Outstanding vocational students of the Shoalhaven have been recognised for their hard work and persistence at the 17th VET Student of the Year awards.
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Eleven winners were crowned at an awards luncheon in Nowra last week.
The event was hosted by Workplace Learning, which provides Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses to high school students across the region.
School-business partnership manager and event co-chair, Linda Hawkins, said the nominated students stood out to their teachers and work placement employers for a variety of reasons.
"Most of them have been nominated because they have done well in their subject at school, or on their work placement with employers," she said.
"But it's not always about how good they do in school. Some of them get jobs out of the work placement, or apprenticeships and traineeships... it's about them growing with it."
The VET Students of the Year are:
- Maddison Healey (Ulladulla High School) - overall winner
- Shani Nicholls (Ulladulla High School) - School Based Trainee
- Jade Barrington (Vincentia High School) - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
- Archie Skinner (Ulladulla High School) - Construction
- William Stanton (Ulladulla High School) - Outdoor Recreation
- Lachlan Rose (Nowra Anglican College) - Additional Needs
- Susanna Fischer (Bomaderry High School) - Primary Industries
- Caitlin Hungerford (Shoalhaven High School) - Hospitality
- Adrien Griffiths (Nowra High School) - Retail Services
- Anthony Gilks (Nowra Anglican College) - Electrotechnology
- Ethan Rebel (Nowra Anglican College) - Entertainment
Awards judge Roslyn Butfield - former head teacher of Bomaderry High School, now retired - said the VET courses readied students for the world outside of school, and help them figure out the next steps.
"[The courses] give them the knowledge and skills that are specific to a certain area - it could be in agriculture or horticulture, in the building area, or hospitality," she said.
"But it also gives them the positive aspects, and puts them in a real life situation.
"In some cases they go 'I'm not sure whether I want to do that'. So the courses give them the ability to make a judgement, if they want to continue on in that field."
At the event, hospitality students from St John's School were tasked with catering and students from Nowra High School took on front of house duties - as a way for the young students to put their studies into practice.
Around 800 students across the South Coast are currently completing a school-based VET subject with Workplace Learning; one VET course counts for two units towards their Higher School Certificate (HSC).
Workplace Learning facilitates courses in the Shoalhaven, Eurobodalla, Illawarra, Southern Highlands and Far South Coast.
Employers reap the rewards of school-based trainees
An important part of the VET course is putting students in a workplace.
This year, the office of Gilmore MP Fiona Phillips took on its first business administration trainee.
Mrs Phillips herself has a background in education. Before entering politics she was a TAFE teacher, and had previously worked for the Shoalhaven Schools Workplace Learning Program.
She said bringing a trainee into her electorate office was a positive experience for all involved.
"Sometimes you can hesitate and think it's a lot of work, but we actually got so much out of it... it was just amazing," Mrs Phillips said.
"I think it's a valuable investment, young people or people of all ages - of course, trainees can be of any age. So it is something I am keen to promote a lot more."