No images? Click here
Kaiaromatawai (Assessor) Newsletter – April 2024
Kia ora tātou!
Autumn is well and truly making herself known, with the end of daylight savings, the cooler weather, and the changing colour of the landscape.
On behalf of Te Mahi Ako, thank you for your mahi supporting and assessing our ākonga (learners) and welcome to this quarters Assessor Newsletter!
We send out a newsletter once a quarter to our assessors to let you know what has been happening here at Te Mahi Ako and to let you know what is coming up in the next quarter! We have a pretty full newsletter this quarter and hope you find something interesting and relevant to the mahi you do.
Introducing our new kaimahi for the Assessor and Facilitator Liaison team
Emma Lindsay has joined the Assessor Support team as assessor support assistant.
Emma is available every afternoon Monday to Friday 12pm-4pm, to answer your portal and online marking queries. She is happy to meet with you via Teams to support you as you navigate these systems.
Please reach out to Emma at assessors@temahiako.org.nz or call 0228500942 if you need support.
Helpdesk support
If you have a technical issue, you can also put through a Helpdesk request to our IT department via the portal by clicking the Support button, selecting Helpdesk and then writing your issue.
Assessor forum 2024!
We have sent out requests for Expressions of Interest for the 2024 assessor forums to assessors who have active ākonga/learners. Many of you have responded, thanks.
If you have not responded already, please respond by the below dates indicating your preferred location.
Those who intend to come to one of the forums will be sent invitations, including venue details, four weeks prior to the session they have chosen to attend.
We have capped the numbers at 25 per venue and will decide on viability if we do not have enough numbers at each location.
Marking best practice
Using verified evidence to make your assessment decision
There are times when using an evidence verifier is the best option for you and your ākonga/learner. Evidence verification is a great way for evidence to be captured and documented when you, the assessor is not present to observe a day-to-day activity. Assessors do however make the final judgement that the evidence is sufficient and must be confident in the verified evidence. Any concerns or questions about the evidence – speak to the verifier.
Want to know more about using an evidence verifier? Click here.
Moderation
Post moderation requests are sent out once a quarter to assessors who have reported credits. All assessors are required to participate in moderation annually. If you are new to our assessor space, post moderation is a continual improvement process that makes sure assessment meets industry requirements. Post moderation also checks the consistency between assessors nationwide so that all assessment conducted is valid, fair, and consistent with standards being assessed. Click here to view the annual moderation plan for 2024.
As an assessor, you are required to keep a copy of your ākonga/learners work for two years. Last year, Te Mahi Ako implemented secure archiving for assessors who do not have the ability to securely archive learner’s work. If you need to utilise this secure archiving, please contact us at assessors@temahiako.org.nz
Sector moderation snapshot
There is a really high standard of assessing happening across all our industries.
New team members at Te Mahi Ako
We have had some great kaimahi board our waka in the last few months!
Introducing: Becca Jacka
Regional learner advisor - Christchurch & North Canterbury
With a degree in parks, recreation, and tourism, and a certificate in adult education and training, Becca has worked with youth and adults in outdoor recreation, team building, events, corporate theming, VIP tour guiding, tourism attractions, museum public programmes, and NZCF officer training. She has also served as a civilian for the New Zealand Defence Force. Becca is passionate about getting outdoors, and when she’s not at work can be found walking her dog in the Port Hills, skiing, tramping, and indulging in a good book.
Introducing: Faye Barrand
Regional learner advisor - North Canterbury, Canterbury and South Canterbury
Faye’s passion is helping people - providing those lightbulb moments that are talked about for years to come. For the last decade, Faye has worked in corporate L&D as a coach, mentor, trainer and facilitator, specialising in leadership and sales. On top of that, Faye holds a bachelor's degree in applied business management with distinction, NZQA Adult education.
Introducing: Kerri Hartly – Jones
National learner advisor – Youth & volunteer
Keeping fit and being strong and healthy in mind and body is one of Kerri’s highest values. She loves being in the outdoors and can usually be found with her husband running the trails in the Waitakeres, cycling, paddle boarding, walking on a beach somewhere, or in the gym.
Kerri’s role is national learner advisor with the portfolio of youth and volunteers, and with the specific focus of identifying opportunities to meet learning needs and creating pathways for young people and volunteers across our sectors.
Introducing: Nick Chater
National learner advisor - outdoor recreation
What excites Nick most about this role is the opportunity to work in a sector that he has been involved with for 30+ years; and is full of such a vibrant and exciting range of people and organisations. Secondly, Nick strongly believes in the power of education and in particular outdoor recreation as a space for creating positive learning outcomes, especially for those where education was not a positive experience.
Enhanced support for over duration ākonga
Te Mahi Ako Learner Support team are now providing enhanced support to over duration ākonga by creating individual learning and assessment plans. This will help to identify any barriers ākonga are facing and enable our team to create individual plans to support ākonga through their mahi.
As an assessor, you work closely alongside ākonga, so if you have any ideas around what other support we could be offering learners, please contact denise.clarke@temahi.ako.org.nz
Pastoral Care Code update
Te Mahi Ako gained NZQA Pastoral Care Code Signatory in February! This means that TMA is now able to enrol non-domestic learners (international learners) into all our New Zealand Certificates 🎉! To find out more about what TMA is doing in the pastoral care space click here.
It’s been a pretty full newsletter this quarter with heaps of information. If you have any questions about any of the content, please get in touch at assessors@temahiako.org.nz
Once again, ngā mihi nui for your mahi. Te Mahi Ako highly value the work you do to support and assess our ākonga and look forward to seeing many of you in person at the upcoming Assessor forums either online or in person.
Mā te wā
Lizzie, Lee and Emma
 |