12 minute read
TOOLBOX BREAKFAST
blueprint australian industry trade college
Industry-driven schooling comes to Brisbane
Industry leaders are thrilled that a new AITC campus, dedicated to producing high calibre, driven apprentices, is opening its doors in Brisbane in January.
STUDENT BREAKOUT AREA
CEO Mark Hands, who is also a Brisbane Grammar School old boy, says it’s the first of its kind for Greater Brisbane. The Spring Hill campus will start the 2022 school year with a small Year 10 cohort to help young people to find their purpose and proudly pursue a pathway in industry.
“Our offering is driven by industry, a word that is purposefully placed in the school’s name,” said Mr Hands.
“The AITC’s unique learning model provides industry with work-ready, reliable apprentices and enables young people to find what fits and love what they do, all whilst completing high school.
“We have young people pursuing pathways in construction, manufacturing, aviation, health, education, transport, hair and beauty, commercial cookery and more.
“We’re for those who want to learn in the classroom, within workplaces and on the job, through work experience and a school-based apprenticeship,” said Mr Hands.
The heavy vehicle industry, like many other sectors in the Australian economy, is suffering from a significant skills shortage. This shortage led the Heavy Vehicle Industry Association (HVIA) to seek new partners like the AITC, to open up a pipeline of talent.
“HVIA is proud to partner with the AITC to connect interested students in a trade pathway, and what we hope will turn into a rewarding, fulfilling career in the heavy vehicle industry,” shared HVIA CEO, Todd Hacking.
Mr Hacking says it is an opportune time for the AITC to open a Brisbane campus and that the heavy vehicle industry “looks forward to continuing our partnership to ensure we provide students with as many opportunities as possible.” “The passion, pride, and enthusiasm of AITC students is demonstrable whenever they are on site,” Mr Hacking added.
A typical school term at the newest AITC campus will consist of 5 weeks in the classroom and 5-7 weeks out in industry in work experience and school-based apprenticeships or traineeships, learning firsthand about the world of work. Most schools allow their students out to work one day a week.
It has been encouraging to see a strong number of enrolment enquiries from Brisbane families, mirroring industry’s need for a school that connects young people with opportunities in industry and industry with great young people.
The campus community – families, employees and industry – celebrated the launch of the new campus at an event held in early December at Newstead Brewery.
ABOVE: LEARNING SPACE + OUTDOOR BREAKOUT AREA
BRISBANE LAUNCH CELEBRATION
DELIBERATELY DIFFERENT.
blueprint australian industry trade college
NAWIC HOLDS FIRST SCHOOL TOOLBOX BREAKFAST AT AITC IPSWICH CAMPUS
More than 100 people attended the inaugural school-based Toolbox Breakfast hosted by the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC).
The event was held at the newly renovated Australian Industry Trade College - Ipswich campus. In attendance were vendor supporters from MEGT, Trade Tools, Apprenticeships Queensland, BUSSQ, TAFE Queensland and Hutchinson Builders. It provided a great networking opportunity for all attendees, with many young people making vital connections in the industry.
The senior school Toolbox Breakfast is the brainchild of Rachael Price, volunteer committee member from NAWIC. Rachael believes having the breakfast on a smaller scale for high schools “will target females who wouldn’t be able to attend our traditional Toolbox Breakfast.”
Rachael says the first school event at the AITC Ipswich campus - where young people complete their senior schooling and start a school-based apprenticeship or traineeship - has been exhilarating. “These young women are the future of our industry. Many tradesmen I have worked with say females bring another level of detail and professionalism to the industry.”
Cr Kate Kunzelmann from the City of Ipswich says she was “particularly struck” by the encouragement of women into trades during the breakfast. “I think that’s really important,” she says. “One of the young women said, ‘No-one could tell her what she couldn’t do.’ I think that’s a really good message.”
After taking a tour of the newly renovated Ipswich campus Cr Kunzelmann described the college as a “lovely premise” and an asset to the community. “Ipswich is going through a huge growth curve; we’re going to need all these apprentices and industry professionals, including carpenters and plumbers, to cope with the growth that we’re going to have.”
Radmila Desic, from the NAWIC Women on Tools Committee says, “it’s amazing to watch the AITC grow. I wish something like this had existed when I was at school.” She believes “having a dedicated school focusing on trades is a really important part of our society. We can’t all do the same thing—we can’t be all things. It’s great these opportunities exist.” AITC student, Hannah moved to the Ipswich campus to have more industry experience as well as focus on her education. Currently on work experience in the construction industry with a commercial cabinet maker, Hannah’s career interest in construction began at the age of five. “I’ve always enjoyed putting flatpacks together from Ikea when I was little — none of it has fallen apart yet! I’ve always shown an interest.”
Hannah believes the Toolbox Breakfast “is very important for us because we need connections we can talk to; we need pathways we can go through. We need that support so we always know there is someone there if we’re struggling to find work experience, if we’re struggling to find an apprenticeship. It’s always good to have that support.”
All AITC Year 11 young women pursuing a construction pathway are members of NAWIC, compliments of the industry-driven school.
Reflection helps with developing the AITC values
DELIBERATELY DIFFERENT.
WHEN A YOUNG PERSON BEGINS THEIR JOURNEY AT THE AITC, THEY ARE ENCOURAGED TO STRENGTHEN THEIR CHARACTER THROUGH VALUES, SHARED EXPERIENCES AND OVERCOMING CHALLENGES. THIS BEGINS DURING THE ROOKIES CHALLENGE AT EMU GULLY AND CONTINUES WITH CAMPUS ACTIVITIES INCLUDING THE REFLECTION WALK. TO DEVELOP A STRONG SENSE OF PURPOSE AND ACHIEVE GOALS, YOUNG PEOPLE ARE ENCOURAGED TO CONNECT WITH THEIR PEERS BY SHARING WHO THEY ARE, WHO THEY WERE AND WHERE THEY WANT TO BE.
who am I? Where do I want to be?
blueprint australian industry trade college
Dave Breeze
REGIONAL INDUSTRY OFFICER — WESTERN
The Reflection Walk encourages young people to talk about themselves and their personal journey. It’s a walk where we go to White Rock which is local to the Ipswich campus. Young people talk about what they want to achieve and what they want to leave behind.
Before heading to White Rock, the team talk about safety first. During the walk, we stop as a group and ask if anyone wants to share their story. We are hoping young people will start thinking about the future and have an idea about what they’re working towards.
It’s nice when some young people start talking about where they’ve come from, their previous school, their behaviour, and they’ve started to understand what the AITC can offer. Hopefully some are inspired by their peers and have the confidence to discuss what they want to change and what they want to leave behind, who they want to make proud and what they want to be here for.
At White Rock, there’s a beautiful view at the top with the horizon in the distance — it’s a beautiful backdrop. It’s powerful listening to a young person be honest with themselves and their peers. The reflection is a good time for us all to come together and after we leave we’ve bonded. Everyone has a back story and a journey. It’s about self-reflection and it’s powerful moving forward.
One young lady really stood out during a reflection. At school she’s always smiling, always positive, she is great in class, just the perfect student in every sense. We knew she was committed to being here for the right reasons. During the reflection walk she stepped forward to talk about her journey.
What she said blew us away. It wasn’t all positive. She said, ‘Dave, at my old school I was the one getting my friends into trouble, I was the one who was misbehaving, I was the one who had the poor attitude.’ I was gobsmacked because I couldn’t see that in this young lady. Her peers were gobsmacked too because they looked at her as a leader. She was very honest. She said ‘I want to be here for the right reasons, I want to get ahead and make my family proud, I want to make myself proud. I want to do this and I think this is the right place to do it.’
She said everything in that five minute talk and made an impact on everyone. Just understanding the change in behaviours and what we expect—she’s got it.
Being on that walk was kind of confronting. It was my first trip with the whole crew. It was a bit confronting because we didn’t know everyone. Seeing everyone share their stories really connected us all together.
I feel like when you open a new adventure you need to leave your whole past behind. To share my story out in the open was to leave it behind and start a new journey.
Rookies was really good and it was very challenging and made us see a different light of each other. Going through that really formed a strong bond through teamwork and made us who we are today. Dave expressed how much my story affected him and how much it inspired him. Everyone after me shared their stories and went into more depth which was really lovely to see.
Hopefully the AITC will help me find my dream job and see me create a successful life. I want to be a nurse. I went into childcare and did a bit of vet work and I’m about to do some farm work but nursing has always been my dream job. I love helping people and seeing that I’ve made an improvement on someone’s life is what I live for.
Lucy McIntyre
INDUSTRY CONSULTANT
White Rock is a peaceful environment to reflect upon what they’re written for their self-analysis. At the top of White Rock, it’s like a blank canvas— symbolic of their life moving forward. It’s a chance for them to reflect in a peaceful environment on what they’ve written and share it with other people and take on board the things other people say.
Some of the things you hear young people say is impressive. Some young people have had trauma, or really bad things happen in their past but it’s really pleasing to see how they can be resilient and be hopeful for their future and be striving for success. Despite the things that have happened to them they’re not going to let it run their life and they’re going to move on and move forward with confidence which is really good to see.
The walk is a way to connect and show young people that we are approachable. I try to be as real as I can. I don’t try and act like someone who is unapproachable, I feel like if you wanted to ask me a question and approach me my answer is genuine and real. If I don’t know the answer I will go and find the answer. I don’t pretend to know something I don’t.
The staff here all have real life experience and I don’t have any problem sharing parts of my life if there’s a moment when that needs to be said. That’s what makes the industry team at this school different.
DELIBERATELY DIFFERENT.
Abbey’s story
blueprint australian industry trade college
Industry ignites AITC curriculum
IN 2021 THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY TRADE COLLEGE CHOSE TO ENHANCE THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF CONNECTING EDUCATION AND INDUSTRY. THE AITC IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE ECOSYSTEM WHICH DETERMINES PROGRESS AND ADVANCEMENT OF SOCIETY – THIS INCLUDES INDUSTRY, BUSINESSES, COMMUNITIES, GOVERNMENTS, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. THE AITC CONTRIBUTES TO THE ECOSYSTEM BY PRODUCING CAPABLE AND CONFIDENT GRADUATES WHO POSSESS TECHNICAL SKILLS, VOCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS AND THEY ARE EQUIPPED TO LEAD THE INDUSTRY OF THE FUTURE.
ELIZA LANE
HEAD OF INDUSTRY EDUCATION
In 2021 we orchestrated a review and redefined our senior (Year 11 and 12) vocational core courses delivered at the College. The key driving success factors of — ongoing industry immersive focus and built-in collaboration with industry — ensures our curriculum is agile, continuously evolving to reflect industry needs, and is always real-world relevant.
This exciting project included a complete review, redesign and reapproval of the current AITC vocational courses delivered. Aligned and shaped to the current, and more importantly, future needs of industry.
Through consultation and consideration the AITC committed to two new courses of qualification for 2022 and beyond:
Year 11 — (FSK20119) Certificate II in Skills for Work and Vocational Pathways
Year 11 — (ICT20120) Certificate II in Applied Digital Technologies
Year 12 — (BSB30220) Certificate III in Entrepreneurship and Business.
Note: (ICT20120) Certificate II in Applied Digital Technologies is delivered as an Industry Skillset, young people will not complete the full qualification.
Feedback received from our young people and industry played a major role in shaping and informing content development and consequent assessment. The AITC Industry Education team invested heavily in external curriculum designers with a history of engaging and shaping learning experiences for different industries, cohorts and sectors. The desire for a deliberately different focus in education is essential for transformation.
As we head towards 2022, and implementation of the new courses, the AITC can use this mandated change as an opportunity to shape and deliver a ‘new’ or different learning experience. This experience can shape and inform industry-driven practice in our other subject matter areas into the future. Ultimately the AITC will provide a deliberately different industry-driven educational experience enabling and empowering our young people.
The AITC offering to our young people is unique, not only because we have strong industry partnerships and relationships, but because of our rich history of industry immersion. Our legacy is built on the shoulders of giants, and the impact is evident far beyond SouthEast Queensland. When we say we are a senior secondary school ‘by industry for industry’, we mean it – when we do this everybody wins.
