Light refreshments will be provided.

Date Tuesday 19 October 2010

Time 6.30pm–8.30pm

Venue Valleys Restaurant ‘Building G’, Wodonga TAFE 87 McKoy Street, West Wodonga

Invitation Live in Design Information Night (PDF 724kb)

Sustainability - Design

Phone 02 6055 6699

Email design@wodongatafe.edu.au

Kids On Campus operate Vacation Care for school children from 7.30am to 6.00pm daily. All government benefits are available to families. Daily cost includes all meals, drinks and activities unless specified in the program. Places are limited so book soon.

View the Vacation Care Program (PDF 236Kb)

Kids on Campus strive to provide high quality education & care within a safe, nurturing and stimulating environment.

To join the fun contact
Kids On Campus
Wodonga TAFE
02 6055 6635

Start Right Eat Right aims to increase the proportion of young children in long day care introduced to nutritious foods and age appropriate eating patterns in a positive environment and is a suitable strategy for addressing concerns around childhood obesity. The award is funded by the Department of Human Services.

As Kids on Campus Director, Lisa Wiltshire explains “child care centres have the potential to have an enormous positive influence on children’s food preferences. They are ideally placed to allow children to experience a wide variety of foods, providing a good starting point in the development of healthy eating patterns”. Start Right Eat Right training also strengthens the capacity of child care professionals to engage families and provide practical and consistent nutrition information on children’s nutrition.

Training is provided to both the centre director and cooks by an experienced dietician. To achieve the award, centres must then be assessed and demonstrate competency in:

• planning and assessing menus to provide children with 50% of recommended daily intake
• providing a positive mealtime environment
• preparing a comprehensive nutrition policy for their centre
• meeting food safety regulations.

Congratulations to Kids on Campus for this outstanding achievement.

There are three ‘TAFE to CSU’ University Scholarships available to Wodonga TAFE students, and each scholarship is worth $2,500.

Selection is not based solely on academic achievement, so make sure you apply today! Applications close at 5pm on Friday 26 November 2010.

For more information visit our Scholarships page:

www.wodongatafe.edu.au/audience/information/awards-and-scholarships

Employers, particularly in trades areas such as metal fabrication and engineering, require TAFE qualified tradesmen who have completed, for example, their Certificate III over three-four years. This is the minimum time period it takes to develop and understand the techniques required to work safely and effectively in this type of trade. Unaccredited certificate short courses may provide opportunities for people with limited skills and who are new to the industry to become employed at ‘entry level’.

Brendan Tenison-Woods, Manager of Manufacturing at Wodonga TAFE said, “In areas of skills shortages, such as in the engineering sector, some employers will give enthusiastic people with foundation skills a start – but they usually have to be prepared to start at an appropriate level in the organisation commensurate with their skills level.”

“Our policy is to employ skilled trades personnel, these persons having served an apprenticeship through the TAFE system, have the benefit of four years experience in their trade as well as basic knowledge of OH&S.  Short term courses tend to limit skill level and value to the business and our clients”, Manager of J.C. Butko Engineering, Mr John McRae said.

“There is no doubt that entering a trades area is difficult for mature-aged people as apprentice wages are low and it may be difficult for an adult to support a family and lifestyle on these types of wages,” Mr Tenison-Woods said.

Wayne Clarke, owner of MacFab Engineering, agrees with this. However, he maintains from a business point of view that new employees, including newly graduated tradesmen, have to be prepared to learn the trade and be prepared to be paid what they are worth to the business in terms of productivity.

“There are a lot of engineering firms in Albury Wodonga and each firm tends to have their core group of highly capable tradesmen while bringing newly trained tradesmen up through the ranks,” Mr Clarke said. “Until they develop their skills and knowledge through experience on the workshop floor, tradesmen are usually paid award wages. However, when they become highly skilled employees, wages become negotiable.”

While it is clear that TAFE qualifications assist people in getting interviews and ultimately employment by demonstrating to the prospective employer that they are competent in the units covered by the qualification, there are, of course, a range of considerations that also must be taken into account regarding the employability and suitability of people.

In addition, there is that age-old potential barrier for new graduates entering the workforce as employers often habitually seek experience on top of qualifications. However, those industries that are definitely experiencing difficulties in filling vacancies, such as truck driving and metal fabrication, recognise that they need to assist in meeting that need for experience. They generally realise that it is of course it is very difficult for graduates to obtain experience without being employed and they need to contribute to building their collective workforces.

According to Steven Dumesny, Acting Manager of Wodonga TAFE’s National Industrial Training Centre, “Many of our heavy transport clients, for example, provide experience for newly licensed truck drivers by giving them work in the yard with the forklift, as well as providing them with opportunities to participate in trips as a co-driver where they are mentored by a more experienced driver on the job until they are deemed to be capable of managing the rig and the load on their own. For some new employees, this could be a matter of weeks until they have the confidence of the employer to manage the rig on their own. For others it could be longer.”

“It is understandable that trucking and other big equipment businesses are careful with placing skilled and experienced people in charge of their equipment. Not only is this equipment worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, but there is also a safety issue involved with operating this equipment”, he added. “It is a matter of first gaining the skills through formal training, then demonstrating your willingness to learn and gain experience with an employer. Most employers are looking for the right attitude. Many are realising that you hire for attitude and train for skills if necessary.”

Employers in industries such as engineering, transport and civil construction believe that there is a skills shortage in terms of supply of fully qualified and experienced tradesmen. However, potential employees and young apprentices need to understand that attitude and commitment are vital elements to being employable and ultimately being retained as a valued employee in any business.

For more information and interview and photo/footage images please contact Felicity Williams, Marketing Manager at Wodonga TAFE on 02 6055 6923.

Both John McRae and Wayne Clarke are prepared to provide further comment.

Simply email 'subscribe-drive' to shortcourses@wodongatafe.edu.au and you could go in the draw to win a gift pack including a key-ring, business card holder, USB lanyard and a Wodonga TAFE carry bag.

The six-day conference will run from 18-23 July 2010 and will attract around 400 delegates from education and training organisations across Australia and internationally. Delegates will come from universities, TAFE institutes, community colleges, schools, government bodies, corporations and private training organisations.

The conference carries the theme 'Sustainability and Ethics in Business' and will be coordinated by a steering committee made up of members from local education institutions including Charles Sturt University, James Fallon High School, La Trobe University, Riverina Institute of TAFE, Wodonga Institute of TAFE and Wodonga Senior Secondary College.

This conference is the first of its kind for the region and business educators in Australia, and will consist of seminars, workshops and presentations from local industry.  The delegates will visit local businesses and education institutions during their six-day stay.

Mr Prashil Singh, a Project Leader-Learning Partnerships for Wodonga TAFE and the Vice President for the Australian Chapter, is looking forward to meeting with his international counterparts.

“This is a great chance to represent the region as well as build strong relationships within industry and education. The conference will also allow delegates to foster intellectual stimulation around the conference theme of ethics and sustainability in business”. 

“The region will be very busy during this time and it has taken plenty of planning to ensure the conference will be a success. The delegates have an eventful itinerary, which will incorporate industry visits, networking events and a tour of the region”.

Global thinking brings business to Albury Wodonga

The economic and social benefits in having this event in Australia and particularly in Albury Wodonga are significant for all of the businesses and industries in the region. These include:

• marketing Australia as a destination
• showcasing leadership for Tourism Victoria and New South Wales
• regional economic stimulation from international tourism spending from an estimated 100 overseas delegates
• tourism benefit to Melbourne and Sydney via pre and post conference tours
• fostering strong links between industry, universities, TAFE and businesses both national and international
• regional business sustainability through tourism – multiplier effect
• encourage and facilitate the sharing of ideas between countries and industries (intellectual stimulation)
• potential investment attraction
• opportunity for tourism infrastructure investment and development (government and private)
• build local business and education partnerships and contacts
• sharing of issues at national level on sustainability and development.

The SIEC/ISBE is an international organisation which aims to:

• promote the internationalisation of business education and training in co-operation with businesses, industries, educators, and private and public registered training organisations
• foster and develop an international multilingual network of national Chapters and individuals with an interest in business education
• encourage and maintain links between education and business, both nationally and internationally.

The Australian Chapter, established in 2007, is based in Albury-Wodonga and is a non-profit organisation run by volunteers.

Countries which are members of the SIEC/ISBE include Austria, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, England, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, Germany, Iceland, India, Norway, Poland, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.

For itinerary information and interview and photo/footage images please contact Katie Griggs, Marketing Officer at Wodonga TAFE on 02 6055 6330.

First-year apprentices will battle it out in the kitchen using the same main ingredients and racing against the clock at The Valleys Restaurant tomorrow, 1 July.   Like the television show, the apprentices will endure a few nervous weeks as more first-year apprentices will attend the competition on the 28 July.  Second and third-year apprentices will battle it out on the 19^th and 14^th of July.

Each student is required to set up, prepare, cook and serve two plates of each dish and then clean up in the two hours that they are allocated.

Cookery teacher, Christian Beattie said, “it's a fantastic opportunity for regional students to showcase their skills”.

"It is the perfect place for these students to demonstrate their own skill and knowledge in the culinary arts in a pressure situation," Mr Beattie said.

"Our first-year apprentices must use pork fillets as part of their set criteria. Second-year apprentices must bone a whole chicken and use part of that within their dish and our third-year apprentices must use lamb for their main course and make a dessert using pear as the feature ingredient," said Mr Beattie.

 Students must supply their own additional ingredients but cannot bring in pre-made goods such as pasta and may not deep fry anything.

But it’s not all about taste. The final dishes will be judged under the following criteria:

The final challenge the contestants face is cost. First-year apprentices have a budget of only $10 a serving, second years can spend $13 while third years have just $15 to produce a two-course meal.

The two best apprentices from each year level will qualify for the Victorian state finals to be held in Melbourne. The State winners will then compete in the national final later this year. 

For more information on becoming an apprentice, please contact Wodonga TAFE’s Apprenticeship and Traineeship Coordinator on (02) 6055 6542.

Curtis secured his placed in this year’s Australian ‘Trailfinders’ team after winning the Landscape Industry Association of Victoria apprentice of the year award in 2009. Both Curtis’ teachers at Wodonga TAFE and his current employer were ecstatic with his win last year and the experience of a lifetime this year at Chelsea as part of the Trailfinders Australian garden presented by Flemings Nursery.

Landscaping teacher, Kevin Albert said it came as no surprise when Curtis won the award last year.  “He was a very switched-on student when he came to TAFE. He had already been working in the industry and his passion for landscaping was evident. It’s a really great opportunity for a young landscaper to experience the best of the best when it comes to garden design”, said Mr Albert.

In the lead-up to Chelsea, the Trailfinders team were regularly meeting in Melbourne, to practice the set-up of their garden.  For a young 22-year old, the sheer scale of the task was daunting, but Curtis’ eye for detail and genuine passion for landscaping held him in good stead for the event.  To bring the tropical-inspired outdoor design to life the team of Australia’s best landscapers worked 14 hours days throughout the 17-day build-up to the opening of the Chelsea Garden Show.

Designed by Scott Wynd of TLC Pools, the garden’s lap pool, spa and wet bar were a first for the show and proved a huge hit in the United Kingdom with judges impressed by the complementary design elements and planting features.

Curtis’ employer, Brad Andrews, is also very pleased with this exciting start to Curtis’ career, saying “I was happy to nominate Curtis for the award. He has a real passion for the industry. It’s a really big coup for someone locally to achieve this award and to travel to Chelsea. It really lifts the profile of landscaping as an exciting career path”.

So what’s next for this young award winner? Catching up on some sleep and trying to fit in landscaping around our winter weather.

Download 2011 Course Guide.