News and events

Often our students and members think about the rewards that come from tutoring. And it certainly is rewarding, not in financial terms, but in personal satisfaction that comes with sharing information and experience with your peers, using the structured learning built into our manuals, and you build your own knowledge at the same time.

Our tutors are the backbone of our organisation, and most come up "through the ranks", so you may want to find out more without any engagement, because not everyone makes a good tutor, and there is no point in pressing you into a role that you might not be comfortable with. So come along and see if it has appeal for you. Phone our Course Coordinator, 422 3728 and advise of your intention to participate, or contact me -

Partnering up to improve the safety of senior road users

SeniorNet and the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) have partnered up to improve the safety of senior road users. The NZTA has developed some new online resources and felt that SeniorNets’ community learning network would be a great way to raise awareness of them.

For many older people driving is a key to their independence, and many of them rely on their cars to get around – for shopping, appointments or visiting friends and family.

While older drivers don't have as many crashes as younger drivers, if they do crash they are more at risk of being seriously injured or killed. This is due to increasing physical fragility.

The NZTA’s new education resources for senior road users include the Staying Safe online toolkit at www.nzta.govt.nz/traffic/senior-road-users.

This website section has been designed for older drivers and provides interactive activities and information to help older drivers improve safety for themselves. They’re designed to help people maintain their independence while also staying safe on the road.

The information includes:

· an online self assessment quiz that provides some guidance to senior road users to help them self-examine and compare their own ability with the requirements for safe-driving

· brief video clips of how to keep safe in the following driving situations:

Safe driving rules
Flush medians
Roundabouts
Traffic lights
Motorways
Open road driving

· information on how to choose a safe vehicle

· information on safe alternatives to driving including walking and cycling.

The website has simple usability, there are instructions on how to make the font larger online and navigation has been designed to be straightforward.

Staying Safe workshops

The NZTA has also launched some Staying Safe workshop materials available to any organisation that wants to provide a refresher road safety workshop for senior road users. I’ll be talking to Learning Centres more about this through the year at our Regional Meetings.

The Staying Safe course content and supporting material are designed to help organisations provide classroom-based road safety refresher workshops for senior road users.

More information for organisations interested in running workshops is available at www.nzta.govt.nz/traffic/senior-road-users/staying-safe.html.

There is no direct funding from NZTA to run these courses but the resources can be used free of charge if charges for Staying Safe workshops are for your time, the venue, refreshments, photocopying etc, and not for profit.

TelstraClear want to find ways to provide more help to us and to the members of our Learning Centres. To assist with this they have recently appointed an account manager dedicated to SeniorNet, his name is Matt Bourne.

A Federation of Seniornet Societies was established in November 2006 to support the learning activities with resources and funding.

As SeniorNet Warkworth is now part of the larger, new Federation comprised of 101 SeniorNet societies (at last count) you will want to know how it will benefit you.

Firstly, there will still be the odd form for you to complete to allow us to obtain continuing access to funding. For most this means a Course Enrolment form and an Evaluation at the end of each workshop or course. Both require very little time to complete.

Secondly, the new Federation is now able to negotiate deals on our behalf. For example, if you are an existing TelstraClear customer (or planning to become one) please register your phone account number by calling freephone 0508 011 737 right now, because TelstraClear will pay 3% of your monthly phone/internet bill to the Federation, and they often have some attractive incentives available. More discounts on a variety of other items are offered from time to time.

And thirdly; when considering a Microsoft software or Adobe purchase visit www.seniornet.co.nz or click the link on the home page of this website to visit this site and compare the prices with any others you have. You can order direct from the Federation website.

Finally, visit www.grownups.co.nz because they are running popular photo competitions for SeniorNet members. Last year 3 of our members made the finals. So please enter and also register your vote on a fine standard of photos taken by fellow members throughout New Zealand. The Federation needs your solid support in order to get good results that will feed back to our own club or to you personally.