We welcomed VIPs including Victorian State MPs Gayle Tierney and Katie Hall, representatives from the Adult, Community and Further Education Board and WCIG’s own leaders to celebrate the power of partnerships and lifelong learning for Adult Learner’s Week 2020, and the success of a new Foundation Skills initiative between WCIG and William Angliss Institute.
In 2019, the folks at William Angliss Institute were increasingly concerned that prospective students who didn’t pass their Language, Literacy and Numeracy (LLN) test, which is part of the enrolment process for all students, weren’t being assisted as much as they could be to address the gaps in their skills.
There are lots of reasons why some people don’t have foundational LLN skills at the ready – often people who were born overseas or are mature aged either hadn’t learned things like that before, or had forgotten them long ago.
Alongside the LLN skills, other vital parts of starting an accredited course range from being able to write an essay, draft a letter and even approaching how to study effectively in the first place. To address this, WCIG and Angliss teamed up to develop a tailored course, addressing individual skill gaps and enable students to have second chance at successfully reapplying for their dream qualification. Out of the first group of students, 6 out of the 7 were successfully granted admission to their chosen courses.
In seeing the work we were doing within the community, Gayle Tierney MP was delighted at what the partnership represented; “this is exactly what we need to see in our communities, where we see that connection between our community organisations, our Learn Locals and our local TAFEs that do foster confidence, [and] provide the skills that are needed.”
Initially, the course was designed to be delivered face to face, on campus at Angliss, to provide an immersive and community-orientated study experience. Despite the challenges of COVID19, the course was successfully modified to be delivered online. Branka Stevanovic, WCIG’s RTO Manager and also the teacher for the course, gave an accounting on how remaining adaptable and open minded resulted in a strong cohesion with the group;
“Occasionally, we faced challenges with internet connections, devices not cooperating et cetera, however it didn’t discourage the students. We maintained good communication throughout the course via emails and messages so that the students felt they were supported all the way through. Students were encouraged to seek help throughout the week and not only on class days.”
Student Jude Disanakaya successfully completed the course, and as a result, enrolled in a Certificate III in Aviation (Cabin Crew). He remarked that the supportive experience with both RTOs had given him “the highest level of pleasure” to have completed the training and subsequently enter into a qualification with a traditionally competitive base of entry.
Katie Hall MP praised the initiative, in its timeliness with COVID19 causing such disruption to industry across the board: “I don’t think there’s a more important time in our history to be supporting and promoting initiatives for people to ‘skill-up’ and retrain.”
We are very proud of the students and of our local community connections and look forward to continuing to address the needs of the community with new innovations where they are required.
For more information on our study and employment preparation workshops and courses, contact our friendly team. Expressions of interest are always welcome!
