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Frequently Asked Questions - National Rafting Awards

Where did the Rafting Awards come from?
How up to date are the awards?
What are my options to be assessed?
What does an assessment involve?
What is the role of a Raft award Assessor?
Is the assessment the same for a Grade 2 award?

Q:  Where did the Rafting Awards come from?

A:  The Rafting Awards were developed originally in 1996 on the recommendation of a review of the New Zealand commercial whitewater rafting industry conducted by the Maritime Safety Authority and the rafting industry. The review recommended that qualifications for raft guides and senior raft guides be mandatory.

There were qualifications operating in the rafting industry prior to the review. These include New Zealand River Guides Association qualifications and registration requirements from the Queenstown Lakes District Council. Many elements of these qualifications have been incorporated into the current awards.

The main difference between previous rafting qualifications and the current awards are that they are now national legal requirements.

Other key recommendations of that review were for regulation of the whitewater rafting industry, the requirement for operators to have an audited Safe Operational Plan and for the formation of an industry association (now the New Zealand Rafting Association). All of these recommendations have been actioned.

 

Q:  How up to date are the awards?

A:  The awards have been reviewed and adjusted by the industry twice since they were first developed. The current awards are the result of a major review conducted in 2003.

Q:  What are my options to be assessed?

A:  The focus of the award system is assessment of candidates’ skills and knowledge for each of the awards.

National Raft Guide Award Grade 2

This award can be assessed by any qualified National Senior Raft Guide but can only be reported to Sfrito by a registered raft assessor. The assessment may be organised by a rafting company for its current or future staff or by a training provider for its students.

All other awards

All other awards are assessed by a Raft Assessor.

Below are the five main ways that assessments are organised for these awards. A candidate may actually experience a combination of these approaches as they work their way through the award pathway.

1. A rafting company uses its in house assessor/s to assess its own guide candidates as
   part of an internal training system.

2. An assessor can be contracted to a company or to a group of guide candidates who want 
    to be assessed.

3. The New Zealand Rafting Association organises assessment courses on particular dates
    for awards and raft guide candidates travel to the venue to be assessed.

4. A training provider uses its in house assessor/s to assess students as part of a raft guide
    training course.

5. A training provider organises an assessor to come in and assess its students as part of a
    raft guide training course. A training provider (such as a polytechnic) organises an  
    assessor to come in and assess its students as part of a raft guide training course.

Q:  What does an assessment involve?

A:  Assessments can be organised differently. For example, an assessment conducted in-house as part of a company’s training system may take place over several weeks and the guide will be assessed as competent when the assessor feels that they have enough evidence. By contrast, an assessment conducted on a New Zealand Raft Association (NZRA) assessment course will involve a series of formal tasks over a matter of days with time allocated to assessment and feedback, rather than training.

There are, however, some things that all assessments will involve: The assessor will discuss with the candidate the award, the standard expected, the assessment process, schedule for the assessment, the reporting process, the feedback approach, the appeals process, costs for the assessment and encourage questions from candidates to ensure that everything is very clear prior to the assessment occurring; Some of this may be in writing and should be done prior to assessment; The assessor will want to see a copy of a current first aid certificate; For some awards the candidate will need to show the assessor logged evidence of experience that meets the minimum standard required; During the assessment, tasks will be clearly explained and the candidate will be able to clarify any tasks or question posed by the assessor; The assessor will observe candidate performance to assess if the award standard is met.

The candidate will have to answer questions from the assessor. In some cases (but not always) the candidate may be asked to complete a written component; The candidate will receive ongoing feedback during the assessment about the performance; At the close of the assessment the candidate will be advised of the assessor’s decision; Successful results will be forwarded to Sfrito along with fees and the candidate will be sent the appropriate award. The candidate’s details will be entered on the publicly available Sfrito website Raft Guide database.

Q:  What is the role of a Raft Award Assessor?

A:  Sfrito Raft Assessors are experienced in the industry. Only people who meet the following criteria set by Sfrito and NZRA can be assessors. They must:

1. Hold a NZ Senior National Guide Award Grade 3 and can assess up to that grade (or NZ
    Senior National Guide Award 4/5 and can assess up to that grade);

2. Have at least five years commercial rafting experience; During that 5 years you must have
    been involved in raft guide training;

3. Have attended the NZRA Rescue Workshop or Swift Water Rescue SRT Tech 2 course
    within the past two years; Be nominated by a workplace, or as a company owner be
    nominated by an assessor;

4. Be approved by NZRA as an assessor and signed off by a Rafting Registrar; and

5. Be registered by Sfrito which means attended assessor training and been assessed as
    competent for unit standard 4098.

Q:  Is the Assessment the same for a Grade 2 Award?

A:  For this award there is an alternative assessment pathway which is called an evidence verfifier model.

In rafting the evidence verifier must be a National Senior Guide. The evidence verifier can conduct the assessment and will engage the services of an assessor. The evidence verifier will forward the necessary documentation to the assessor.

It is not necessary for the assessor to be on site during the assessment however there should be adequate communication between the assessor and the evidence verifier. If the assessor feels it is necessary to visit the site and observe the assessment, this would be an arrangement between the evidence verifier and the assessor.

In all cases where an evidence verifier is used, the assessor retains responsibility for ensuring assessment standards are met. The assessor reports the credit – either to Sfrito or to their training provider (eg polytechnic).

Assessors using evidence verifiers need to ensure that their evidence verifiers know the following in advance of the assessment activity:

· Tasks they are verifying evidence for;

· Standards required to confirm competency;

· Timeframes over which the evidence verification will occur; οΎ§ How the evidence should be 
  recorded; and

· The reporting requirements e.g. to whom, timeline, etc.

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