waves
MAGAZINE
NEWS AND EVENTS VOLUME 8_NUMBER 3 SEPTEMBER 2014
A message from the Challenger executive team Welcome to the September edition of Waves. This column comes from the Challenger executive team, who have all spent time over the past couple of months in the CEO’s chair while Liz Harris has been enjoying some well-deserved long service leave. The upskilling of the executive team forms just one part of the institute’s focus on growing the collective capability of its people through providing relevant learning and career enhancement opportunities for all staff. Following the same theme, on page 9 you can read about Sew Leng Puah, a former Challenger engineering student now teacher at the institute’s Australian Centre for Energy and Process Training. Ms Puah, who is thriving in her new role, was encouraged by her lecturers to apply for a teaching positon at the centre based on her positive training experience and achievements in her studies. It’s the discretionary and unwavering effort of all Challenger staff that has resulted in a period of great success and recognition across the institute.
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In particular, the hospitality and tourism training area has added yet another prestigious state award to an already very full trophy cabinet. The area’s Quinlan’s Training Restaurant claimed its fourth consecutive Savour Australia Restaurant and Catering HOSTPLUS Award for Excellence (WA) at the recent awards ceremony. Quinlan’s has won Best Restaurant in a Training Institute category every year since the award’s induction, testament to the hard work and dedication of hospitality staff and students (page 8).
The personal achievements and commitment of Challenger students in recent weeks has also been exceptional. Again in the hospitality area, Challenger apprentice cook Morgan Keyte is representing Australia this month in the international Chaine des Rotisseurs Jeunes Commis competiton in South Africa. Morgan out-cooked six national competitors representing each state in Australia to earn this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (page 6-7). Another young chef in the making, Taylor Wood, has been recently named WA School Based Apprentice of the Year 2014 at the WA Training Awards. Taylor was among just 13 winners of individual and organisation categories chosen from a competitive f ield of 42 f inalists (page 6). Taylor joined a strong team of four individual Challenger f inalists across three categories at the awards. Challenger’s international area was also a f inalist in the International Training Provider of the Year 2014 category. It’s the f irst time the institute has entered this award category and to be selected as a f inalist in the f irst year of applying is an outstanding achievement. And to round off this purple patch of success our cover model this month, former Challenger student now cricket pitch curator Luke Cooney, has taken out Australia’s premier award for turf graduates (page 5). These accomplishments don’t go unnoticed and ref lect the high quality and diversity of training and ongoing support provided at Challenger. We hope you enjoy reading this edition of Waves. The executive team Challenger Institute of Technology
Maritime program throws lifeline to troubled youth “School held absolutely no interest for me and I just could not see the point of bothering to turn up.” For 15-year-old Michael, high school was little more than an environment where his conf idence was routinely sapped and his self-esteem undermined. Illiteracy, unstable home lives, substance abuse, health issues and personal turmoil are just some of the catalysts for students to retreat from school life. When Michael’s regular absenteeism and non-existent grades came to the attention of the Department of Education, he was introduced to Challenger Institute. For more than a decade the Maritime Youth Program (MYP), conducted at Challenger and funded by the Education Department, has been throwing a career lifeline to struggling high school-age students like Michael. Students who complete the six-week MYP course attain a Certif icate I in Fishing Operations and a Recreational Skippers Ticket. The Education Department’s Participation Unit identif ies students who might benef it from the MYP. Sometimes the schools alert the unit to students who require intervention. Other students, including those who have moved to new suburbs and not engaged with their new local school, are identif ied when they turn up at youth centres, charities or other support agencies. Challenger marine and logistics lecturer Andrew Ings has orchestrated and witnessed the difference the course can make to the lives of the teenagers who stick it out. “We've had young people who have barely attended high school turn their lives around completely,” he said.
Cover: Certif icate III in Sports Turf Management graduate Luke Cooney.
“For the first time in my life, I feel like I am achieving something... it’s going alright for once.” Michael, 15, Maritime Youth Program student
Challenger lecturer Andrew Ings provides guidance to a Maritime Youth Program student.
“Some have gone on to pre-apprenticeships at major shipbuilding companies in Henderson, others have found work on f ishing boats and with boat refurbishment f irms, or they’ve found employment on the Rottnest Express and in other maritime and marine industries,” Mr Ings said.
“Education Department and Challenger representatives meet regularly to discuss the course, what is working, what can be improved and to ensure that the expected outcomes from the funding are being achieved,” Mr Woods said.
Some students go on to complete the Certif icate II in Fishing Operations or other maritime courses at Challenger.
“The Maritime Youth Program is unique in WA and provides an opportunity for our at-risk and disengaged young people to access a course that would usually be out of reach.
For these successful students, careers as deckhands in the resources and f ishing sectors can await, while a handful have gone on to obtain integrated ratings and master class certif icates that allow them to skipper large commercial vessels. The collaboration between Challenger and the Department of Education provides an opportunity to tailor individual pathway plans for each of the young people to follow after the course. Education Department engagement and transitions manager Joel Woods said the students’ diff icult backgrounds sometimes elicited respect for the daunting obstacles they had overcome and dealt with in their lives. For others, a lack of conf idence had created a cycle of academic failure that needed to be broken.
“With funding availability and Challenger's support, we hope to continue with this important program,” he said. During a lesson on a Challenger training boat in Fremantle Harbour, student Michael summed up how the course changed lives. “For the f irst time in my life, I feel like I am achieving something. The guys doing the course are now my mates and we’re not embarrassed in front of each other if we get something wrong – it’s going alright for once.”
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Ryan clutches opportunity
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to accelerate career
Hands-on: Lecturer Peter Arthurell with students Daniel Bucciarelli and Ryan Boyd.
Ryan Boyd loves anything to do with motorcycles and the 20-year-old is preparing to work in the area he is most passionate about. “I grew up on a farm, so I’ve been around motorbikes for most of my life,” he said. “I want to be a motorcycle mechanic and hopefully have my own business one day.” Ryan is enrolled in Challenger Institute’s motorcycle technology training course at its state-of-the-art Kwinana automotive campus. Lecturer Peter Arthurell said the course allowed aspiring motorcycle mechanics to sharpen their skills and car mechanic apprentices to broaden their experience. “It is part of the light automotive technology course, where students can choose to do car or motorbike mechanics,” he said. The course started last year when Kawasaki Australia donated equipment, including a 1000cc road bike, to the institute. “We’ve had great support from Kawasaki, so the students get hands-on working with motorcycles,” Mr Arthurell said.
He said the Certif icate III in Motorcycle Mechanical Technology was in its early days and creating excitement within the industry. “It’s a nationally recognised motorcycle qualif ication delivered in an area of high motorcycle usage and demand,” he said. The course prepares new employees and develops existing workers performing mechanical work in the automotive motorcycle service and repair industry. Among the broad range of skills taught are diagnostics and the repair of electrical systems, testing and repairing motorcycle mechanical systems, transmissions and cooling systems, effective communication and health and safety practices.
Sports fields are Luke's turf
Rolling the opposition: Luke Cooney will tour the United States as part of his national award win.
A love of sport and the courage to look beyond economics has led to Challenger Institute student Luke Cooney winning Australia’s premier award for turf graduates. A graduate of Challenger’s Certif icate III in Sports Turf Management, Luke’s National Australian Sports Turf Graduate Award was recently presented at a lavish ceremony on the Gold Coast. As part of the prize, Luke, now the cricket curator for Hale School in Wembley Downs, will attend a sports f ield conference in the United States and industry events around Australia. During the judging process Luke was required to deliver a presentation and f ield questions from a panel of judges that included legendary former Adelaide Oval curator Les Burdett. It’s the second time in three years a Challenger graduate has claimed this coveted award, following Rory Bairnsfather-Scott’s win in 2012. Rory went on to work as a groundsman at the WACA cricket ground. The def ining moment in Luke’s new career came when he was in the third year of an economics degree. “I was dreading the idea of spending 80 hours a week stuck in an off ice making other people rich. At the same time, the English curator at my local cricket club got homesick with six weeks to go in the season, leaving the club without anyone to roll the pitches,” Luke said. “I put my hand up and, with nothing more than the knowledge gained from watching (late television commentator) Tony Greig sticking a key in the wicket and some welcome advice from a WACA groundsman, got through the season. “The next season the club offered me the role of curator, which I accepted with open arms, and a career in the turf industry was born.” Cricket pitch preparation is a craft that takes years to master and one in which Luke is quickly forging a name for himself. He completed his apprenticeship during a f ive-year stint at the University of Western Australia and now prepares pitches alongside Hale’s director of cricket, former Australian Test cricket captain Kim Hughes. Luke singled out his Challenger lecturers as driving forces behind his career transition and subsequent success. “Without a doubt, the best thing about my studies was the knowledge, experience and guidance of my lecturers Wayne Miller, John Forrest, Jeff Austen and Rob Williams,” he said. “The Challenger course at its Murdoch campus really does equip you to succeed in this competitive industry.”
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Young apprentice claims state’s top award Challenger student Taylor Wood has been named Western Australian School-Based Apprentice of the Year 2014. The award was announced at the recent WA Training Awards presentation dinner by Training and Workforce Development Minister Kim Hames.
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“The WA Training Awards is the premier event that allows us to acknowledge and celebrate high achievers in the state’s vocational education and training sector,” Dr Hames said. “The Awards’ judges were impressed with Taylor’s enthusiasm for her work and her commitment to continue building on the skills she has already learned. “I congratulate Taylor on her exceptional accomplishment.”
Taylor Wood accepts her WA Training Award.
The Certif icate III in Commercial Cookery student has a passion for her industry and being able to create food for people to enjoy. This led her to pursue a career in hospitality and to carry out her school-based chef apprenticeship through Hospitality Group Training, hosted by Matilda Bay Restaurant. Taylor is a strong advocate for the school-based apprenticeship, as it has allowed her to complete her WA Certif icate of Education while also getting a head start on her career. She is keen to share the experiences of her training pathway with others. Taylor, a Peel campus student from Warnbro, was among just 13 winners of individual and organisation categories, chosen from a competitive f ield of 42 f inalists. She will now represent WA at the Australian Training Awards to be held in Adelaide in November.
An apprentice chef from Hamilton Hill is hoping to cook up an international title after claiming first place in the Chaine des Rotisseurs Jeunes Commis national competition. Morgan Keyte, 20, out-cooked six national competitors representing each state in Australia to secure the top prize, which has seen him travel to South Africa to compete in the f inal. The Challenger Institute Certif icate III in Commercial Cookery student is in the f inal year of his apprenticeship at Mosmans Restaurant in Mosman Park. Morgan said winning the competition was a humbling experience. “Participating in this world-acclaimed cooking competition with the calibre of chefs I was competing against was daunting but highly rewarding,” Morgan said.
Challenger’s kitchen rules “I was only 19 when I competed, making me the youngest and only nonqualif ied chef in the whole event. “To think I was even considered worthy of entering the competition, let alone winning it, is incredible. I’m still pinching myself.” The competition held at Challenger Institute’s student-operated training restaurant, Quinlan’s, involved a mystery box of nine ingredients that the competitors were required to incorporate into their three-course menu. The chefs were assessed on their kitchen skills and conduct as well as the presentation and taste of their dishes. Challenger hospitality lecturer Phil Westwood said Morgan’s f irst place title was most deserved and he should be very proud of his achievements. Mr Westwood will be joining Morgan as his mentor at the international event.
“The competition this year demonstrated that food awareness, knowledge and presentation in some of our younger chefs is on par with the rest of the world,” Mr Westwood said. “Morgan is an exceptional young chef who has a great understanding, passion and skill with food. I truly believe Morgan has the talent and ability to go as far as he wants to go in the cooking world.” After Morgan completes his apprenticeship he hopes to travel overseas and gain cooking experience in different countries. “The best thing about being a chef is that you can do this profession anywhere in the world while being able to experience new cuisines and ways of cooking,” Morgan said. “My career goal is to be a head chef by the age of 25. It’s ambitious but I’m conf ident I can do it.”
Morgan will be representing Australia at the Chaine des Rotisseurs Jeunes Commis international competition in Durban in South Africa this September. Young chefs from more than 20 countries will be participating in the prestigious annual event, which has been running since 1977. The Chaine des Rotisseurs is an international gastronomic society founded in Paris in 1950, with origins dating back to 1248. The goal of the society is to bring its members together to celebrate their passion for f ine cuisines, and to aid and encourage the development of young chefs worldwide through its national and international competitions. Challenger’s School of Hospitality and Tourism is a multi-award winning specialist training area that prepares students for careers in commercial cookery, tourism, event management, food and beverage service, accommodation services and kitchen operations. Students receive hands-on experience at the Gold Plate Award-winning Quinlan's Training Restaurant. The school also offers a range of hospitality short courses.
Morgan Keyte in the Quinlan’s kitchen.
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Training restaurant savours award number four
Leo Smith and hospitality and tourism director Margaret Gannaway with the four awards.
Challenger Institute’s Quinlan’s Training Restaurant has won its fourth consecutive Savour Australia Restaurant and Catering HOSTPLUS Award for Excellence (WA). Quinlan’s claimed the Best Restaurant in a Training Institute category at the prestigious awards ceremony held recently at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. Challenger Institute hospitality and tourism program manager Leo Smith said this was a fantastic achievement for the institute, especially given this category had only been introduced to the awards program four years ago. “Quinlan’s has won this award every year since its induction, which is an unprecedented achievement,” Mr Smith said. “This adds to our impressive awards honour list, including our coveted place in the WA Gold Plate Awards Prix D’Honneur and induction into the WA Tourism Awards Hall of Fame last year.
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“The quality of our training is unparalleled in the state, and I’m so proud of our hospitality, tourism and events staff and students who deserve this highest level of recognition for their hard work and dedication.
“The standard of food and service at our training restaurant is very popular with the local community, and it’s not uncommon for the restaurant to be booked out several weeks in advance.” Quinlan’s is located at the Beaconsf ield campus and is open for lunch and dinner during institute semesters. Quinlan’s on High, located on Fremantle’s High Street, is also open for a café-style lunch during semesters. The Savour Australia Restaurant and Catering HOSTPLUS Awards for Excellence are the most dependable and authoritative guide to Australia’s best restaurants and caterers. The awards are judged by a team of trained adjudicators who anonymously visit the venues to determine the winners.
Logistics program yields results Challenger Institute has partnered with one of the world’s most respected international logistics and transport associations to provide employment skills and education to Year 11 and 12 Aboriginal students throughout Western Australia. Project YIELD (Youth Indigenous Education in Logistics Disciplines), launched recently by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Australia Incorporated (CILTA), will assist and mentor Aboriginal students as they enter the workforce for the f irst time. The program takes a hands-on approach, helping students gain employment within the transport and logistics sector at the completion of their studies. The program sources funding from government and industry, with approved education providers delivering school-based certif icate II, III and IV transport, logistics and warehousing courses. At the completion of their schooling, the students are equipped with recognised qualif ications and assisted in gaining employment with metropolitan Perth and regional WA companies.
Founded in 1919 in the United Kingdom, CILTA is today part of a worldwide organisation with more than 30,000 members. Challenger’s involvement with CILTA’s WA chapter bolsters its industry networking capabilities. Challenger offers certif icate courses in stevedoring and warehousing operations, and certif icate and diploma courses in logistics. Challenger also collaborates with the WA Logistics Training Council to provide the Abilities Pathways program, which helps senior school students make informed decisions about how to develop a career in logistics. Transport and logistics lecturer Stephen Goodlet said Challenger graduates return to their employers with a greater understanding of process, structures and the need for productivity and eff iciency within the supply chain, along with new management skills allowing them to progress into more senior positions within the profession.
Former student engineers teaching career A former Challenger Institute engineering student loved her course of study so much she is now teaching it. Sew Leng Puah completed the Challenger and Chevron Australia Women in Engineering program at Challenger’s Australian Centre for Energy and Process Training (ACEPT) in 2011.
Ms Puah said the favourite aspect of her role at ACEPT is meeting students from different educational and cultural backgrounds, as well as supporting more women to enter the oil and gas industry.
The mother-of-two was top student of the course and was presented with the 2011 Chevron Way Award in recognition of her outstanding achievements.
“I enjoy helping students gain the knowledge and skills required to be successful in their careers, and promote engineering to women as a unique and rewarding pathway into the resources sector.”
Ms Puah said completing the program gave her both the conf idence and skills to consider teaching as a meaningful career pathway. “After I completed the program I shared my positive training experiences with the ACEPT program manager, and he encouraged me to apply for a teaching position at the centre,” Ms Puah said. “I was very fortunate to be given the opportunity to teach at ACEPT where I take classes in process plant operations, technology and engineering.”
Ms Puah has aspirations to be involved in developing new training programs for ACEPT in partnership with industry based on the success of the Challenger-Chevron Women in Engineering model. “In my experience, industrysupported programs really help provide the skilled workers required by the resources sector,” Ms Puah said. “The training experience at ACEPT in particular is very relevant to industry because of the centre’s unique simulation and plant facilities, where students are exposed to ‘real life’ work scenarios.”
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Career change swaps energy for empathy
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For successful oil and gas company director Luke Boston, the financial rewards of his profession were not enough to deter him from pursuing his dream career. The 35-year-old from Warnbro has forsaken the resources industry for what he says will be an even more rewarding career in nursing.
“The diploma course is perfect for students like Luke who are mature-aged or returning to study and need to be able to adequately balance work-life commitments.
Luke decided to take the plunge and study nursing at Challenger Institute’s Murdoch campus after more than 20 years in the oil and gas sector.
“The practical nature of the course is also another bonus as students are able to determine very quickly whether nursing is the right career path for them.”
He has completed a unique hospital-based nursing program run by Challenger in partnership with St John of God Murdoch Hospital (SJGMH), which students can undertake in one year.
SJGMH workforce director Leanne Merchant said delivery of the program in a hospital environment allowed course participants to experience “hospital life” and better equip them to deal with the realities of the workplace.
“My working life began at a mining f irm with no set plan other than just hoping to make some extra cash while I decided what I wanted to do as a career,” Luke said.
Luke said he had not looked back since training with Challenger and would further his nursing studies this year at university.
“I have always been very grateful for the opportunities presented to me throughout my career, however, I was becoming increasingly dissatisf ied with my job and decided it was time for a change.”
“I highly recommend enrolled nursing as an entry into the nursing profession,” he said. “It has been a great stepping stone for me coming from a completely unrelated f ield to make the transition into a new career.
Challenger director health and community services Andrea Quintal said the Diploma of Nursing course was the only one of its kind in Western Australia.
“As for day-to-day on the job, I love meeting new people and hearing their stories. It’s also nice to go home at the end of a hard day knowing that you helped make the day a little brighter for someone who is going through a rough patch.”
“It is conducted entirely within a hospital setting and students are able to complete the course in 12 months rather than the standard 18 months,” Ms Quintal said.
(L-R) Lecturer Travis Jenkins with automotive students Tian Hang from China and Christopher Tanuwijaya from Indonesia.
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Auto training on track for world renown Challenger Institute’s world class automotive training in Western Australia is being offered to international students for the first time. Thirteen students from nine international locations have been quick to take up the opportunity, enrolling in the Certif icate III in Light Automotive Mechanical Technology course at Challenger Institute’s state-of-the-art Kwinana campus. Challenger automotive lecturer Travis Jenkins said the students also had the opportunity to progress to higher level qualif ications, such as certif icate IV and diploma. “There are a number of opportunities for students upon graduation,” Mr Jenkins said.
“There are signif icant skills shortages in general maintenance, as well as specialty areas such as automatics, diagnostics and electrical, so job prospects are good.”
“The best part was getting to know how a mechanic works in a reallife situation. My dream is to one day work with racing cars in Formula One,” Christopher said.
Indonesian student Christopher Tanuwijaya is a fully qualif ied chef but found himself drawn to the automotive f ield.
Challenger’s f irst international automotive students are from China, France, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Zimbabwe.
“It’s my passion; there’s things about cars I am fascinated by, such as f inding out how things work and learning how to make cars go faster,” he said. Recently, Christopher and fellow student Tian Hang from China were given the chance to pit-crew at Perth’s Barbagallo Raceway. The students changed tyres and measured the temperature and tyre pressure of the competing race cars.
New language course speaks to Mandurah professionals Challenger Institute will be able to provide people in the Peel region with their International English Language Testing System (IELTS) qualification with the start of a new course.
Claudia Ester Juan was already qualif ied as an accountant and a primary school teacher before she moved to Australia but will undertake the IELTS course to f inish requalifying so she can work. “Taking this course will also help with my conf idence when I do enter the workplace.
“I’m also doing a recognition of prior learning course at Challenger, where I do the classes that are different to the ones I learned already, such as an Australian tax law unit. “It’s great to have this available in Mandurah, as there’s a strong need here.”
The preparation course aims to help people improve their English and attain the required IELTS levels to study and work in Western Australia as well as getting their permanent residency. The 15-week course is open to all visa types, including regional work visas, permanent residents and Australian citizens. Challenger’s English as an assisted language coordinator and lecturer Cheryl Cullen said the course was run in Perth but having it in Mandurah would mean students with restricted timetables, children or those who did not want to travel could take the course. “Most of the people who take these courses are professionals who need a high-level English qualif ication to be able to advance their careers here,” she said.
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“Many of the students who have taken Challenger’s other general English classes have moved on to regular vocational education courses. English is a stepping stone to further training and a better career.”
INDUSTRY TRAINING AREAS Applied Engineering/Oil and Gas Building and Automotive Technology Business and IT Community Services, Health, Sport and Lifestyle Foundation and Cultural Studies Hospitality and Tourism Maritime Studies Science and the Environment SPECIALIST CENTRES Australian Centre for Applied Aquaculture Research (ACAAR) Australian Centre for Energy and Process Training (ACEPT)
Lecturer Cheryl Cullen assists IELTS student Claudia Ester Juan.
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