Buller CiH Popular

Computers in Homes courses remain popular as a waiting list of 65 people is being tackled to fill the courses that begin in July. A Computers in Homes and a Stepping Up course will be offered in each of the 3 centres, with room for up to 45 students. It is very nice to see that the program remains very popular after a year and a half of operation in the Buller.

It is unfortunate that the funding for Stepping UP will run out in December, as many Computers in Homes students come back to further what they have learned.

On the up side, we have also had two spin offs from the courses. Computing for Seniors has been offered in Murchison since March and will be starting up in Westport in term 4. Both programs are being run by Buller REAP in the CiH Pods.

Buller Computers in Homes has Outcomes

Merv Jury, a Computers in Homes student from Ngakawau, is featured in an Outcomes article on the National Computers in Homes website. Merv was awarded for most outstanding story at the graduations in January. View Story

Celebrations in Murchison

Students also celebrated their Computers in Homes success in Murchison last Wednesday. Family and friends gathered to see the latest 16 graduates receive certificates from the program. Anna Bourke was awarded Outstanding students, and Jo Harper received a new printer for the Best Story submitted.

A total of 30 families in Murchison benefited from the program in 2010.

Westport and Ngakawau Graduations

Students who completed the last two sessions of 2010 in Westport and Ngakawau, were all smiles as they received their Computers in Homes certificates last Tuesday evening.


36 students from Westport and 17 students from Ngakawau completed the course, to make it a whopping 108 students complete CiH in the Buller in 2010.

Special prizes were given for Oustanding student and Best Story. Donna Bennett took outstanding student for Ngakawau, while Emma Elliot was awarded the prize for Westport.

Many special stories were submitted for the Best Story award. Students showed off their new talents on the computer by composing a story about what computers in homes had done for their family. Merv Jury took the prize for Ngakawau while Donna Hillier from Westport, impressed us with the powerpoint slideshow she put together with her daughters.

Special guests at the graduation included Major, Pat McManus and CiH National Coordinator, Di Das.

Congrats to all the graduates!

Spring Term in Full Swing

No need to solicite students for this term! Courses are full in Ngakawau, Murchison and Westport. Word of mouth has been the best Marketing tool for us in the Buller. Building relationships with community groups and organisations such as Buller Adult Learning Services, Homebuilders West Coast, and English Second Language Group has been a great asset for the program as well.

NCCG Meeting in Ahipara

This quarterly NCCG meeting was held by the Far North CIH in Ahipara. A great team building bus trip to Cape Reinga was followed by a productive meeting with all the coordinators. Big thanks to Janine, Louis, Emma and Brett for hosting the team.














Above: NCCG team gather at Cape Reinga
















Above: West Coast Coordinator, Cheryl Jackson at the meeting

Buller Computers in Homes in the Media

Buller Computers in Homes appeared in the Westport News this week. As well an article about the Murchison program appeared in the Nelson Leader.

First CiH graduations in Buller

The first Computers in Homes graduations were held for Westport, Ngakawau and Murchison this week.

In all there were 22 graduates from Westport, 7 from Ngakawau and 12 from Murchison. Prizes were given to the most outstanding student from each location:
- Wesport: Janice D. Lance
- Ngakawau: Gilbert Hardaker
- Murchison: Nicole Wilkins

Prizes were also given to the student who submitted the most outstanding story:
- Westport: Charmaine Weaver, Honorable mention - Kay Taylor
- Murchison: Sarah Flintoft

A prize was also given to Harley for volunteering with the larger Westport group.

National Coordinator Di Das attended the graduations from Wellington. Special guest Damien O'Connor also attended the Murchison graduation.

Buller Computers in Homes take 2

New courses are starting in Westport, Ngakwau and Murchison this week.

Course schedules are as follows:
- Westport: Tuesday 10:00 to 12:00 and 12:30 to 2:30
- Murchison: Wednesday 10:30 to 12:30 and 3:00 to 5:00
- Ngakawau: Thursday 12:30 to 2:30 and 6:30 to 8:30


Although the courses are very popular there are still a few spots left, prospective students should contact Jeannie for details.

NCCG Meeting in Wellington

The Computers in Homes team from around New Zealand met up again this week in Wellington. The itinerary included meetings, professtional development, and a drive out to Poirirua to hear an address from Hon. Bill English. Exciting news from Computers in Homes this week was an allocation of funds in the latest government budget! The team was very excited to hear the news as this is the 10 year anniversary of CiH.
Photos above: CiH and Stepping UP group with National Party MPs Bill English and Heikia Parata.

Photo Below: Jeannie and Cheryl with National Party's Kelvin Davis in Wellington.

New Courses starting in June

Spread the word! The next Buller Computers in Homes will be starting the week of June 8th.

Course times will be as follows:

- Westport: Tuesday 12:30 to 2:30 and 7:00 to 9:00pm
- Murchison: Wednesday 10:30 to 12:30 and 3:00 to 5:00pm
- Ngakawau: Thursday 12:30 to 2:30 and 6:30 to 8:30pm

We are currently seeking enrolments in the Westport and Ngakawau courses. The courses in Ngakawau are full, but students can reserve a spot for September courses.

Graduation details

The Westport and Ngakawau graduation will take place on July 27th at the Salvation Army Hall.

The Murchison graduation will be at the Mesy Hall on July 28th.

Students are asked to RSVP to 0800 927 327 before July 20th.

16 Computers find good homes in Westport

Christmas in May! Smiles were ear to ear as students laid eyes on their new computers.

Ngakawau students take home computers

Excited students get to take home their computers after 5 weeks of courses. After a practice run of plugging everything together, they were very keen to get them home and test out what they've learned.

Delivery of Student PCs

We received a delivery of 40 PCs from The Ark this week. Each one needs to be tried and tested before the students get to take them home. We are really lucky to be some of the first Computers in Homes students to receive LCD (flat) screens!

Westport courses get started

We are pleased to be starting our CiH course in Westport at the Salvation Army Hall this week. There are 10 pod PCs connected with 3 spaces for laptop users. Class is scheduled from 12:30 to 2:30 in the day and 7:00 to 9:00pm in the evening. Our day class is almost full, however we are still looking for more night students. If you are interested please contact our tutor, Jeannie at 021 0228 5539 or our coordinator Cheryl at 0800 927 327.

Trainer attends National Computers in Homes meeting

On Wednesday, March 3rd, Cheryl and I flew to Hawkes Bay and drove to Wairoa to meet up with the CiH colleagues from across New Zealand. We got to attend the launch of the new Wairoa CIH Community Training Centre, which was very exciting for the local gang. On Friday was the more formal CIH team meeting. This was an excellent opportunity for me to meet with the CIH support network and learn how other programs are running. It was an exciting week, and I am looking forward to using the things I learned in my program in Buller.

Murchison and Ngakawau courses running smooth

Thanks to the wonderful concept of 'word of mouth' on the coast our courses in Ngakawau and Murchison have filled up with a bunch of keen learners. Each one is looking for their own pathway to learning how to use computers. One of the best parts of computers in homes (besides taking home your own computer eventually), is that courses are kept to basics and students learn what they want to learn. We started with turning the device on and off and then play some games. If learners are keen we do a bit of word processing and they create a poster with what they have learned. Next steps are learning how to keep your computer healthy, how to surf the web, and internet safety.

Classrooms? - Check!

Our Pod in Murchison all set up and waiting for the first Computers in Homes Students!

Launch in Buller and Visit from the National Committee

After much preparation through December and January, we have 3 classrooms running and ready to launch. National Coordinator, Di Das and WestReap ACE Coordinator, Cheryl Jackson, came to launch the program with ICT trainer, Jeannie Bryson, from February 10-12th. Murchison courses will be run out of the local Plunket rooms, with 6 computers and space for a couple of laptops. Northern Buller courses will be running out of the brand new Community Centre in Ngakawau, with 4 computers. The third and final class room has been set up in Westport Salvation Army above the community hall, with 10 computers and space for 5 laptop users. The community has embraced the program and we are excited to get going at the end of February.