Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I recently conducted the opening of a very beautiful garden at the Catholic Regional College in my electorate, in Sydenham. The garden was the culmination of many hours of work by year 12 Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) students who were tasked with the job of designing and rejuvenating the area in front of their college as part of their overall VCAL studies. This particular project formed the basis of the work related skills curriculum that required students to complete a work project whilst developing occupational health and safety awareness and transferable employability skills.

A local landscaper in the electorate, Mr Michael Casey, was engaged to oversee the project and acted as the 'token' employer whose job was to instruct students on how to go about the design process and how to acquire skills that they would find useful in their working lives. Initially students were split into project teams and submitted their own garden design. The individual designs were then incorporated into one master design that was applied to the final construction of the garden. The project team was also tasked with allocating students and it was all specifically tailored for them so they could best utilise their knowledge and develop their skills in the field of vocational training of their choice. I was struck by the real sense of pride that was conveyed to me by the students who had worked for that period as a team, as they worked together to achieve their ultimate goal, and I want to commend their collegiality and I want to commend the work results that they eventually delivered.

It was a beautiful day in Melbourne and the opening was catered for and hosted by other students at the school who are studying at the Trades Training Centre. The college received $6 million worth of funding in round 1 of the Australian government's Trades Training Centres in Schools Program and it has gone on to build this $8 million centre, which features, amongst other things, a restaurant, a print and design centre and a bakery and patisserie, which by the way sells its produce to members of the public. I was particularly impressed with the professionalism and discipline shown by all students. I want to take this opportunity to thank the principal, Mr Brendan Watson, for the incredible work that he does in assisting his students and in running the school; the staff landscaper, Mr Michael Casey; in particular, the students, Domenic Molluso, Liam Reynolds, Hugo Pereira, Georges Cini, Morgan Bussettil and Jeremy Boland; and as well Jillian Davis, the VCAL learning coordinator. It is a great school and they are great kids doing a great job.

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