Anthony Phelps/Stuff
Marlborough Girls’ College student Hope Te Whiu, 15, at the Redwood Oceania rest home where she has been learning to become a carer.
Most teenagers wait until they’ve left school to start getting their careers on track, but a Blenheim teenager is already well on her way to becoming qualified.
Marlborough Girls’ College student Hope Te Whiu, 15, still has two years of school left, but she now has a qualification to help her land her dream job as a carer supporting the elderly.
Having completed the New Zealand Certificate in Health and Wellbeing at level 2, and looking to get her level 3 qualification next year, Hope said she felt “pretty proud”.
“When I first did my level 2, it was a bit scary because of being so young. It was quite hard, but when you get used to it, you can start to grow with the people around you,” she said.
Hope was working with “a wide range of people” at the Redwood Oceania rest home in Blenheim as part of her training, including stroke survivors and elderly people with mobility issues.
“The residents tell me about their lives and want to hear all about my life as well and what I’ve been up to at school,” she said.
Hope’s mother, who is now the guest service manager at the rest home, had formerly been a carer there herself, and the 15-year-old said she would “love to follow” in her mum’s footsteps.
Anthony Phelps/Stuff
Hope says she is “pretty proud” to have her level 2 qualification already.
“I used to visit the rest home from around age 6, so I grew up around carers and I kind of always wanted to be one when I was older,” she said.
“I feel I have grown up in Redwood Oceania. It’s a great company and they are giving me a pathway for my future in something I really enjoy, which is people.
“Redwood is like home to me. They are part of my extended whānau.”
Hope was taking part in a Gateway programme through Careerforce, a division of Te Pūkenga. The programme allowed high school students to get a head start on completing qualifications and gave them a chance to experience careers they were interested in firsthand.
“I would really recommend it to others. You’ve just got to make sure that you’ve got the right company for your placement and have the right people around you,” Hope said.
She said gaining her level 2 certificate had “opened a lot of opportunities” as she had also been given the chance to gain palliative care training at a local hospice.
“I’ve now got the option to attend the palliative care course run by Hospice Marlborough, once a month, to study and learn about end of life. There are a couple of papers I can do to get further NCEA credits through Careerforce.”
Part of her education had involved attending a two-day noho marae event in Nelson with a programme for learners who identify as Māori. She said she had felt “a bit nervous” about going, being the youngest person there “by a huge age gap”.
“But then I got used to it, and being Māori really helped as it is an environment that I am comfortable in,” she said.
“I enjoyed working with the adults. I could just ask them to explain this or that in different words.”
