staying on our roll in 2018.
Summer School welcomed students who were enrolled in 227 other secondary schools in 2017. Mike says the encouragement and collaboration from other schools to support these learners was fantastic.
David Thorpe, Deputy Principal of Wellington College, says “This is an incredibly positive thing for the young adults of Wellington who are leaving school one or two standards short. All power to Te Kura for setting it up!”
From Summer School to a career with the New Zealand Police
When Rose Grigsby set her sights on a career with the NZ Police, she needed some additional literacy credits to be accepted. On the advice of the Police recruitment team, she enrolled in an English course through Te Kura’s Summer School.
As a mother to four boys, with a husband working in Australia for four weeks at a time, Rose needed a flexible learning option. She says learning online with Te Kura meant she could study when she had the opportunity, such as after her children’s bedtime.
Rose says “It was daunting at first because I had been out of school for a long time. My teacher Bernie Walker was amazing at keeping me on track. He knew I had a deadline to meet and he made sure I kept to that. He encouraged me to get my assessments done. He had honest feedback and was very nice and easy to talk to. He definitely made the experience a lot easier then I first expected.” Rose achieved the credits required to get to the next stage of the Police recruitment process and says, “This time next year I hope to be helping to make our community a safer place.”
Her Te Kura teacher Bernie Walker, says Rose is an articulate student who was a delight to work with and is sure she will be a role model for the community.