Improve your computer skills for free
Did you know, at your local Ara community computing hub you can gain computer skills for work, study and everyday life and it won’t cost you a cent!
It’s easy too. You can learn at your own pace and at times that fit around work, family and other commitments. If you’re working, you could even arrange with your employer to study during work time, as part of your professional development.
Courses include beginner, intermediate and advanced-level study in Word, Excel and Powerpoint. You can also learn how to touch-type, use the internet or make a website.
Ara’s friendly tutors will help you gain the skills you need to improve your job opportunities, become more productive at work or just get the most out of all the digital tools available to us these days.
There are five Computing For Free hubs in Christchurch and one each in Timaru and Oamaru. To get started, simply drop into your nearest hub (for locations see
ara.ac.nz/computing) or call 0800 24 24 76.
Poll: 🤖 What skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
The Reserve Bank has shared some pretty blunt advice: there’s no such thing as a “safe” job anymore 🛟😑
Robots are stepping into repetitive roles in factories, plants and warehouses. AI is taking care of the admin tasks that once filled many mid-level office jobs.
We want to know: As the world evolves, what skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
Want to read more? The Press has you covered!
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52.7% Human-centred experience and communication
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14.6% Critical thinking
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30% Resilience and adaptability
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2.7% Other - I will share below!
Share your favourite main crop potato recipe and win a copy of our mag!
Love potatoes? We will give away free copies of the May 2026 issue to readers whose potato recipes are used in our magazine. To be in the running, make sure you email your family's favourite way to enjoy potatoes: mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, by March 1, 2026.
Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
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