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Goulburn Regional Visit
Successful industry-TAFE partnerships, great initiatives for young people with disability and a valuable workshop with the Goulburn Mulwaree Council.
These were the highlights of a regional visit by the Board of Vocational Education and Training (BVET) to Goulburn, Marulan and Mittagong on Tuesday 16 and Wednesday 17 May 2006.
In Goulburn on Tuesday 16 May the Board visited the huge Coles Myer distribution warehouse where young people with disability from the Crescent School undertake work experience in various roles in areas including the front office and the pay office. A memorandum of understanding between the company, the school and TAFE underpins the arrangement.
The young people involved benefit enormously through personal development and the acquisition of life skills and work skills . For the company, the outcomes of the program include completion of allocated work tasks, and improved relationships with staff and the local community that, as a bonus, contribute to their corporate social responsibility goals.
After a first-rate lunch, prepared and served by Hospitality staff and students at the Goulburn Campus of TAFE NSW Illawarra Institute, Board members toured the attractive campus. They spoke to staff and students in various areas, including Vehicle and Plant Mechanics, Building and Construction, Children’s Services, Information Technology, Business Services (including on-line delivery), Ceramics and Primary Industries. The campus has one of only two residential facilities in TAFE NSW.
In the afternoon the Goulburn Mulwaree Council hosted a workshop for the Board on regional training issues. The workshop was attended by the Mayor, councillors, senior Council managers, business leaders, local employers and representatives of the vocational education and training sector and government and non-government schools. Valuable insights were gained into local training successes and the role vocational education and training can play in meeting the region’s challenges and opportunities.
In Marulan on Wednesday 17 May, Board members toured the Blue Circle Southern Cement limestone mine, the largest of this kind in the southern hemisphere. Members viewed several sites where TAFE students are having considerable success in bush regeneration using methods developed specifically for each site. The students are working at the mine under the supervision of Grant Thomson, the Blue Circle Environmental Officer, and Dr Brian Faulkner, a teacher at the Goulburn TAFE Campus. The projects are win-win for all parties. Students gain career-enhancing experience in creating solutions to real-world business challenges and the company benefits from the leading-edge expertise of Dr Faulkner and the students’ practical application of environmental management principles.
The Board’s final visit to the Challenge Southern Highlands Welby Garden Centre in Mittagong was another illustration of industry-TAFE synergies. Young people with disability work at the Garden Centre, which also runs a light packing operation and a lawn-mowing and garden care business. Provided with the right support, the students are making an economically valuable contribution to this commercially-successful operation.
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Chairman with Paul Stephenson, Mayor of Goulburn Mulwaree Council, after Council-hosted workshop on Tues 16 May 2006
Board members with Steve O'Donnell, Manager, at Coles Myer distribution warehouse, Goulburn Tues 16 May 2006
Board members, company employees and TAFE staff at Blue Circle Southern Cement limestone mine, Marulan Wed 17 May 2006
Board member Bill Wooldridge (left) and Chairman Bert Evans (right) with trainees at Welby Garden Centre, Mittagong Wed 17 May 2006
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