TATC - Contact Details

Employing a Taratahi Graduate

If you are an employer who is looking at offering a job to one of our graduates, please do not hesitate to contact us for a reference or for more information about the qualifications.

Students at Taratahi currently specialise in either dairy or sheep and beef options. Therefore a dairy student will have less experience of shearing and a sheep student less experience of milking. The level of ability associated with the acquired skills can be open to interpretation as some of the terms used within tertiary education have different connotations within farming. We are therefore happy to explain the level of ability that students will have in each area.

It is important to note that students can complete a variety of courses from six to twenty four months. Such varied training does not necessarily mean a student will be advanced in something like shearing or stock movement, as this can take many years of practice. Taratahi’s aim is to make sure our full time students are work-force ready by acquiring the best skills and having the right attitude and work ethic. Once they start in their first job they will possess the skills necessary to be an asset to a farmer, but only time will ensure that their skills continue to grow and develop. Our ethos is that we want all of our students to undertake ongoing education in the sector and to continue upskilling once they have finished at Taratahi.

Level 3 certificate

In their first year students study a wide range of activities including aspects of:

Farm Management, Agrichemical Application, Animal Husbandry, Farm Safety, ATV, Calving, Soils and Fertilisers, Butchery, Docking, Livestock Breeding, Calf Rearing, Hill Country Farming, Livestock Husbandry, Chainsaw Safety and Use, Lambing, Livestock Nutrition, Fencing - conventional/electric, Livestock Feeding, Pastures and Plant Science, Handpiece Skills, Livestock Health, Weeds and Pests, Motorbikes, Mating, Shearing, Milk Harvesting, Stock Handling, Mustering, Tractor Use, Working with Dogs, Working with Horses, Workshop and Engineering Skills

Level 4 certificate

An advanced option that leads on from the Level 3 certificate. Students spend more time studying farm management systems and must complete a large project that studies a particular farming operation such as working on a 60 bale rotary property milking 1350 cows. They also spend more time on farms honing the technical and practical skills studied in the first year.

NZQA Definitions of Levels 1-5

Source http://www.nzqa.govt.nz

To find out more about NZQA, how various qualifications work and how funding applies please visit the NZQA website.

LEVEL	PROCESS	LEARNING DEMAND	RESPONSIBILITY
1	Carry out processes that: are limited in range are repetitive and familiar are employed within closely defined contexts	Employing: recall a narrow range of knowledge and cognitive skills no generation of new ideas	Applied: in directed activity under close supervision with no responsibility for the work or learning of others
2	Carry out processes that: are moderate in range are established and familiar offer a clear choice of routine responses	Employing: basic operational knowledge readily available information known solutions to familiar problems little generation of new ideas	Applied: in directed activity under general supervision and quality control with some responsibility for quantity and quality with possible responsibility for guiding others
3	Carry out processes that: require a range of well developed skills offer a significant choice of procedures are employed within a range of familiar contexts	Employing: some relevant theoretical knowledge interpretation of available information discretion and judgement a range of known responses to familiar problems	Applied: in directed activity with some autonomy under general supervision and quality checking with significant responsibility for the quantity and quality of output with possible responsibility for the output of others
4	Carry out processes that: require a wide range of technical or scholastic skills offer a considerable choice of procedures are employed in a variety of familiar and unfamiliar contexts	Employing: a broad knowledge base incorporating some theoretical concepts analytical interpretation of information informed judgement a range of sometimes innovative responses to concrete but often unfamiliar problems	Applied: in self-directed activity under broad guidance and evaluation with complete responsibility for quantity and quality of output with possible responsibility for the quantity and quality of the output of others
5	Carry out processes that: require a wide range of specialised technical or scholastic skills involve a wide choice of standard and non-standard procedures are employed in a variety of routine and non-routine contexts	Employing: a broad knowledge base with substantial depth in some areas analytical interpretation of a wide range of data the determination of appropriate methods and procedures in response to a range of concrete problems with some theoretical elements	Applied: in self-directed and sometimes directive activity within broad general guidelines or functions with full responsibility for the nature, quantity and quality of outcomes with possible responsibility for the achievement of group outcome

Please do not hesitate to contact us regarding any of the above.

Phone:	06 378-2116 (8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Monday to Friday)
Fax:	06 377-1106
Freephone:	0800 TARATAHI (0800 8272824)
E-mail:	enquiries@taratahi.ac.nz