s of 23 March, Skills Active is conducting its operations remotely. During the covid-19 pandemic, our team will be at home, getting on with our mahi, and continuing to support our industries.

As we focus our love and care on our whānau and communities right now, we are also sending our love and care out to our industries. If you have any questions, please get in touch with your usual contact person, or give us a call on 0508 4 SKILLS.

These are difficult times for everyone, and right now, the main focus is not on-job training, but rather looking after ourselves, our families and especially our loved ones who are older or otherwise vulnerable.

Having said that, our team is using our online systems to continue to deliver learning and qualification support, even during a lockdown. Like everyone else, we are doing our bit to eliminate all unnecessary contact between people, so that essential workers can continue to get out there and do the critical jobs.

As a cloud-based business, we have been able to switch to full-time remote work for our entire staff, with a few adjustments here and there.

We might not be seeing our workplaces and trainees in person for awhile, but we are still able to deliver all the services they are accustomed to, albeit in slightly different ways. Meetings will be via phone, email or video conference, and almost all documents and resources will be sent and received electronically. Clients will hear from Skills Active as needed, about these alternative arrangements.

To help our industries retain and develop their staff in these challenging conditions, we are setting up a programme of scholarships and other entitlements for our clients, and making sure our learning and assessment processes are online. We are working through the details at the moment, and we’ll have more information to share soon.

For our trainees, once they have made their arrangements for a safe self-isolation period, we are encouraging them to continue on with the theory components of their training, if they can do so. It is a good way to break up the days, stay productive, and take their minds off the challenging situation that we're all in.

For our assessors, we are modifying our in-person moderation and training activities to be hosted virtually, for the time being.

Finally, for anyone who is looking for more information about the pandemic and the lockdown, here are a few useful links to help you stay informed and keep well:

The government Covid-19 website outlines all of the financial support that's available and how to access it

This article from the Mental Health Foundation has great advice on looking after yourself, mentally and physically, while in self-isolation

This post from the Tertiary Education Commission has information about tertiary study, plus scroll down to the bottom for links to all the key government information pages

The Spinoff has written a detailed article about Dos and Don'ts during the lockdown

The Mental Health Foundation also has a useful links section, plus some frequently asked questions.

That's it from us for now - but don't forget we're still here, working away to make sure industry training keeps ticking along in the background, until our industries are able to kick back into gear to provide New Zealanders with the vital sport, recreation and performing arts services that we all love.

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