Twenty-nine Pathways staff recently celebrated achieving the Level 4 Apprenticeship in Mental Health and Addictions Support through Careerforce at an emotional graduation at Wintec’s campus in Hamilton.
The ceremony brought together graduates from Auckland, Waikato and the Midland regions with friends, whānau and colleagues, to honour the graduates’ dedication to learning and their commitment to providing exceptional service to the people they support.
Pathways is a leading provider of community-based mental health and addiction support services across 13 regions in Aotearoa. It empowers tangata whai ora (people seeking wellbeing) and taiohi (young people) to live full, meaningful lives.
Pathways graduates celebrate completing their Mental Health and Addictions Support Apprenticeship with Careerforce
Careerforce is a work-based learning provider that supports workplaces in the health and wellbeing sectors to upskill their staff and complete NZQA recognised qualifications.
Pathways Workforce Development lead, Amanda Purdie manages the learning and development of some 1,000 kaimahi and shared her passion for empowering the Pathways Workforce.
“I love creating frameworks that help people understand their career possibilities while gaining the skills and knowledge to excel.
“Supporting them also means equipping their leaders to guide frontline kaimahi and provide opportunities for growth.”
Each year, Amanda and her team deliver 150 – 200 workshops, and support their staff to achieve their Level 4 qualifications.
“We really value the relationship with Careerforce,” says Amanda.
“We prioritise the Careerforce Level 4 qualification to ensure our kaimahi are paid well, reaching the top of the pay band. Supporting them to qualify reflects our commitment to their success and to the people we serve.
“Our organisational aim is to have over 80% of our workforce holding the Level 4 Certificate in health and wellbeing. This ensures we’ve got a highly qualified workforce that can deliver what is quite challenging work and that families can have trust in our staff to provide the support to help their loved ones.”
All Pathways frontline staff complete the Level 4 Apprenticeship within two years of joining the organisation.
Typically completed in 18 months, the programme is delivered in the workplace with the support of work-based training provider, Careerforce. It equips staff with practical tools and knowledge to work in the mental health and addictions support sector. Each apprentice is assigned a Careerforce apprenticeship advisor who provides support and encouragement throughout their learning.
Pathways also supports the learners by running online national ‘support sets’ for two hours each month, sometimes with a speaker. It also runs ‘study sets’ in the regions. A regional training lead keeps track on learners and checks how they are going. Careerforce advisors also attend these events so that learners can spend face to face time with an advisor.
“There are some real stand-out Careerforce advisors who go out of their way to support learners with their assessments, and if someone is struggling, give them extra time,” says Amanda.
“Some staff might not have been good learners at school, but the experience of studying towards a qualification, while working, takes quite a lot of time commitment and motivation. It builds people’s confidence.
“Some kaimahi might not have been good learners at school, where it was more theoretical based learning. They have found that completing an apprenticeship, working while learning, ‘earn while you learn’ has supported improving practice while in the role. It builds people’s skills and confidence.
“There are some real benefits for our kaimahi. Learners talk about what they have learnt from each module, and how they are applying it to the mahi that they do.”
“It supports kaimahi to view things from different perspectives which they hadn’t necessarily done before. They now have new technical skills and tools to use, and understand better, people’s mental health journey and how it relates to them as a support worker to be helpful in supporting them.”
Amanda was thrilled to be able to see people celebrate getting their qualification at the graduation.
“It was an awesome celebration. For some of these graduates, it’s their first time doing a qualification, so we want to acknowledge that achievement,” says Amanda.
“We know the apprenticeship is not an easy thing to do, especially when you are working, so it’s an acknowledgement of the time and effort that they have put in as well.”
Amanda adds that some graduates go on to further education. “One woman at the event was at our last graduation and is now studying towards her Bachelor of Social Work.”
Careerforce Senior Regional Manager, Penny Rogers has worked alongside Pathways for many years. “Pathways graduations are always an absolute highlight for me. Pathways need to be held up as the gold standard in their commitment to both developing their workforce, and to celebrating their staff’s learning achievements.”
For more information about the Mental Health and Addiction Support Apprenticeship, contact work-based training provider Careerforce. Workplaces may also qualify for Apprenticeship Boost funding, now extended to 2028.