Shamsiya Hussainpoor
Ferntree Gully’s St Joseph’s College has been nominated for the 2024 Victorian Training Awards finalists in the category of ‘Small Training Provider of the Year Award.’
Training and Skills Minister Gayle Tierney announced the 40 finalists in the 70th Victorian Training Awards, which recognises and celebrates the outstanding achievements of individuals and organisations in the Victorian vocational education sector.
St Joseph’s College has been a registered training organisation for nearly 20 years.
Electro technology was introduced in 2018 and the plumbing facility has been running in the last 12 months.
The school’s principal, Cathy Livington stated in a LinkedIn post, the recognition is a testament to the school’s collective dedication in providing exceptional vocational education and training.
“It reflects the hard work and commitment of every team memver, whcih profoundly impacts our students success and the broader community,” she stated on her LinkedIn account.
St Joseph’s College director of RTO and pathways Vivienne Egan said she’s very proud of the team at St Joseph’s and their facilities.
“We work very hard to provide exceptional vocational education and training to secondary school students in the eastern suburbs,” Ms Egan said.
“Since covid, it’s been very difficult, especially when vocational education and training is applied teaching, students come and learn skills from certificate II in building and construction, electro technology and plumbing.”
“Whatever skill they are taught in class, they apply that to build their projects in class and in their respective field.”
The Vocational Education and Training (VET) is designed for secondary students in Year 10 – 12 who reside in the Eastern corridor of Victoria – operated through Mullum VET Cluster, a co-operative group of government, Catholic and independent schools operating in partnership with Registered Training Organisations and TAFE’s.
The students haven’t been able to do their training due to the disruption of Covid-19 but with the school’s consistent efforts and new facilities, it has seen a surge in applicants.
“In the past year, our enrolments have doubled, which has been fantastic, and that has a lot to do with the wonderful trainers we have at St Joseph’s,” she said.
“We had building construction, and we had electro technology, and we’ve just finished building a plumbing facility for students.”
“The students are able to do work in a space that simulates real world experiences – it’s been hard, but it’s also been very rewarding this past year.”
Ms Egan said despite the disruption in the last couple of years, the school has worked hard to ensure students are trained to industry standards.
“Our trainers are really looking after the best interests of the students, and training them for jobs of the future,” she said.
When Ms Egan applied for the award, she didn’t expect to hear back due to the high number of applications.
“I was encouraged by our principal, Kathy Livingston who is a great supporter of vocational education and training – I didn’t expect to hear back but it’s a lovely recognition, it means we’re doing things well, and it’s fantastic to be recognised for that,” she said.
“As a finalist, it’s an honour to be recognised and we will continue building on our wonderful facilities, and developing our students, knowledge and skills.”
The school’s motto is “Agite Quae Didicistis,” which means, put into practice what you have learned.
The winners will be announced on Friday 30 August 2024.
