Gateway

Gateway offers students the opportunity to gain hands on experience and workplace based learning while they are still at school. ATTTO offers Gateway programmes for students interested in a career in the aviation, travel, tourism or service sector industries.

First steps into an exciting career

Gateway is a great opportunity for motivated students who are interested in pursuing a career in one of our industries. Students will be going into a real workplace and will be expected to show they are reliable, responsible and organised.

The students you select for this programme should be able to meet the following requirements:

• Be organised – turn up on time, show they are reliable and able to manage their time effectively
• Be motivated - show pride in their personal presentation and have standards for their own work; show initiative, enthusiasm, and commitment; and be ready to accept responsibility
• Be able to take on board instructions and information
• Have appropriate levels of numeracy and literacy
• Be able to communicate effectively with customers and colleague
• Be able to or willing to learn the skills needed to work effectively as part of a team and deal with customers appropriately

As well as workplace placements, students will have tasks and assessments to complete. They should have the self-motivation to work through these in their own time.

In return for the effort they put in, Gateway students will get a taste of what it is like to work in our industries, helping them decide if these careers are for them. They’ll also gain practical skills that they can take with them into future employment, while achieving unit standards that count towards higher qualifications and university entrance.

Memorandum of Understanding for Gateway

Schools taking part in the Gateway programme sign a contract in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). This contract between the school, the workplace and ATTTO records each party’s obligations, the intended learning programme and the timeframe of the contract.

The 2012 Gateway MOU will be available here from 1 February 2012.

Please note:

• Completion of an MOU does not generate an order for resources. Orders must be placed wherever resources are required and this is best done through the Resources section of this website. You will need to log in or create an account to order ATTTO resources
• Please be sure to attach a cover sheet (photocopy of completed first page of the MOU) whenever you submit student material to ATTTO for assessment. For tracking purposes, this is also necessary during any reassessment process.

Preparing your students for Gateway

We recommend that Gateway students complete a number of unit standards in preparation for Gateway placements. See attached for a list of these standards, which will give students the foundation skills they’ll need in a workplace environment. These include health and safety, literacy and numeracy, and skills around being a responsible employee. Download Pre Gateway Recommended Unit Standards

NCEA Level One Literacy and Numeracy should be a minimum target for students who wish to enter our industries.

Arranging Gateway placements

The first stage of implementing a Gateway programme in your school is to identify suitable employers in your local community. Employers must be willing to mentor and provide support and a positive learning experience for Gateway students, as well as a safe and youth-friendly working environment.

If the employers you speak to are not already involved in the programme, you can talk to them about the benefits they can gain from getting involved with Gateway. See our section for employers for more information

Once you have their agreement you will need to identify who will have responsibility for your student(s) and arrange for them to meet with students interested in the placement.

The next stage is to negotiate the expectations of the employer and draft a learning programme. This should set out details of what the placement will cover and how it will compliment non-workplace learning. Parties should also agree the details of the placement including times/days/dress code/place of work. Note that the student will be responsible for ensuring the employer is advised if they cannot attend work because of sickness or other reasons.

Contact an ATTTO Education Relationship Coordinator to confirm the suitability of the proposed learning programme and identify requirements for assessments. Once the details are agreed, you must complete an MOU with the workplace and with ATTTO as the assessing party. The student must also sign this and have a sense of ownership of the learning plan that has been developed. Download an MOU here

Your student can then start the placement. Ensure you maintain regular communication with the employer, as well as with your Gateway student, to ensure learning milestones are being met.

Your ATTTO point of contact throughout this process will be one of our Education Relationship Coordinators.

For more information about arranging and administering Gateway placements, please see Gateway Handbook for Schools and other resources on the Tertiary Education Commission’s website.

School student workplace assessment

An ATTTO accredited workplace assessor will normally assess your student(s) in the workplace, using the relevant Assessment Guide for the unit standard(s). In many cases, assessment will be able to be completed by submitting written tasks to ATTTO by post or your school may hold accreditation.

As part of the assessment, employers may be required to attest to a student’s competence in certain areas.

Please ensure that you stay in touch with ATTTO to make sure our assessors have plenty of advance notice of any workplace assessment requirements.

 We will report to NZQA on the credit each student achieved for the competencies they were assessed for by our accredited assessors.

There is a cost per student for ATTTO assessment. Please contact the customer services team for information.

For more information about any aspect of Gateway, please contact:

Willie Toelau
North Island
027 282 5103
willie.toelau@attto.org.nz

Allan Moulai
South Island
027 282 5115
allan.moulai@attto.org.nz