Tour Summary – ACT 2021
It has always been a joy to work in the ACT and a number of factors have supported this. We have a strong and committed team of SALT members who have always been proactive within the ACT and surrounds but who have also been very supportive of the work the mobile team carries out. The two teams mesh together with great synchronicity and this has enabled a full team of workshop tradespeople to be formed in the ACT and surrounding area. The ACT Education Directorate has also always been very encouraging of the work SALT does and helped to keep us connected to schools in their area.
Tour One in the ACT continued the work that SALT has been committed to for many years with our first visit being in the inaugural year of the mobile workshop, 2012, and has continued since that point. The tour included primary and high schools plus a community event and we appreciated working with the National Careers Institute, CIT Bruce Carpentry Department, the Canberra YWCA, Skills Canberra and all the schools we ran workshops in.
Feedback from the high schools resulted in the following:
1. 68% of participants changed what they thought they could do after the workshop
2. 49% were now interested in the construction trades
3. 76% were now interested in more training and experience in the trades
4. 96% stated they wanted to do another workshop like the one they had just completed
5. 100% of Career Advisors stated that the workshop had changed the attitudes of the participants to trade careers.
Comments from Career Advisors included:
• I had one of our disengaged girls come up to me at the end of the workshop and said “this has been the best school day of my life”, “I loved it”. This is a yr10 girl wanting to now get in the industry.
• The workshop was a fantastic opportunity for girls in our school to learn about careers in trade and link with some mentors. They were highly engaged & expressed that the day was enjoyable and made them consider trade careers/further study. It was incredibly well organised & all round an amazing day for our kids.
• I recruited years 6 & 7 students plus two year 9 educationally vulnerable students. All spoke to me during the break about wanting more similar experiences, early on in their secondary education, rather than waiting for work experience in year 10. One way I can support this enthusiasm is to liaise with the year 6 teachers to provide some careers lessons. I will do that as follow up.
As a Workshop Tradie with SALT, it never ceases to amaze me the impact that the Workshop brings to the students. At Caroline Chisholm School the careers advisor was more than helpful and was super excited that several of the students were wishing to participate, as they were quite disengaged at school normally. I also met Susan Beer for the first time as she was joining the SALT team, we all come from different backgrounds and different trades, but have the main goal of making a difference to the attitudes of the students, towards considering a career in the Trades. I also caught up with another workshop tradie, Helene from the Riverina whom I had worked with previously. The camaraderie between all the SALT team is pretty special.
A quote from one of my students “This has been the best day ever, as I normally do not like to be involved. You have made my year!!” Jacquie Forrest – SALT Tradie.
