CORE a worthy finalist for the Champion Canterbury Awards 2010

CORE Education—a deserving Champion Canterbury Awards finalist

Since its establishment in 2003, CORE has become one of New Zealand’s foremost educational service providers. With its office in Christchurch, more than 70 staff nationwide, and a turnover in excess of $7 million, CORE can be seen as one of Canterbury’s success stories. Over the past seven years CORE has become an integral part of the local educational landscape, providing a range of services focusing on innovative e-learning, curriculum support, ICT, and school review.

Staff work in schools, tertiary institutions, and ECE centres across the region providing quality professional development and support. CORE is recognised as the Ministry of Education’s preferred provider for services providing development and leadership programmes throughout the country.

In addition, CORE has gained an international reputation for the promotion of new technologies to support teaching and learning, and for pioneering innovation within the education sector.

CORE's mission and approach

CORE’s mission is “to push the boundaries of educational possibility”. Its work across the educational sector concentrates on opportunities to raise learner achievement through engaging educators in 21st Century learning approaches.

CORE was founded on the belief in education as a public good. As a not-for-profit organisation, CORE wins contracts for services that raise the standard of teaching and improve our schools. CORE has a programme of reinvestment into projects supporting research and innovation, in order to constantly strive for better outcomes for our schools, and ultimately for our next generation of citizens.

CORE's services to education and business in Canterbury

Over the past few years CORE has been involved in a range of local initiatives designed to develop and promote educational outcomes for the Canterbury regions. CORE subscribes to the vision of Christchurch as the “e-learning centre” of New Zealand, with the capacity and capabilities to allow rapid uptake of new technology that will assist and develop our learners. Our initiatives are designed to contribute to making this vision a reality.

CORE Education values its staff

CORE prides itself on being a values-driven and participatory company in which all staff contribute to the ongoing development of the organisation. At CORE we believe in empowering our staff, providing what we hope is a safe and supportive environment, but also one in which creativity and innovation are recognised and valued. With the office in Christchurch and staff spread across New Zealand from Whangarei to Invercargill, CORE recognises the need to work hard to develop a sense of CORE whānau.

CORE staff retreats

Every 18 months, CORE holds a staff retreat at Mt Vernon Lodge, Banks Peninsula, where all staff mix, develop professional relationships, contribute to key thinking, and socialise. Over the years, sessions designed and led by staff have been used to grow the strong sense of shared values and vision so evident across the whole organisation. In addition, staff have been involved in developing the strategic direction for CORE, by holding such diverse activities as horse races and Dragon's Dens to hone the company’s focus and direction for the future. During 2009 staff brainstormed ideas for future company investment, and staff have subsequently developed these ideas into initiatives and products for the company.

CORE has embraced social networking

Social networking plays a large part in staff interaction with applications such as Facebook, and Twitter providing those “coffee machine” moments normally conducted face-to-face in a central office. Every month CORE manages to connect about 40 staff simultaneously for its regular company-wide professional development sessions using tools such as Skype and Blink. Staff are encouraged to make presentations at these sessions, utilising varying collaborative technologies.

Professional development for CORE staff

Wherever CORE works, we are at the cutting edge of new technology and our IT Team works hard to find new, exciting tools with which staff can experiment.

CORE is a learning organisation committed to developing and supporting its staff, and it commits a percentage of its annual income to providing extensive professional development opportunities for all staff. In recent times these have included attendance at BBC training programmes in the United Kingdom, attendance at conferences around the world, and support for postgraduate studies.

CORE firmly believes in the value of its staff to the organisation and to education:

Ui mai koe ki ahau he aha te mea nui o te ao, Māku e kī atu he tangata, he tangata, he tangata! Ask me what is the greatest thing in the world, I will reply: It is people, it is people, it is people!