First Steps to Career Pathway

November, 2017

At 14 years of age, in the beginning of Year 11, Emmaleigh Tucker left school having achieved only a handful of Level 1 credits. Now aged 19, she is nearing completion of her NCEA Level 2 achievement with a programme of study that she started only in August of this year.

Emmaleigh is studying on the Whānau Positive Futures programme, provided by Training For You. Whānau Positive Futures is a fees-free programme offering the opportunity to gain an NCEA Level 2 qualification with a Vocational Pathway in Social and Community Services. Students gain skills and knowledge to pursue employment, or further study, in the areas of childcare, healthcare and community work.

Emmaleigh began the programme with a plan to gain more NCEA credits, but has since designed a career pathway for herself with a goal to studying psychology. She aims to work in child mental health, from young people to adolescents.

The early childhood components of the Whānau Positive Futures programme are a good grounding for the work she wants to do in the future. Emmaleigh adds, “It has also been really good for me and my daughter. It has improved my parenting quite a lot, the things that I have learned here.”

The 20-week course is held over three mornings, Tuesday-Thursday, from 9.00am until 2.30pm.

Emmaleigh will finish her Level 2 programme soon, and will graduate at a formal ceremony in December. Following that, she is considering the Manaaki Tāngata Level 4 Certificate in Bicultural Social Services with Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. Leaving her current cohort of Training For You students will be tough, though. She laughs, “This course has been great – I don’t want to leave! The other students encourage you to stand tall – everyone supports each other. This course encourages you to be the best you can be.”