Macquarie Community College is pleased to announce the launch of its SKILLS4You program, specially designed to train and support migrant women seeking careers in the care sector. SKILLS4You is tailored to increase opportunities for migrant women to gain skills for life and work in Australia, increasing their participation in employment pathways and connecting them with others in their local communities.
The NSW Department of Education has recognised Macquarie Community College as a High Performing Provider for Smart and Skilled. The College has been delivering high quality vocational education and training for more than 70 years and has been contracted under the NSW Government’s Smart and Skilled program since 2015.
This endorsement indicates that we are adopting best practices as outlined in the NSW quality framework and have scored highly in student outcomes surveys that measure course completion rates, employment related outcomes and student satisfaction.
This week we held an event for our Teaching Excellence Awards, Anniversary Awards and Staff Excellence Awards. We celebrated the amazing efforts that our teachers and staff have gone to this year, in order to bring quality training to our students in yet another year of constant change. Congratulations to all our finalists, award winners and anniversary award recipients!
Yesterday we were honoured to host many distinguished guests at the official re-opening of our Blacktown Campus, as well as celebrating 70 years of continuous operations since our origins as the Eastwood Evening College. Auntie Julie Jones, a proud Dharug woman, started the event with a warm Welcome to Country, beautifully delivered in language. She was joined by Mayor of Blacktown, Councillor Tony Bleasdale, Mr Stephen Bali MP, Member for Blacktown, David Collins, Executive Director State Training Services NSW amongst others.
After 70 years of experience in providing highly successful support-based vocational education, our trainers have gained insight into how to deliver programs like JobTrainer/Skilling for Recovery in a way that revolutionises outcomes for adults facing barriers to learning. Our learner-centred approach diverges from the standard one-size-fits-all training model offered by other training organisations and features additional services tailored to the individual. Wraparound services for students include English language training and short workshops focussed on basic work skills.
Community Colleges were amongst the first to pioneer Special Assistances Schools in Australia, like Gateway Community High, an initiative of Macquarie Community College. Post school outcomes are important and encouraging. Graduates have aspirations to earn a degree. The majority are now engaged in work.
Macquarie Community College is thrilled to back in Blacktown, reopening its Blacktown Campus at 125 Main St. Having serviced the Blacktown and Mount Druitt area for more than 20 years, the College has made a difference to tens of thousands of learners in the Western Sydney region providing quality courses and community connections to individuals that face barriers to participation in training or employment. The College will be offering a range of subsidised and fee-free courses under Smart and Skilled and the JobTrainer/Skilling for Recovery programs to eligible students.
We recently received updated results from research conducted in 2019, summarising responses about accredited training delivered in 2018. Again, we are very pleased to share some highlights from this report that showcases how Macquarie Community College continues to provide outstanding outcomes for our students over and above other training providers.
Through a collaboration with Community Migrant Resource Centre (CMRC), the College have been providing services to a targeted population of Armenian speakers. The majority of the students have limited English speaking abilities and limited exposure to digital technologies. The College was asked to see if we could meet these dual needs by crafting a “personalised” training course for this community. By the end of the course, our cohort of students vastly improved their skills and confidence in using a computer and communicating using English.
After the challenges and changes that 2020 brought into our lives I think we will all be glad to welcome in 2021 and make a fresh start in the new year. We think that 2021 should be your year of learning. Start a new career, upskill or take up a new hobby!
