4 minute read
CARNIVAL DAY
blueprint australian industry trade college
PROVIDES REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE
THIS YEAR OUR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING (VET) FACULTY ON THE GOLD COAST CAME UP WITH A VIBRANT APPROACH TO VET PROJECTS.
VET Projects is part of the Certificate II in Skills for Work and Vocational Pathways in the Year 11 program. In the past VET Projects was run over the course of several weeks where young people worked in groups to create a business. They needed to be entrepreneurial and creative as they set about running their business, without loss, and ideally with a profit for charity — New Hope Cambodia.
This year our VET teachers worked together to brainstorm something a little different and came up with the first AITC VET Carnival Day.
Like any carnival, there were food stalls serving up a variety of delicious foods and entertainment stalls where people could try their luck winning a variety of fantastic prizes. The day was a huge success, and everyone had a great time with all young people, families and staff invited along to the day. Even though the day was festive, young people working on the stalls were critiqued on skills to pass their assessment.
Lisa Godlee, Gold Coast Team Leader explains, as part of the VET carnival event, Year 11 needed to do many things to pass their assessment. “They needed to think about their communication skills and techniques when talking to customers. They also had to price their products and think about the cost of their ingredients, how much they’re going to sell their product for, the return on their investment, and calculating profit,” says Lisa. “The VET team were constantly walking around on the day and observing young people to mark their assessment.”
From a health and safety perspective (which is also part of the project too), “Year 11 had to think about their site plan in terms of health and safety, making sure they had the correct ratio of people to the size of the Gold Coast piazza.” All the finer details were organised prior to the carnival including how customers would approach their stall and risks such as a hot BBQ. Potentially some games involved risks such as the balloon darts game which needed safety precautions put in place. “Every stall was supervised by one staff member, sometimes two, depending on the high-risk activity,” says Lisa.
Behind the scenes it took months of planning. “We started planning in Term 3. The VET team got together and started throwing ideas around and came up with the VET Carnival and decided to run it all on the same day instead of throughout the week,” says Lisa. There were 12 groups in total for the first cohort who organised a variety of delicious food and great entertainment. “Food included hamburgers, bacon and egg rolls, sausage sizzle, we had gourmet chicken wraps, a fairy floss machine, lolly bags, shakes, nachos, soft drinks and more — it was a lot of fun.”
At the carnival, people could buy tokens and use them on food and entertainment.
All money raised from the carnival will go to New Cambodia Hope. “We talked to the young people about New Hope Cambodia prior to the carnival,” says Lisa. “Team Leaders Amy Thompson and Kelly Brickell have both been to New Hope Cambodia and we were able to show pictures to our young people of things we had built in the past.”
“With a project of this size it was great to see our young people having some fun on the day,” says Lisa. “It’s exciting and important for them to be involved in a practical, different type of assessment.”
Lisa says, “we want to say a big thank you to our sponsors and our prize donators as well. We reached out to many of our suppliers and were able to give away lots of great prizes, thanks to them. Once they heard about the charity we were raising funds for, and the fact they were getting behind AITC students and their assessment, they were 100% on board.”
Thanks to our sponsors:
Trade Tools Burleigh Waters Large straw hat, esky and water bottle Bunnings Robina $50 voucher Jett’s Worongary One month gym membership, towel, drink bottle & protein bar Jett’s Robina Two week gym membership and drink bottle Woolworths Robina South $25 voucher Coles Worongary $25 voucher Coles Robina $25 voucher Coles Nerang $25 voucher ArtVo Robina Town Centre Family voucher (2 adults & 2 children) Trade Mutt Men’s shirt, socks and sunglass strap. Women’s shirt and hair ties. Totally Workwear FXD backpack, socks and microfibre
