HE PAETAHI On the beat
Nä Alice Te Puni Nä Mark Cootes ngä whakaahua
Travis Eruera (Te Whánau-á-Apanui) has started his police career in South Auckland with distinction. He is the first Máori graduate to emerge from the pre-entry programme delivered by Te Wánanga o Aotearoa and then graduate from the Royal New Zealand Police College.
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t’s an education pathway that has given him an enriched understanding of his culture which will help ensure his first steps on the South Auckland beat are confident ones.
“Te Wänanga o Aotearoa definitely helped me,” Travis says. “They motivated us and were always there to offer guidance and support. I was taught to push myself to the extreme and to never give up.”
Travis always wanted to join the police, but was reluctant to do so when he was younger because of the demanding requirements. The pilot programme for the Certificate in Vocational Preparation (Police) held at Manukau campus in 2009 gave Travis the chance to give it a go.
Through the programme, Travis secured defensive driving and first aid certificates, raised his health and fitness levels, addressed numeracy and literacy issues, honed communication and reasoning skills and prepared for the police college entrance test.
He was a “painfully shy” young man facing literacy issues in the beginning of the 18week bridging programme, but that is no longer the case.
But then it’s not as if Travis is a stranger to discipline; he represented New Zealand at inline hockey for five years when he was a student at Onehunga High School. In 2005, his team returned home from the Junior World Cup held in New Orleans with a bronze medal.
During his time at Te Wänanga o Aotearoa and the New Zealand Police College, Travis’ self-confidence grew and, with assistance from a literacy tutor and the trusty dictionary in pocket, he improved his command of English.
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KA MÍHARO
HÓTOKE Winter 2011
HE PAETAHI
During the pre-entry programme, Travis and his 28 classmates - the programme’s inaugural students - were trained in every aspect of police requirements, including te reo Mäori.
“
Te Wänanga o Aotearoa definitely helped me ... I was taught to push myself to the extreme and to never give up.
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