7/30/2019 Ng Mahinga - Student Newsletter, Dec 2012 to Jan 2013

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7/30/2019 Ng Mahinga - Student Newsletter, Dec 2012 to Jan 2013

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This is YOUR newsletter. If youhave something interesting you

wish to share with your fellow konga, you can submit it forthe next issue of Ng Mahinga.

You may also see information inhere from your Kaiako (tutors)that may affect you.

Type your stories in a Microsoft

Word document and bring theelectronic copy and supportingimages to the computer lab.

The next issue will be publishedfor February 2013.

Share it here

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Issue #3

RE -ENROL

NOW!

Owner of LastRite Foot-

wear Manufacturers in Whangarei Neville Brunkeris a third generation crafts-man of quality work andrecreational footwear anda 2009 graduate from theCertificate in Small Busi-ness Management pro-gramme.Id been in business closeto 30 years when I decidedto enrol in the CSBMcourse, says Neville, whosaw the course as a way tolook at different formatsfor running his shoe manu-facturing operation. Wedreached somewhat of aplateau. I knew that chang-es were needed in the pro-cedures and systems, thegeneral administration,and I wanted to explore what new product lines andmarkets I could introduce,

to take the company in a

new direction. Like many other businessowners, Neville had foundhe was spending so muchof his time working in his business, he wasnt work-ing on his business.The course opened my eyes up to market research:I was able to gain a clearerunderstanding of what peo-ple wanted and what mar-kets to look at. The foot- wear market dictates whatproducts we focus on to alarge degree, but from whatI learned on the course and with the help of a mentor we have gained a footholdin other previously unex-plored market channels. Lastwrite Footwear is athriving business today, with five full-time andthree part-time employees.

As well as its retail custom-ers, the company makessafety boots for the forestry industry and has secured alarge contract to supply aJapanese client. Aside from the insights intomarket research, Nevillesays he would most oftenuse the strategy he learnedto formulate a workableplan from deciding which

products to produce andhow to drive the sales.Ive been working on de- veloping some new prod-ucts in the last two years,says Neville, although weare so busy right now they may have to wait a bit long-er as I havent got the timeto get them going .

Best foot forward

During November the Compu-ting Level 3 konga spent twodays at the Mangakotukutukucampus in Hamilton.The purpose of the visit was toinvestigate the use of infor-mation and communicationstechnology in Te Wnanga o Aotearoa and to gather infor-mation to complete the assess-ment project for Module 5.The campus had once been the

Glenview Hotel and everythingabout it reflected this.The 24 konga along with theirkaiako Waana, Robyn from marketing and Shaq made the trip, which involved a tour of the call centre and meeting Warren the National IT manager. Waiata, card games, spa baths and Zumba featured among the less official highlights of the trip.There was an informative talk by two representatives from Microsoft about recent devel-opments by Microsoft and what we can expect in the near future.There was also a presentation from Boyd about the use of information and communica-tions technology in Te Wnanga o Aotearoa including procedures for implementation of computer technology, the systems hardware (servers, networks) and software in use,the personnel involved in provision, maintenance and training, the strengths and weak-nesses and future developments.This was followed by a tour of Whakahaere- Prongo (the IT department) to see whereand how our systems are managed and to meet the people we speak to on the studenthelp desk.

IT Roadtrip

7/30/2019 Ng Mahinga - Student Newsletter, Dec 2012 to Jan 2013

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CSBM graduate takes double honours in business awards

Panui from student support Ali

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Issue #3

The Re -enrolment Campaign for semesterA 2013

is underway!

Ask your kaiako or visit reception for anexpression of interest form today!

CSBM 2010 graduateFrances Stokes believes inthe importance of getting

up close and personal to your business to make it asuccess.Frances and Wayne Stokesown and operate Kia Tu-pato Security Ltd. This whanau business is basedin Whangarei and Paihiaand has been operating fornearly 10 years, workingpredominantly in theNorthland region.Kia Tupato, which means

be prepared, be careful, hasa dedicated team of fully trained security staff availa-

ble 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Theirunique philosophy and ap-proach to the security in-dustry gives their company a cultural and professionaldistinction, one which hasearned Kia Tupato highpraise in 2012 in the formof two prestigious local business awards.In July 2012 Kia TupatoSecurity Ltd received the

award for Most Outstand-ing Maori Enterprise at theinaugural Te Hiringa Tai

Tokerau Maori Business Awards 2012. Then KiaTupato was presented withthe Sustainable Business Award at the 2012 WestpacBusiness Excellence Awards, held in November.I know when we (ourgroup) completed the Cer-tificate in Small BusinessManagement Course wespoke about the value that

we had gained and

this was furtherendorsed when we graduat-ed, says Frances,

who lists time and confi-dence as the two greatestgifts she received from theCSBM programme. There was no better way for me toget up and personal withour business and I highly recommend it if you are in business why wouldnt you its your business and your future. Go on and doit.Frances now comes in as aguest speaker to our FirstSteps to Business Class forModule One where tauiraare required to interview aSuccessful Business Person.

Tauira taking the stage at Te Wnanga o Aotearoa Priscilla Pickering from CSBM Semester A 2012 presents her 30 second elevator pitch to her classmates and new wha-nau. You too can have the confidence of aTWoA graduate from one of the business cours-es on offer at the Whangarei campus.

Kia ora koutou whanau!! This months panui for our konga whoare receiving a Student Allowance, a reminder that your paymentscease one week after your course finishes. If you are returning tostudy next year, you can test your eligibility for UBSH Unemployment Benefit Student Hardship over the Christmas break and apply for a 2013 Student Allowance. Please remember tomake sure that your student finances are sorted.

Visit www.studylink.govt.nz for all updates and information. You are also welcome to visit me on campus or visit STUDYLINK atthe WINZ Plaza, Whangarei for an appointment phone: 0800889900.

Panui for ALL our konga, if you are serious about continuing tostudy with Te Wnanga o Aotearoa in 2013 you can re -enrol now!

- Ali

He aha te mea nui o te ao?He tangata! He tangata! He tangata!

What is the most important thing in the world?

It is people! It is people! It is people!

Wayne and Frances Stokes (second and third from left) at the inaugu-ral Te Hiringa Tai Tokerau Maori Business Awards.

7/30/2019 Ng Mahinga - Student Newsletter, Dec 2012 to Jan 2013

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Te Wananga o Aotearoa

Babies bottoms inspire booming Hikurangi business

Issue #3

An enabling experience

We have our own facebook page.Search for us at Te Wnanga o Aotearoa Te Tai TokerauKeep up with whats happening your area.

Natalia Partridge is like a lotof modern mums who havereturned to cloth nappies fortheir babies. I have beenusing cloth nappies since my eldest daughter was about 8months old. I quickly caughtthe cloth nappy bug and my daughters nappy collectionquickly grew. Natalia soon started making

her own nappies,and in 2010 she bought the known

and trusted 'Baby Harmony' nappy pattern and re- branded it as 'In aPear Tree' nappies,coming up with arange of funky col-our combinations.That same year, Na-talia also enrolled inthe Certificate inSmall Business Man-agement at Te Wnanga o Aotea-

roa, graduating in2011. According to Natalia,the course gave her insightinto important aspects of running her business, andplayed a large part in hersuccess today. I learntabout GST and marketingplans every Thursday nightand came up with creativeideas for nappies while Ilooked after the girls during

the day, says Natalia. Reusable cloth nappies areproving an environmental

choice as much as they are afashion choice. With eachcloth nappy she sells, Nata-lia estimates there are 130fewer disposable nappiesending up in landfills. A lot of Natalias marketingis done through social mediachannels, where she has built a strong following forthe In a Pear Tree brand. By her own admission, Nataliahad little success throughnormal retail channels, and

her website was not bringingin a lot of business either.Facebook turned out to be amuch more successful ave-nue. By engaging with cus-tomers on Facebook, Nataliafeels she can have quite anintimate relationship withher customers. I love thatFacebook lets me talk tothem every day and in turnthey love to post photos of

their babies wearing my nappies as soon as they ar-rive."

With upwards of 3,500likes it is no wonder Na-talias reusable cloth nappies with their funky designs andpretty frills are sold withinminutes of her listing themon her Facebook page. Whats more they are being bought by customers in New Zealand and Australia andas far away as Canada, theUK and Kenya.In a recent interview for amagazine article, Natalia

said;Its crazy and satisfy-ing to think the nappies Imake in the spare room of my house in the one Four-Square town of Hikurangiare being worn by babies allover the world.Natalia has now extendedher range to include Bibsand other Baby and Mamaproducts.

The Business courses at Te Wananga o Aotearoa attract

a diverse range of people with different backgrounds,ethnicities, needs and abili-ties. Craig Jessop has justcompleted the CSBM courseas part of Semester 1 2012 without ever having seen asingle page of his work- books. This is because Craigis blind.Before he started, Craig hadsome misgivings about stud- ying again. The last time Ienrolled on a tertiary courseI had to have all my text- books and other written ma-terials transcribed for meinto audio by the Founda-tion for the Blind, recallsCraig. If I wanted to review

anything I had to find theright cassette and then re-

wind and fast forward to theright place. It took foreverand made it really difficultto learn.The advent of new technolo-gy and the willingness of TWoA to use it has made itpossible for Craig to learnalongside his fellow tauira with ease. All the coursematerial and assignments were provided electronically,so I could read it page by page through the audio soft- ware I have installed on my computer, says Craig. I canfollow the page referencesfor homework, and look upthings whenever I want. Itsa totally different experience

than I had studying before,and completely positive.

Craigs success has already led to another blind studentenrolling for the First Stepsto Business programme in2013.Craig also has high praisefor his Kaiako and the classas a whole. Linda (Marsh) was awesome. She madesure I had everything I need-ed in the right format with-out me having to ask for it,and gave me extra help when any of the assessmentsrequired graphic elementsthat were not immediately convertible.I got to know the other stu-dents on the course and they got to know me too.

Craig is aware how intimi-dating study can be for peo-ple who are sight impairedor have other disabilities, but encourages anyone togive it a go. You may think there are barriers in the way, but I cant tell you that thereare no barriers. Linda andeveryone else did everythingthey could not just to makeit possible, but to make iteasy.

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