Vacsal RTO Graduation 2014
Dec 08 2014
On the 3rd December this year (2014) VACSAL held its first graduation for 21 students who completed their Certificate III in Community Services Work. VACSAL delivered its first course in 2014 with outstanding results. The students were offered 3 modes of delivery that included workshop base, workplace and remote delivery. VACSAL recognise the enormous commitment the students made to their studies and many of them are extremely keen to maintain or access employment in the community services sector.
It was a very proud moment for Dr Alf Bamblett (VACSAL’s CEO) to be part of this inaugural occasion. He inspired the students by presenting an address to the graduands about the importance of life long learning and providing leadership in the community. He identified that balancing family, work, community and study commitments is not easy so their achievements were particularly outstanding.
The graduation was one of mixed emotions of joy, achievement and also of deep sadness due to the recent passing of Aunty Regina Walsh (Hope) who was not only a graduand but had contributed significantly to the success of the course. However, her family attended the graduation to receive her testamur and also her ‘Elder Mentoring Award’.
La Trobe University sponsored several educational awards in recognition of particular student’s outstanding achievements. They are as follows:
Mark Rose presented the La Trobe University Award (for further education) to Tracey Onus Williams because of her strong desire to access the opportunity to study at university.
The Dr Alf Bamblett Achievement Award was awarded to Henry Johnson and Jai Charles for demonstrating outstanding strength in their ability to deal with difficult challenges and continued to achieve educational success.
The Aunty Bunta Patten Achievement Award was awarded to Likarri Drake - Gorrie and Deidre King (Junior) for demonstrating outstanding strength in their ability to deal with difficult challenges and continued to achieve educational success.
And finally the Elder Mentoring Award was presented to Daria Atkinson, Ronald Briggs and Aunty Regina Walsh for their excellence in mentoring. They demonstrated the ability to build and nurture relationships with students, provide encouragement and inspire participation. This award was in acknowledgment and appreciation for sharing their knowledge, advice and wisdom throughout the course.
Aunty Linda Bamblett MC’d the evening and thanked the RTO staff team for their hard work and commitment.
Daria Atkinson provided the final word on behalf of the students and said that “the course provided flexible, supportive and culturally appropriate training which was great for us. VACSAL has delivered a high quality course with excellent teachers that strongly considered our individual and community needs”.
