Horticulture students at Kaitaia looking after grounds

Added responsibility of contract part of learning and development

Coinciding with the running of a horticulture course at Kaitaia’s NorthTec campus starting on February 28, negotiations have just concluded that will see the grounds maintenance in the hands of the students and no longer private contractors.

NorthTec Asset and Facilities Manager Rob MacLean says instead of now having to spend funds paying private contractors to upkeep and maintain the campus grounds -the budget would effectively be handed over to the horticulture department at Kaitaia.

Mr MacLean says no other NorthTec campus or learning centre currently allows students to have control over maintenance of the grounds, with the development at Kaitaia likely to be watched closely by others.

Effectively, the development at Kaitaia will act as a pilot scheme for the potential rollout of other grounds maintenance contracts across NorthTec where numerous horticulture courses are run.

“It will take quite a commitment. In 12 months time we’ll see if there is benefit in it for staff, students and NorthTec,” Mr MacLean said.

Programme Leader Ceres Andrews says at present, there are a total of 36 varied horticulture courses run by NorthTec from Ngataki in the far north down to Silverdale in the south of the region, testimony to their general appeal for a wide range of learners.

Mr MacLean says students currently carry out horticultural practices as part of course requirements at other campuses and learning centres like at Kerikeri and Rawene, and offsite in other locations but “not the total grounds maintenance package” that this undertaking will be.

Part of the reason for giving horticulture students at Kaitaia the added responsibility for upkeeping the grounds on the campus he said was partly due to the new horticultural facilities being located in a disused concrete building next door. An entrance way from the campus to the new horticulture base will be opened up by cutting a hole in an existing fence that separates them currently.

Experienced horiticulture tutor and former Garden Centre owner, John Hill, who persuaded NorthTec to allow the students to take onus of the grounds maintenance says another advantage of having his 30 students move in adjacent to the campus was so that they also had access to the computer suites to assist with their learning.

Overall, he is rapt the agreement has been reached and that the students would be able to take some pride in the campus with plans to beautify it with “pots of colour” and the resurrection of both a flower and vegetable garden.

Previously, he says the horticulture courses he has tutored at Kaitaia have had to be off-site at surrounding locations including behind the RSA in Kaitaia, at Pamapuria, and in the Victoria Valley out towards the Mangamukas.

Mr MacLean says from Mr Hill’s planting-of-the-seed to have students actively doing the grounds work grew the opportunity to formulate an agreement. A contract between Mr Hill and NorthTec has been drawn up around performance that the students have a duty to make work Mr MacLean said.

“I do have confidence the students will do a great job and demonstrate the commitment needed. I have trust John and his students will deliver an excellent service. They are going to get hands-on experience and will receive direct feedback.”

He says NorthTec had been contracting a private company to mow the lawns and maintain and upkeep the campus grounds which it had held for about 12 months.

Mr MacLean had met with them initially to outline NorthTec’s position and said the contractor listened to him and was receptive to students at the campus taking on the responsibilities for maintaining their set standards.

A formal letter ending the current agreement was recently sent to the contractor. Mr MacLean says in no way was ending the contract a reflection of the standard of work done by the contractor over the course of the past year.

The new contract with the horticulture students and Mr Hill commences on February 28 when the Level 2 horticulture courses get underway.

Mr Hill says the agreement will be really good for the horticulture students and the campus in general, in what he viewed would be a win-win situation.

Mrs Andrews shared his optimism remarking that the new site they will have at Kaitaia combined with the formulation of a grounds maintenance contract had the potential to make “a real show case of the place.”

She says some of the grounds work the students will be doing will be assessment based.

Mr McLean expects the real benefit of the forged agreement is that the students will get practical experience not only having to perform the duties but also in having to deal with ongoing grounds maintenance issues.

“I think the real benefit is they are getting practical experience in having to deal with ongoing grounds maintenance which if someone was looking to set up their own business, the feedback received and dealing with clients needs could prove useful.”

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GROUNDBREAKING MOVE: A couple of John Hill’s previous students at Kaitaia assist each other with watering some seedlings. The forging of a grounds contract with the students and tutor at Kaitaia means there will be many more tasks like it to come.

ENDS

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