about us
We Are Community Colleges New Zealand - Comcol
We support you to gain the skills, qualifications and confidence to pursue further training or a career.
Community Colleges New Zealand is a charitable training establishment with five colleges South Island-wide. We have over 30 years' experience providing quality, hands-on learning and currently offer practical training to people 16+ years of age. Through our practical training you'll gain NZQA unit standards and work towards NCEA and a recognised New Zealand qualification.
Community Colleges New Zealand is a charitable training establishment with five colleges South Island-wide. We have over 30 years' experience providing quality, hands-on learning and currently offer practical training to people 16+ years of age. Through our practical training you'll gain NZQA unit standards and work towards NCEA and a recognised New Zealand qualification.
We believe that with the right environment everyone can learn and succeed!
We're Different
Small Class Sizes and Individual Learning
Classes only have up to 15 students to give you more time with tutors. We set learning goals with you and help you progress.
A Supportive Environment and Passionate Tutors
You'll be offered lots of assistance throughout your training and our tutors are passionate and very approachable.
Hands-On Training and High Standards
You'll enjoy lots of hands-on learning with our tutors working alongside you and preparing you for a work environment.
Outdoors and Adventure Based Learning
You'll have the chance to take part in outdoor activities to help develop confidence and responsibility.
Values Based Learning
We foster key values including respect, integrity and responsibility and encourage community participation.
Classes only have up to 15 students to give you more time with tutors. We set learning goals with you and help you progress.
A Supportive Environment and Passionate Tutors
You'll be offered lots of assistance throughout your training and our tutors are passionate and very approachable.
Hands-On Training and High Standards
You'll enjoy lots of hands-on learning with our tutors working alongside you and preparing you for a work environment.
Outdoors and Adventure Based Learning
You'll have the chance to take part in outdoor activities to help develop confidence and responsibility.
Values Based Learning
We foster key values including respect, integrity and responsibility and encourage community participation.
How Are We Fee Free?
We offer free Youth Guarantee (YG) Programmes to 16-19 year olds under the YG Initiative which gives students a qualification at level 1, 2 or 3 of the National Qualifications Framework in a vocational field.
Through YG you can study for up to two years full time with NO FEES in a range of hands-on, practical courses at one of our six colleges.
Qualifying for Fees Free is subject to YG eligibility. Find out more below.
Through YG you can study for up to two years full time with NO FEES in a range of hands-on, practical courses at one of our six colleges.
Qualifying for Fees Free is subject to YG eligibility. Find out more below.
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We also offer a Youth Service! Youth Service works with young people to help them into education, training or work-based training. As a provider of this service we work actively and closely with young people by providing them with ongoing support and mentoring to improve their educational employment outcomes.
We give young people the guidance, practical support and encouragement they need to create a plan, relating to work or training, that suits them. |
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Literacy and Numeracy
At Comcol, we believe that reading, writing and number are the key components of learning any subject and are needed to be successful in future pathways.
Through our experiences, we have found where LLN skills are embedded in our programmes, in a learner-centred teaching environment that facilitates quality learning, there were more positive outcomes than in courses in which these skills were treated separately.
- Our programmes are specifically designed to seamlessly embed literacy and numeracy (LLN) planning to enhance our students outcomes in our programmes.
- With our small class settings of 10 students, we are able to tutor to the individual needs of our diverse students to ensure relationships are an integral part of accessing the course to sustain life long learning.
- We ensure that we provide our students with the opportunity to reflect on their learning and progress through creating individual learning plans (ILP’s) for each student as we understand our youth learn differently.
- Assessment Tools are utilised to assess our students areas of strengths and areas to improve in Literacy and Numeracy and progress is reported in their ILP’s.
- Our tutors are supported through regular reflective practice, professional development, training opportunities and tutors discussions to ensure the programmes we run have a desired outcome for our individual learners.
Through our experiences, we have found where LLN skills are embedded in our programmes, in a learner-centred teaching environment that facilitates quality learning, there were more positive outcomes than in courses in which these skills were treated separately.
Our Programmes
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We work hard to ensure our training programmes are of the highest quality. Each of our programmes are accredited by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) and registered on the nationally recognised National Qualifications Framework (NQF).
We are also a NZQA Category One provider! Category One is the highest rank achievable in NZQA's External Evaluations and Review process, and is acknowledgement from NZQA of the excellent standards we provide! |
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Values and Culture
We believe in creating an adult learning environment with workplace expectations and common sense values.
Our values of Respect, Integrity and Responsibility provide clear guidelines as a framework for our operations with the expectation that they will be modelled, explored and encouraged within the organisation.
Our culture is based around positive and caring relationships, with pastoral support a key part of each college. Individual pathways and career plans, embedded literacy and kinaestetic learning are some of the key elements to our approach to ensure learner success.
Celebrating learner achievement is central to our culture.
Our values of Respect, Integrity and Responsibility provide clear guidelines as a framework for our operations with the expectation that they will be modelled, explored and encouraged within the organisation.
Our culture is based around positive and caring relationships, with pastoral support a key part of each college. Individual pathways and career plans, embedded literacy and kinaestetic learning are some of the key elements to our approach to ensure learner success.
Celebrating learner achievement is central to our culture.
Research
- Youth Guarantee Project
- Proposed Regional Youth Development