Second Annual Members and Industry Forum 2004

Sat, Dec 11, 2004; by Bill Coppinger.

Almost 120 members and guests of the Central Ranges LLEN, including Murrindindi Mayor Graeme Brown, immediate past Mayor, Mike Dalmau, Mitchell Shire Mayor Bill Melbourne and Macedon Ranges Shire Mayor John Connor, braved some wild weather and heavy rain to attend the second Annual 2004 Members and Industry Forum on Thursday evening the 9th of December.

The venue for the evening was the wonderful Trawool Valley Resort, Trawool. Our hosts John and Peter Erikson are to be congratulated for the outstanding quality of the hospitality, magnificent food and inviting surroundings. Many members and their guests had traveled considerable distances to attend the forum and were able to retire in comfort to the guests rooms after the event.

The board wishes to extend a genuine thanks to John and Peter for providing such a wonderful venue.

Welcome

The evening began with a welcome from the Chairperson of the the CRLLEN Board, Mr. Gerard Hard. Gerard welcomed members and the significant number of industry partners and guests [making up almost 40% of the attendance].

Gerard reflected on the amazing patronage of the forum, and pointed out that if anyone needed to consider the impact the work of the CRLLEN board was having, then it was clearly in the fact that a venue such as Trawool Resort could be filled to capacity on a wet mid-week night.

Gerard outlined to members and their guests some of the broader activities and achievements the CRLLEN Board had been involved in over the course of 2004. These included: hosting federal parliamentary representatives to consider the education, training and skills issues throughout the CRLLEN area. Prior to the federal election in 2004 the CRLLEN hosted;

• Mr. Mark Latham, Leader of the Federal Opposition, who joined over forty representatives of local businesses and community agencies in Seymour on July 14th 2004

• The Hon. Dr. Brendan Nelson the Federal Minister for Education Science and Training who joined over 70 members and guests at an industry breakfast forum in Seymour on the 28th July 2004.

Mr. Hard pointed out that one of the purposes of the evening was to hear from one the the CRLLEN's key industry partners, Transfield Services Limited. While not wishing to 'steal the thunder' of one of the key-note speakers of the evening, Mr.Hard did stress how proud the board and wider community were of the fledgling partnership winning Prime Minister's Community Business Partnership Large Business Encouragement Award on the 21st of July this year.

Mr. Hard pointed out that a great deal of progress had been made in 2004, building partnerships with the communities, industry and local government of all three Shires. Of particular note and worthy of considerable attention were the developments in the Murrindindi Shire. Mr. Hard pointed out that with the direct support of the immediate past Mayor Cr. Mike Dalmau and the newly elected Mayor, Cr. Graeme Brown, significant progress and dialogue had begun with industry, education providers and local government with the direct result being the establishment of the Murrindindi Sub-committee of the Central Ranges LLEN on September 1 2004.

This work was given considerable momentum with the staging of a Community Cabinet Meeting in Murrindindi on September 27th 2004.

Already a series of follow-up meetings to the community Cabinet have begun and positive results for Murrindindi's industry and youth are on the cards for 2005.

The work of the Mitchell Shire was also noted, with the establishment of the co-funded Community Development Coordinator. The work of Brendan McGrath, General Manager-Community & Recreation Mitchell Shire, was noted in being instrumental in partnering with the LLEN.

Also on the theme of community partnerships, Mr. Hard said he could not go past recognising the development of two 'community based VCAL' programmes in Macedon and Mitchell Shires dedicated to using the combined resources of community agencies, schools and employers to work to re-engage some of the most vulnerable and dis-enfranchised in our communities.

The pending announcement of the School Based New Apprenticeship Initiative was also an indication of the depth of partnerships being formed across 10 schools in three shires.

In conclusion, Mr. Hard welcomed a number of new members to the LLEN and some new members to the Committee of Management.  He also recognised the efforts of the CEO, Bill Coppinger. 

Gerard made special mention of our retiring office manager, Kathryn Tebble, for her great support and contribution to the LLEN.

In closing, Mr. Hard stressed that the work of the LLEN over the last two years had established a solid foundation for some exciting future developments and looked forward to continuing with the current programs that are supporting our youth, giving them the opportunity they need to prosper in an uncertain world.

Presentation 1 – Seymour Goulburn V.E.T Local Community Partnership

Christine Cox made the first presentation of the evening. Christine has the role of coordinator of the Seymour Goulburn Vocational Education and Training Local Community Partnership. This is a Federally funded initiative to support structured workplace learning.

The Central Ranges LLEN Board auspices the position of Student Work Placement and Industry Liaison Officer, via an agreement with The Factory.

The Factory is contracted by the Central Ranges Local Learning & Employment Network to coordinate, oversee & implement Vocational Education & Training for the 8 schools in the Seymour Goulburn Vocational Education Partnership.

As part of the Seymour Goulburn Vocational Education Partnership, The Factory builds & brokers partnerships with schools, industry & business, training providers, community organisations & government to develop and facilitate effective school to work transition programs, including assisting VCE VET & VCAL students to participate in Structured Workplace Learning.

• You can download the presentation here [1.0Mb]

Keynote Presentations

Members and Guests were given the opportunity to hear from two very different yet equally inspiring presentations that both gave a unique insight in to the role of the LLEN, the outcomes it achieves and the importance stakeholders place in the work that is done across the community.

• Our first key-note speaker was seventeen year old Michelle Walters, a member of the 2004 Macedon Ranges Community Based VCAL.

Michelle made her second ever public speaking presentation to explain to the members and guests assembled, the importance of getting another chance to re-engage with education and training.

Michelle shared with those assembled the fact that she had been expelled from six previous schools prior to finding her way to the Community Based VCAL. Michelle thanked all those individual and organisations involved in providing a pathway back in to education and training.

Recently, students from the Macedon Ranges Community Based VCAL hosted community members, instructors, business partners and other supporters of their successful VCAL programme for a celebratory luncheon today at the Kyneton RSL. The programme was originally launched at Maloa House, Woodend on Wednesday 17th March by the member for Macedon, Ms. Joanne Duncan MP.

 

• Our second key-note speaker was Dr.John Prince, Community Partnerships Transfield Services Limited.

Transfield Services is a leading provider of operations, maintenance and asset management services with more than 110 contracts across Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia.

Dr. Prince reflected on the first 12 months of the Transfield Services Community Business Partnership.

Launched in November 2003 at the Puckapunyal Army Base by Mr. Peter Watson, Chief Executive Officer of Transfield Services, the initiative is designed to incorporate a range of approaches and partnerships within the Puckapunyal community and surrounding Seymour District. Transfield Services and the Central Ranges Local and Learning Employment Network (CRLLEN) have developed an agreement to build and contribute to community sustainability for the Seymour district and region through an innovative partnership for the region.

In a series of short, mid and longer-term collaborations that will span an initial period of 2-3 years, the partnership will support and pursue a “high skills” or [skills footprint] approach to its involvement with the Puckapunyal and Seymour communities.

Dr. Prince stressed the importance that such partnerships had for Transfield Services, and explained to all the other industry representatives present that the experience with the Puckapunyal, Seymour and District project, Transfield had now begun to use this model in operations with communities in Western Australian, far-north Queensland and the Northern Territory.

Dr. Prince paid particular thanks to Jenny Oakley of the Puckapunyal & District Neighbourhood Centre, Gayle Wybar from the Defence Community Organisation and Mr. Bill Brearley, Principal of Seymour Technical High School.

A presentation of appreciation and a replica of the Prime Minister's Community Business Partnership Encouragement Award was accepted on behalf of the Seymour School Community by CR LLEN Chairperson, Mr. Gerard Hard.

 

 

Scared Weird Little Guys

Members and guests were treated to a truly hilarious, good-natured and high-energy performance by the world-renowned Scared Weird Little Guys.

From the moment they entered the stage and welcomed 'tawool' [ you had to be there.. ] to providing some rock anthems with a few twists [ I wish they all could be Puckapunyal Girls...] or [ When my baby, when my baby smiles at me I go to Broadford.... ] to a eminem style rap-rendition of Waltzing Matilda that can only be described as truly inspired, the 'Scaredies' brought the house down.

An encore performance left all 120 guests [and Trawool staff] cheering for more!

As the Aussie rock-guru says, do yourself a favour and see these guys.

The Scared Weird Little Guys are truly a musical and comedy talent not to be missed.

 

Launch of 2005 Initiatives

CRLLEN Chief Executive Officer, Bill Coppinger, introduced the final presentations for the evening, highlighting the work that had been done to date to create a clear evidence-base to allow shires, schools, government departments business leaders and community members the opportunity to plan and work together to improve outcomes for young people making the transition from school to work.

The theme of these presentations was that linkages between education, business and local governance must be stronger to build;

• Stronger globally competitive businesses
• A friendlier labor market
• Jobs for youth
• Lifelong learning

You can download the presentation here [156Kb]

Initiatives that were launched for 2005 include:

• Regional Innovations Forums 2005

The CEO outlined an initiative of the board of the CRLLEN to convene a business-roundtable to review the needs of new and emerging regional industries, involving key national and international economic, education and business strategists.

The great paradox of the new global economy is that, even as national boundaries matter less, location matters more. Cross-border flows of information, technology, and capital are dissolving barriers and creating global markets on an unprecedented scale. However, the capacity to create new wealth is not evenly distributed. Rather, it is concentrated in areas where the right conditions and resources can be leveraged to produce high-value products and services that support higher wages. [Wright 2001]

To effectively develop engaged and relevant education and training systems for the industries and enterprises of the future, it is imperative that the Education system enhance its contribution to the State’s economy by operating deeper in the ‘gene- pool’ of industry innovation and labour force skill acquisition

• ICT Infrastructure [COINS]

The CRLLEN has some Ten high schools, two small TAFE’s, three hospitals, a dozen community centres, libraries and other local government facilities that serve a population of some 80,000 people across 6,000sq Kilometres. The opportunity to develop a strategic link with these sectors and truly reform service delivery is clearly apparent.

C.O.I.N.'s The goal of this initiative is to focus on supporting the long-term provision of education and training, health and community services to our relatively small and diverse communities with a collaborative approach to the provision of fibre-optic based infrastructure designed to assist in broadening and deepening the range of programmes and services available across our communities.

• Area Governance Forum

The Board announced that early in 2005 it will facilitate and convene what we believe to be the first joint schools-council meeting in the district, with a view to finding key strategic points of collaboration, all designed to improve the quality and depth of programmes and resources available to the young people in our community making the transition from school to work or further education and training.

It is recognised by the Board that a 'federation of capabilities' between all sectors of education, local government and industry is the only way to make sustainable long term improvements in student outcomes.

• SBNA Alliance – Glenn Irvine

Last, but not least, Mr. Glen Irvine, with the theme of ' Let's make their first job count', launched the School Based New Apprenticeship Alliance for 2005.

A School Based New Apprenticeship is when a student secures a part-time traineeship and then has it incorporated into their Secondary Studies. A student must be 15 and able to work between 10-15 hours per week on average over a 2-3 year period. 

Mr. Irvine highlighted that the Alliance will:

• provide a coordinated approach to the promotion, provision and management of SBNA’s in our region
• improve the overall numbers of students participating in program.

The alliance currently has the following schools willing to participate to share resources and develop a coordinated approach to the needs of industry and the region. These school are:

• Kyneton Secondary College
• Seymour Technical High School
• St.Marys College Seymour
• Assumption College Kilmore
• Broadford Secondary College.
• Sacred Heart College Kyneton
• Yea High School
• Alexandra Secondary College
• Mansfield Secondary College
• Gisborne Secondary College

 

• You can download the presentation here [148Kb]

 

The evening concluded with a delicious desert provided by our hosts at the Trawool Valley resort and a commitment from many industry representatives to join the CR LLEN and Seymour Goulburn Local Community Partnership as the first step in coordinating support of young people through the Macedon, Mitchell and Murrindindi shires.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Central Ranges Local Learning and Employment network, we wish all our members and guests a happy, safe and prosperous Christmas and New Year.