April 2011 E-Newsletter
Welcome to the April 2011 SSA E-Newsletter
Latest News
Service Skills Australia Launches Completion Rates Findings
Service Skills Australia launched the findings of the "Evaluations Frameworks for VET" project on 17 March 2011.
The project commenced in 2010 in response to industry concerns about the prevailing measures of success for VET and its effect on the service industries.
The report was presented by head researcher, John Mitchell of John Mitchell and Associates. Greg Waddell and Jane Trewin of the Gordon Institute, Peter Venables of Integrity Business College and Leanne Morrison of Yum! Restaurants spoke of their experience participating in the research and shared their insights into completion rates.
In contrast to the findings of the Expert Panel into Apprenticeships Traineeships for the 21st Century of completion rates as low as 48%, the report found there was a 90% completion rate among 1600 trainees and apprentices surveyed.
The research also found that most non-completions occur because of life events beyond the control of the student and that most non completers do intend to return to their training once they are able to. As John Mitchell explained "People withdraw because life gets in the way."
The full report is available to download here.
View video footage of the launch via SkillsOne TV
Australian Students to Experience Training in Europe
Students of Brisbane's Hospitality Training Association Inc are packing their bags and travelling to Europe to take part in a government funded exchange program.
The EU/Australia cooperation project aims to promote understanding between the people of the European Union and Australia. The creative industries and hospitality section aims to develop mutual recognition of skills at an international level.
21 HTA students will spend 16 weeks in Italy, Holland and Finland, while 21 students from these countries will study at HTA in Brisbane. Students will study local food, drink and culture for eight weeks and spend eight weeks training in a local establishment.
CEO of HTA, Phillip Charlton, views the exchange as important in terms of skills transferability. "This initiative recognises that our students are able to take the skills they have learnt here in Brisbane anywhere in the world." He also recognises the opportunity to share HTO's success: "in return, by welcoming students from Holland, Finland and Italy, we can showcase our training facilities, experienced trainers and our dynamic tourism and hospitality industry". Charlton added that now, more than ever, the tourism and hospitality industry needs skilled workers who are enthusiastic and knowledgeable and once HTA students return to Australia, they will have a leading edge when entering the industry.
International Benchmarking for the Beauty Industry
The International Professional Standards Network (IPSN) is currently developing an international benchmark for the beauty industry similar to the one previously developed for hairdressing. Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa are working to benchmark skills and knowledge for beauty therapists and nail technicians. Significant progress was made in a recent meeting in Hong Kong where a dynamic workshop was held to profile the occupation and map qualifications. It is anticipated that the benchmarking will be completed by mid 2011 with opportunities for therapists and technicians to apply for certification before the end of the year.
For further information on beauty benchmarking please contact Karen Banks at kbanks@serviceskills.com.au
Service Skills Australia Shares Knowledge with Thai Educators and Trainers
Service Skills Australia hosted a delegation from Thailand on Wednesday 6 April. Guests included representatives from the Office of the Education Council, Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board, The Thai Chamber of Commerce and Board of Trade of Thailand, Labor Welfare Committee, King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok, and Panyapiwat Techno Business School. During the meeting Service Skills Australia shared their knowledge and experience in developing and maintaining capability frameworks, quality assurance in training and assessment and industry involvement and ownership.
Training Package Updates
Tourism Review - Draft One Available for Review
The Tourism Review is now in the Consultation and Feedback stage.
Draft one is available for review and comment. Feeback can be provided by:
- Participating in face to face consultation workshops
- via the Service Skills Australia online Feedback Register
- Email: tma@serviceskills.com.au or info@serviceskills.com.au
National consultation workshops are scheduled for the following dates:
- Sydney, NSW - Wednesday 11 May 2011
- Darwin, NT - Friday 20 May 2011
- Brisbane, QLD - Monday 9 May 2011
- Adelaide, SA - Friday 27 May 2011
- Hobart, TAS - Wednesday 4 May 2011
- Melbourne, VIC - Monday 16 May 2011
- Perth, WA - Tuesday 24 May 2011
See the Tourism, Hospitality and Events Training Package web page for more information.
Travel and Tourism Event - Workforce Development and Training Package Reforms
Join Service Skills Australia, Australian Federation of Travel Agents and Queensland Tourism Industry Council as we discuss workforce development and training package reforms for the travel and tourism industry at the ATEC 2011 Symposium.
- Location: Hamilton Island, QLD
- Date: Wednesday 18 May 2011
- See the Toursim, Hospitality and Events Training Package web page for more information.
SIH11 Hairdressing Update
The continuous improvement of the WRH06 Hairdressing Training Package is reaching its final project stages.
The revised training package has been sent to the state training authorities for feedback and sign off prior to its submission to the National Quality Council for endorsement.
The case for endorsement, qualifications, units and assessment guidelines will be made available on this webpage during the time of submission.
For further information on this project, please contact Lina Robinson at lrobinson@serviceskills.com.au or on 03 8346 8535.
Community Pharmacy Continuous Improvement
Thank you to all of the community pharmacy stakeholders who have provided feedback on the first draft components. Feedback has now closed and the project team are working through it to make improvements to the second draft. The second draft will be available for stakeholder validation in mid May for a period of six weeks. If you would like to discuss this project, contact Karen Banks kbanks@serviceskills.com.au
Events
SFL10 Floristry Training Package Implementation Workshop
To support the quality delivery of the newly endorsed SFL10 Floristry Training Package, Service Skills Australia will be holding implementation workshops for trainers and assessors. These workshops will provide an overview to the new training package, as well as an opportunity for trainers and assessors to network and explore the new training package with peers. The afternoon session will provide an industry perspective on what it means to work as a senior florist compared to a floral designer. These workshops will be co-facilitated by renowned floral designer and trainer Mark Pampling, with the industry session delivered by the winner of the 2011 Intercontinental Cup, floral designer, Bart Hassam.
Workshops will be held in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, with dates now confirmed for May and June. Please see the Service Skills Australia website for workshop dates and registration details or contact Karen Banks at kbanks@serviceskills.com.au
SIB10 Beauty Training Package -Implementing Change Workshop
To support the quality delivery of the SIB10 Training Package, Service Skills Australia will be holding workshops for trainers and assessors. These workshops will provide an overview of assessment strategies within the context of the training package as well as an opportunity for trainers and assessors to network and explore the new training package with peers. The session to be run over a day will include a range of activities and discussions around topics such as clustering units of competency for assessment purposes, managing simulation percentile grading, record keeping and an evaluation of different assessment tools. These workshops will be facilitated by Maciek Fibrich, the director of Future Vision, publisher of RTO Management Magazine and well known consultant to the vocational sector. The workshops will be conducted under Service Skills Australia's Quality Implementation Framework and will be Right Way recognised.
for more information on these workshops, including workshop dates, go to the Service Skills Australia website.
Contact Adam Kilburn for further information akilburn@serviceskills.com.au
Professional Development Workshops in Beauty and Sport Fitness and Recreation
Service Skills Australia will hold training package workshops nationally on training needs and analysis for trainers and assessors in the Sport, Fitness and Recreation sectors and on assessment strategies for the Beauty Sector. Attendance in these workshops will count toward points accumulation for the Trainers and Assessors Right Way Program
Sport, Fitness and Recreation Training Needs Analysis
Service Skills Australia are pleased to present this professional development opportunity for practitioners facilitating internal Training Needs Analysis (TNA), working with teams, enterprises and organisations.
This workshop will be facilitated by Head Workforce Planner and VET Specialist, Wendy Perry from Workforce BluePrint.
One day workshops will be held on the following dates:
- Melbourne 6 May
- Sydney 9 May
- Brisbane 18 May
- Adelaide 26 May
- Perth 30 May
Beauty Assessment Strategies
To support the quality delivery of the SIB10 Training Package, these workshops will provide an overview of assessment strategies within the context of the training package and an opportunity for trainers and assessors to network and explore the new training package with peers. These workshops will be facilitated by Maciek Fibrich, Director of Future Vision. The workshops will be conducted under Service Skills Australia's Quality Implementation Framework on the dates below:
Brisbane 3 May
Sydney 5 May
Hobart 9 May
Melbourne 10 May
Canberra 13 May
Adelaide 17 May
Perth 19 May
To register your interest in attending the workshops and/or further information, please contact Yuen Nirmala at ynirmala@serviceskills.com.au
