In the year 2000 the Minister of Education announced the Gateway initiative called the GATEWAY PROGRAMME. It is designed to strengthen the pathway for students from school to workplace learning.

Gateway offers structured workplace learning opportunities to senior students in secondary schools. Initially the programme was only offered to lower decile schools, but now, due to the success of the programme, it is available to all schools.

The Gateway programme is about students completing a work placement and having their learning in the workplace assessed against unit and/or achievement standards on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) and integrated with their current programme of study.

Te Aroha College has taken the programme on board, with the belief that students who participate in Gateway become more focused at school therefore gain confidence, which allows them to take control of their future selves.

Gateway started at Te Aroha College in 2005. Our number of TEC approved placements has increased from 20 students in 2005 to 45 students in 2010. We are seeing huge benefits for our students and our community.