Gateway and STAR

Gateway

The purpose of Gateway is to enable schools to provide senior students (Year 11 and above) with opportunities to access structured workplace learning (Tertiary Education Commission, 2017).

Gateway is designed to:

- Strengthen the pathway for students to progress from school to workplace learning

- Provides students with structured workplace learning across a range of industries and businesses

- Delivers hands on, practical learning that leads to nationally recognised qualifications

- Builds students’ workplace experience, helping them transition smoothly from school to the workplace

Some Gateway experiences are run by an outside provider over ten weeks or as a block course, others require the student to be on placement one day a week for 6 – 10 weeks. All students’ are expected to gain 20 industry related credits during their placement which is often self-directed learning.

There is little or no cost for Gateway placements, though transport to and from placement is the students’ responsibility. Personal protection equipment is provided for the student either by the employer or through Gateway.

Secondary Tertiary Alignment Resource (STAR):

STAR delivers additional funding to assist schools, to provide students (Year 11-13) with relevant, coherent learning experiences aligned to the Vocational Pathways .

The objectives of STAR are to:

• provide flexible funding for courses which will better respond to students’ needs, motivate them to achieve, and facilitate their smooth transition to further education, training or employment
• support students to explore career pathways and help them make informed decisions about their schooling and future work or study (Ministry of Education, 2017)

TAS focuses on enabling students’ by equipping them with life skills through a variety of courses at different levels such as First Aid, Health & Safety, Defensive Driving, to name but a few. Specific industry courses are also provided, allowing students’ to gain skills in the industry of their choice e.g. forklift, beauty, sports.

For both Gateway and STAR, we encourage students’ to come and ask if there are any opportunities available to them in a career area of interest. It is hoped that these experiences will support student transition into tertiary education or the workplace, as well as providing career relevant NCEA credits.