Principal Instructor

'Kotahi anō te kaupapa, ko te oranga o te iwi' - ‘There is only one purpose to our work: the wellness and wellbeing of our people.

About the role | Mō te tūnga
Prison Industries provides the opportunity to learn and develop the people in our care, while participating in the work they are undertaking. This is an important part of working towards reintegration and can enhance opportunities to successfully secure employment on release. The Whanganui Prison Industries is diversifying within their joinery, timber, nursery, and concrete worksites. Our onsite Industries Teams are critical in providing essential services, such as the laundry service, catering, maintaining site grounds, along with asset maintenance, for an effectual prison site operation. Principal Instructors maintain the daily oversight of these functions.
This is an exciting opportunity for a Principal Instructor through leading dedicated Instructors in a purposeful, diverse, and all-inclusive unique working/learning environment at Whanganui Prison.
The Principal Instructor is responsible for the implementation of work based training that meets the need of the learner. Learning pathways are individually prepared for the learner to explore relevant learning content across different context - targeting numeracy and literacy needs with contextualised learning through the work they undertake.
A General Principal Instructor Position has become available currently positioned in the site's Nursery. The nursery can hold approximately 160,000 plants in the nursery, with around 120,000 usually available for sale with the balance being propagation stock. Historically, native plants account for 95% of the stock on hand, with nearly all going to the Clean the Waterways projects run by the Government through the Regional Councils, and then in turn the New Zealand farmers.
Whanganui Prison Nursery is known for supplying eco sourced plants from the regions back to them; May being the usual delivery period each year. Depending on the plant species it can take 9 to up to 18 months from the propagation stage through to the delivered product. This team provide further training opportunities, recognised by many environmental organisations, to those interested in achieving a Grow Safe Certificate in Basic Skills of Weed Spraying, while working within the prison.
The Whanganui Industries, Rehabilitation and Learning Team is looking for a Principal Instructor to join their team. We welcome you to bring your passion and commitment to Ara Poutama Aotearoa and our work in the Whanganui Prison. This leading role will support the team/s with a range of initiatives to lower the proportion of Māori in the Corrections system by using kaupapa Māori and tikanga principles. As a Principal Instructor your role is multi-layered.
You will have some custodial responsibilities, industry-based responsibilities (including health and safety) and responsibilities for training deliverables.
If you have in-depth knowledge of horticulture/nursery production or experience in training nursery production or aligned sector, and you believe you have the skills and experience to work primary industry training organisations within a unique working/learning prison environment we would like to hear from you.
Instructors are expected to hold, or be willing to gain, unit standard 4098, and be willing to participate in professional development programmes and opportunities.
You will be part of a professional team, providing ongoing staff coaching and mentoring, with enthusiasm. The power of industry training is in the opportunity to further coach and develop the people we work with, while participating in the work they are undertaking. You will be responsible for the delivery of site wide work base training, while meeting the need/s of the learner/s.
The Pathway Forward (Te Ara Whakamua) sets the foundation towards planning and facilitating real work projects, working collaboratively across the site towards developing meaningful reintegrative pathways for the people under Corrections' management. You will be actively participating and documenting performance reviews with industry instructors for their learners and contributing to the professional development pathway plans for individuals. Maintaining appropriate academic records through the delivery of high quality standards will be one of the many responsibilities required and undertaken by your direct reports. The industry teams work in a culture of continuous improvement and are committed to working collaboratively with colleagues, Industry Training Organisations, Te Pūkenga, and Iwi, - along with relevant other providers, across the department to ensure opportunities to reduce re-offending are maximised, through effectual reintegration. Bringing previous experience of teaching, transforming people through self
- empowerment and/or leading a learners will be an advantage. If you enjoy developing and transforming people through delivering conte