shaozzy

Hi Mark,
Probably just as well your family are not coming over till you have finished your training. I found that the worst part, i.e. being in a foreign country on my own 'cos Andy was in Wellington and I was in Hamilton. Don't worry about the kids, the school's here are great! And your wife will find work no problem. We are renting in Pirongia at the moment but are looking to buy a place in Te Awamutu which is about 20 minutes drive from the prison and about 25 minutes drive to Hamilton. It is a lovely place and house prices are going down all the time at the moment, some have dropped $20,000 since we have been here! They are still negotiating the pay rise which is supposed to take place in June of this year. Hope I've answered most of your questions, any more feel free to ask.
Sharon
just cant wait to get there now, think it will be hard at first being away from my family, they arnt coming over till ive finnished my training. I intend to stay in wellington till then. Then i will have to get to Hamilton find some where to live and get them over which coupled with work should be a neat trick lol. Are you buying or renting are the house prices reasonable i should have about 100,000 as a deposit. We have 2 children boy 12 girl 6 im hoping they will settle and make friends quickly, especially my boy who seams quite nervous with the move. My daughter is'nt phased at all. Aother concern is finding my wife work, all she has done all her life is work in a sports centre 17yrs lol, nor formal qualifications except being a good mum. She will do anything as far as work goes and to get the home we want i think she will have to due to poor wages for corrections. Any news that this may improve a couple of rumours over here that a good pay offer is on the table. Any enough of my drone i'm sure i will bump into your hubby and look forward to it.

45 days and counting :scared:

Mark[/QUOTE]

MV5555

[/QUOTE]


thanx proberbly talk again:-))

Puppypower

are you ian hullin?
if so contact me by email <<Admin Edit - It is not wise to post your email address on a public forum where it may get picked up by spammers. That type of information can be shared via pm>>
<<PM member for contact details>>

i'm coming over in october
steve

taffinkent

New Zealand is not ready for a S. Power !!!!!!!!!

ranbysue

how's it going in the prison service now you must have settled into it?

Suze

ranbysue

is anyone still posting who's a prison officer?

jocko

Probably all working "A" shifts 7 days a week to try and earn a decent wage ,does'nt leave much time for tinternet.

sky

The prison service must still be having trouble filling their posts, they're advertising again in the papers.

MV5555

Just thought i would post as i have been here well over a year now and thought an update od my experience might be helpful...............Corrections was not for me I'm afraid i left at the begining of june after coping it with it for just over a year, i am now at the Royal New Zealand Police college in my 4th week only 15 to go lol............this differnce in the 2 services is vast the way we are treated, trained and the equipment we are given to be able to do our job is worlds apartand corrections need to get there act together or im afraid the stress, shortage of staff, which in turn effects prisoner care and control will just get worst and so the cycle begins again. The service on the whole has lot of good people but in my short time i spent i have seen more disregard for rules and regulations that keep staff safe than i have in the whole 8 yrs in the uk service.
My hat goes off to the UK staff that are still in the job but the stats dont lie out of every 10 uk staff taken on 8 have either gone back or moved to another carreer. Waikeria prison what a shit hole that is excuse my french but if that was a prison anywhere else in the civilised world it would have been shut years ago i jined that prison with 12 other staff, 3 remain and the 3 remain 1 got promotion the other 2 still havent managed to be accepted into another job and it not for the want of trying.
New Zealand as a country is a beautiful place plenty to do plenty to see, expensive to live here more so than the UK as do dont have as good a wage in most cases. Where ever you are in the world cost of everyday items is the same as the uk and as a prison officer earning 32,000 in the uk 80000nz and change to live on a wage of 43000nz the maths just dont add up you have to budget here unless you come mortgage free.
If you are a UK prison officer and thinking of coming and joining corrections my advice is dont. I'm sure there my be British corrections staff that will say hey what this guy talking about, but this is my experience not theres and they are more than welcome to post to give a differing view.

One final thought to Corrections management What a set of short sighted, stuck in the past people you are. You missed a golden opportunity to take experienced officers with years of experience and a wealth of knowledge, but because you are too blind to see that and to scared of change and of upsetting other staff, you forced them to find careers elsewhere, to organisations or other departments that recognise the skills they bring and use those skills to enhance and bring forward an organisation rather than leaving it stuck in the past and hope it gets by on a wing on a prayer. Corrections have tough times ahead and most of it is becuause of there own mis management and lack of leadership and short sightedness.

Anyone feel free to contact me regarding my experiences.............

Andrew Cross

MV5555

I've been permitted to respond to your posting by Andrew(Sue).

Corrections it's seems is a national disgrace and I agree with everything that you have written. Anybody who does not has either joined the ranks of the ignorant or has simply gone blind. The service is plagued by incompetent managers from Prison Managers down; all turning a blind eye to the failings which I view as almost entirely driven at managerial level. They lack ability and courage to actually manage and most are un-trained to manage. By far Corrections is the worst organization I have ever worked for. Most staff rather than do the jobs expected roam around seeking their NZQA's; awards they don't deserve and awards given in pretence. The Service needs competent independent Inspectors to uncover the shambles that is Corrections. And your right about the overseas experience, it has almost entirely been supressed by middle-managers who clearly resent the more highly trained and experienced officers who threaten their despot kingdoms.

The Corrections Department should look at who's running their Prisons as most of the Unit Managers need to go! Test their competency as they do in other Services and occupations. From my experience I only know of one Unit Manager who is competent enough to perform the role expected. The others would not even qualify to run the local bar. From my observations the Service on the whole has been hijacked by the local 'old pals' networks and clearly it's who you know and not what you know. Question those people and your cards marked; agree with them then you may eventually have a future. But that's hardly the way to bring about change and reform. May be one day Wellington will put in place systems that are sufficient to test accountability. May be one day Regional Managers / Prison managers will think it's a good idea to visit Prison units on a regular basis and see just how disgracefully they are run. This is common in other services and professions, here it's a case of what you don't see you don't know. From what I have heard it's not just Waikeria, Rimutaka etc... even the new Prisons are starting to fall down due to managerial failings. Still they've all got their (give aways) Levels and that's what counts. . ."Hey."

All the best in your new career, most of us have now moved on too. . .

MV5555

cheers andy

BEVS

Hey there MV5555.

Thanks for sharing. I found your post extremely interesting . I think it's good you've taken the time to tell us your experiences.

I'd like to wish you every good luck with your new chosen profession. Hope you enjoy it and have a fulfilling career in the years to come.

slippery

So you didnt get promoted then
Lets be honest nobody ever actually REALLY wanted to work in a prison here or in the UK, it was just a safe option for unskilled workers. If anyone who joined the Prison Service or Corrections because of the " Its what I have always wanted to do!" nonsense, then they are a bloody liar and only suffer this crap proffession as a last resort.
Did anyone think that NZ prisons would be much better than the UK prisons. If so, then why the hell did they have to recruit from nearly every other country in the world. It was never going to be easy EH!

Andrew Cross

Spell check

That would be your opinion then and one I dont agree with.