VACSAL RTO GRADUATION 2016
Sep 20 2016
On the 9th September 2016 VACSAL held its third graduation for 31 students. Seven students completed their Certificate III in Community Services Work and 24 students completed their Certificate IV in Community Services Work. VACSAL delivered both qualifications in 2016 with outstanding results. The students were offered 3 modes of delivery that included weekly workshops, remote delivery and workplace only. VACSAL recognises the enormous commitment the students and their families who support the students behind the scenes have made. The students are extremely keen to maintain or access employment in the community services sector so they can support their community.
Dr Alf Bamblett’s dream of VACSAL becoming a quality RTO is well and truly alive. His legacy continues to inspire the students and staff. His dream was to ensure cultural integrity was at the heart of every learning journey.
Linda Bamblett (VACSAL’s EO) provided the opening speech at the graduation. Linda acknowledged the students on their exceptional accomplishment and also thanked the RTO staff team for their hard work and commitment.
Josh Wanganeen provided the ‘address to the graduands’. It was an inspirational speech that encouraged the students to continue their journey for lifelong learning. Casey Atkinson was a brilliant MC on the night and a dedicated co facilitator throughout the year. A special thanks to Emma Wendt for all her hard work throughout the year. The students appreciated her support.
The graduation was one of joy and pride for the student’s outstanding achievements.
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 Skie-Maree Sayers. Skie is keen to enrol in a Diploma of Early Childhood and Education Care with Melbourne Polytechnic.
- The ‘Dr Alf Bamblett Achievement Award’ was awarded to Tindarra Hood. This award recognises students who have shown enormous resilience and demonstrated self-motivation despite challenging barriers and achieved educational success.
- The ‘Aunty Bunta Patten Achievement Award’ was awarded to Merle Martin. This award recognises students who have shown enormous resilience and demonstrated self-motivation despite challenging barriers and achieved educational success.
And finally the ‘Mentoring Award’ was presented to Matthew Douglas for this excellence in mentoring. He demonstrated the ability to build and nurture relationships with students, provide encouragement and inspire participation. This award was in acknowledgment and appreciation for sharing his knowledge, advice and wisdom throughout the course.
Anita Singh and Dixon Patten provided the final word on behalf of the students and said “Our class comes from a very diverse background from our Fijian brother and sister to all over Australia we all bring something different to the group. We have all learnt so much from each other. To kick off the class we prepared our “My Mob” presentations that were a great way to connect with everyone and making that all important connection with family as well as all connecting culturally and becoming one mob. It has been both a privilege and a pleasure to speak on behalf of all the students tonight Just remember, it doesn’t matter your background, your level of education, your age, your gender remember everyone has the right to an education and fully recommend anyone to come to VACSAL to further their education in a Culturally safe environment. ”
In 2016 the Certificate III and IV in Community Services Work developed a short film that related to their assignment for the community development cluster of units. Their message was clear; “Education is the pathway out of poverty and into self-determination and empowerment”. This short film promotes the importance for culturally appropriate training and encourages others to follow their own dreams of accessing education. VACSAL’s RTO staff are very proud of the achievements of the students assessment outcomes.
On behalf of VACSAL we congratulate all students on their excellent success and wish them well for their future endeavours.
Melinda Eason
RTO Manager
