Education at the Y

Four classroom walls not your thing?

Have a learning style that simply doesn’t work in a traditional education environment?

The Y Southland could be just the place you are looking for!

We are excited to announce that, from 2024, we will be delivering Youth Guarantee education programmes for learners aged between 16 and 24 years.

We’ll kick off in February, with an awesome – and FREE – 20 week programme: the New Zealand Certificate in Foundation Skills Level 1. Learners will also have opportunity to achieve NCEA Levels 1 and 2, all in an environment set up to cater to different learning styles.

At the Y, we recognise not all people learn the same. We want to enhance your strengths – not try to squeeze everyone into the same learning box. While there are standards, assessments and criteria that need to be met, we’re looking at how we can do this in a non-traditional way, so you enjoy learning and your learning environment.

This programme will enable learners to

• Identify and develop selfmanagement and resilience strategies to organise your personal life, maintain your wellbeing and support you to continue learning (pretty key in this modern world!)
• Interact with people from your own and other cultures, individually and in group settings and including work and community
• Apply basic literacy, numeracy and digital technology skills
• Identify leadership qualities and reflect on how these relate to your own strengths, personal goals and future pathways

We’ll have a focus on creating a safe and supportive environment for learners, where everyone is encouraged to bring their full selves to class. We’ll also mix classroom learning with practical activities – AND every learner enrolled with the Y’s education programmes will get a free Y Southland gym membership so you can nourish your body and your mind!

Learners will also get access to pastoral care. What does that mean? It means individualised, holistic, wellbeing support which could be through one on one mentoring, or an adapted learning environment as required.

The programme will start 5 February – complete with the Dyslexia-Friendly Quality Mark, which recognises our learning centre as a safe place for neurodiverse learners, where learners are understood and their needs can be supported.

Click here to find out more or enrol today!