Police and Defence U-Skills students step up for career success

A UCOL programme designed to prepare students for a career in the New Zealand military and aimed at year-12 school pupils is getting good results.

The U-Skills Academy 1-Day Defence Pathways programme offers a taste of military culture – fitness requirements, outdoor activities, team communication, leadership, and stress management.

Lecturer Police and Defence, Rob Duindam, says its aim is to prepare learners for the possibility of meeting entry requirements and give them a better understanding of where their potential lies.

“Students explore how to be resilient and better understand their personal strengths and opportunities for improvement,” Duindam says.

“Learners gain leadership skills and knowledge of team communication and stress management. They engage in outdoor activities, including overnight stays, while learning the physical requirements to make it through the military recruitment process.

They are taught to describe, manage and evaluate personal health and wellbeing to participate in a specific recreation activity. They also learn to demonstrate knowledge of weather information, survival skills and the use of maps in the outdoors,” Duindam explains.

As part of their assessments, they must demonstrate knowledge of how personal contributions influence group functioning in an outdoor activity.

“The programmes have been going so well, we’re thrilled to introduce a U-Skills STAR Police and Defence Pathways Taster Day for those in year 11, enabling students to give it a try before jumping into one of the 1-day per week programmes.”

Rob Duindam spent four years in the NZ Army Infantry, including time in south-east Asia, then served 38 years in the Police, finishing as an Inspector in the National Criminal Investigations Group.

He has taught at UCOL since 2022, lecturing on both the U-Skills Defence and U-Skills Police Pathways to year 12 and 13 students in Palmerston North, Whanganui, and the Kāpiti Coast. He is also one of 12 elected members of the Manawatū District Council.

“I have brought my career skills, knowledge, and experience with me to my UCOL role and have a passion for helping students transition from school to pursuing meaningful careers as young adults.”

“I really enjoyed the course. The outdoor parts were great. The tramping trips and learning survival skills was awesome. I enjoyed the fitness challenges too.” He says Rob is a great teacher. “He really gets stuck in and helps everyone; he’s really invested in everyone enjoying their time.”

Duindam says Lavin clearly enjoyed interacting with his peer group in class. “He had the ability to concentrate when it mattered and gave everything a good go. His persistence and ability to focus resulted in him successfully completing all assessments. He worked hard on his fitness, which improved steadily during the course.”

Lavin completed the course in September last year and applied to join the Army after attending a careers night. He was accepted as a combat driver and will join this month’s June intake when he turns 18.

Having previously considered careers in construction, driving heavy machinery and diesel mechanics, he found “the Army had more of what I was looking for as a career and being a combat driver seems to tick all the boxes I was looking for as well.”

In the meantime, he has been busy helping on the dairy farm, driving tractors, feeding out, and doing twice-daily milkings.

Students increasingly sign up for the U-Skills Academy 1-Day Police Pathways programme, designed for year-13 students on successful completion of the Defence programme. There are similar fitness levels, critical thinking and mental resilience skills required for both careers.

Rob says career options for graduates are dynamic, with many opportunities for advancement.

“The Police Pathways programme teaches students techniques for attending incidents, how to conduct basic investigations and interview witnesses and suspects. Several graduates have gone into NZ Police careers.”

Learn more about the U-Skills Police Academy 1-Day and Defence Academy 1-Day programmes. 

Learn more about the new STAR Police Pathways Taster Day and Defence Pathways Taster Day.