Hundreds of Bay of Plenty and South Waikato high school students have been formally welcomed to Toi Ohomai as participants in the institute’s Secondary Tertiary Programme.

Record numbers of high school students have joined the initiative which is supported by Toi Ohomai and the Trades Academy.

The partnership sees students take their first steps into vocational career pathways.

Pōhiri were held at various Toi Ohomai campuses to welcome the ākonga as they embarked on their learning journey.

Toi Ohomai STP courses are designed to align with industry requirements in the best possible way by modelling an approach within authentic learning environments for the students.

Classes as delivered by industry professionals while in realistic settings for the subjects.

The STP was established at Toi Ohomai in 2017 and has continued to grow. In 2023, the institute had 877 students from 35 high schools enrolled in STP courses, of those, 36 per cent enrolled into full time study in 2024.

Toi Ohomai Associate Dean Dan Taylor oversees the STP partnerships and says it was exciting to be able to officially welcome these students to Toi Ohomai.

“This programme gives ākonga an introduction into their chosen career path. They learn here at Toi Ohomai as well as continuing their studies at their high school.

“We have seen great successes with this programme and many of the ākonga have gone on to employment in their chosen industry.

“One of the benefits of STP is the exposure they get to career opportunities in the vocational space outside their secondary school setting.”

Check out our website for more information about STP or email stp@toiohomai.ac.nz.