Creating jobs and linking with community – a long term plan

On Thursday 1 December, the The Hon Peter Hall MLC, Minister for Higher Education and Skills, Minister responsible for the Teaching Profession handed the keys to a new sustainable house at Selandra Rise in Clyde North to a third year apprentice and cut the ribbon launching MEGT’s Greenhouse project.

The house is one of six affordable homes built under a year-long partnership between MEGT, a not-for-profit organisation and one of Australia’s largest employers of apprentices, Stockland and Porter Davis Homes.

“What could be more fitting to mark the completion of this fantastic affordable housing project
than to be handing the keys to one of the people involved in its construction,” Mr Hall said.

Mr Hall praised the involvement of MEGT, Stockland and Porter Davis Homes, saying the project had resulted in employment for 15 trainees and apprentices in roles as varied as finance, real estate, building and construction.

The project also sets a benchmark for affordable environmental advances in housing construction for the future.

“The Victorian Coalition Government through Skills Victoria provided $100,000 in innovation funding to MEGT to build sustainable and affordable housing and to stimulate ongoing employment within the building and construction industry,” Mr Hall said.

“Each of the houses has been built according to environmental best practice through the use of solar hot water, recycled water for gardens, and the fit-out of smart wiring.

In 2010, MEGT partnered with Stocklands and Porter Davis Homes to pilot a model that would generate employment opportunities for apprentices and trainees. This model needed to be able to be scaled up or down to suit different geographic regions.

Six houses were purchased in Clyde North, Victoria on the Selandra Rise Estate. Learning from the problems of infrastructure and services disconnection faced by some other satellite estates, Stocklands planned the Selandra Rise project with community needs in mind. This was exactly the mindset that was synergistic with MEGT’s plans to create sustainable job opportunities for young people in regions right around Australia.

Fifteen apprentices and trainees have been employed by MEGT and placed with KPMG, Middendorp Electrics, Stocklands and Porter Davis Homes; with more trainees still to be employed for the real estate and financial services businesses connected to the Estate. It is the wide range of skills that makes this project scalable.

Estate building projects cycle tradespeople from house to house. That means only a handful of tradespeople are needed in building a large number of houses. It is when you combine all the industries involved in an estate, that employment for locals becomes sustainable after the houses have been built. While initial apprenticeships and traineeships come from the architects through to analysts, finance organisations and real estate agents, landscapers and the traditional building and construction companies; there are even more opportunities when the Estate is populated by retailers, libraries, sports facilities and schools. The sale of the houses in December 2011 will not therefore be the end of the employment opportunities for the community.

MEGT also assisted one of its apprentices, Michael Belli, in purchasing his first home from the estate.

In December, the project partners will sit down together and talk about the way forward. What were the learnings? What could we do better? Where should we take the model next? It’s important to Australian communities and to the Building and Construction industry that these types of schemes don’t stop with one estate and one region. It’s partnerships that will make them happen.

MEGT would like to acknowledge funding assistance from SkillsVic towards the success of this project.

Innovative building project lands apprentice a house

Minister for Higher Education and Skills Peter Hall will this morning hand the keys to a new sustainable house at Selandra Rise in Clyde North to a third year apprentice who helped build it.

The house is one of six affordable homes built under a year-long partnership between MEGT, a not-for-profit organisation and one of Australia’s largest employers of apprentices, Stockland and Porter Davis Homes.

“What could be more fitting to mark the completion of this fantastic affordable housing project than to be handing the keys to one of the people involved in its construction,” Mr Hall said.

“I congratulate Michael Belli on the purchase of his new home. Michael should feel especially proud to have had a hand in this project and the opportunity to demonstrate the future in affordable sustainable home construction.”

Mr Hall praised the involvement of MEGT, Stockland and Porter Davis Homes, saying the project had resulted in employment for 15 trainees and apprentices in roles as varied as finance, real estate, building and construction.

The project also sets a benchmark for affordable environmental advances in housing construction for the future.

“The Victorian Coalition Government through Skills Victoria provided $100,000 in innovation funding to MEGT to build sustainable and affordable housing and to stimulate ongoing employment within the building and construction industry,” Mr Hall said.

“Each of the houses has been built according to environmental best practice through the use of solar hot water, recycled water for gardens, and the fit-out of smart wiring.

“The Victorian Government continues to support the development of new skills through the Victorian Training Guarantee and it has been a phenomenally successful driver for promoting skills development in Victoria.

“Under the guarantee the Victorian Government has provided subsidised training to record numbers of Victorians to help them acquire the skills they need to secure employment or to improve their current skills base,” Mr Hall said.

MEGT Institute Graduation 2011 (Adelaide)

Winner – Apprentice of the Year – Tasmania

Benjamin Standen a 22 year old apprentice at Lebrina Restaurant New Town, Tasmania, is studying his Certificate III Hospitality (Commercial cookery) through the MEGT Institute.

Ben has won the 2011 Tasmanian Training Awards as Apprentice of the Year.

‘When I was 16 years old I became a father, and studying full-time without a reliable income was not an option. This is why I chose to start an apprenticeship in commercial cookery and embraced my passion for food. The fact that I could undertake study through on the job training and assessment with MEGT Institute and work fulltime enabled me to support and fulfill my obligations to my family whilst gaining a qualification. I have not looked back since.’

During his apprenticeship, Ben attended the ‘Chef’s In the City’ program in Melbourne where he realised just how far his apprenticeship could take him. He also attended Symposia of Australian Gastronomy where he learned about the needs and views of others in the workplace and to understand the cultural and religious needs of customers.

In March 2010 Ben was invited to represent MEGT Institute in the Young Chef’s Cookery Competition held at the Taste of the Huon. The competition involved cooking four main course plates for four judges within an hour, using a mystery box of ingredients revealed ten minutes prior to the start of the competition. The tent was hot, the facilities inadequate and the 200 strong crowd daunting. ‘I won 1st place in my division (2nd year apprentice),’ explains Ben,’ impressing the judges and receiving a generous prize from the Huon Agricultural Group. However the knowledge and confidence I gained from the experience far outshone the money I received. Coming back to the Huon Valley where I grew up, seeing family and friends, and showing them what I had achieved and can achieve in my apprenticeship was remarkable.’

Vocational education delivered by MEGT Institute is entirely work-related, so the combination of Ben’s course and his work experience at Lebrina Restaurant has taught him the importance of effective communication as well as food skills.

‘Communication in the workplace is imperative not only to maintain our high standards of quality, consistency and customer service,’ explains Ben, ‘but also to deal with dietary requirements, allergies and intolerances. For example we have had customers enter the restaurant with dangerous allergies to fermented products (vinegar, wine, etc) or intolerance to sodium (highly present in salt) and if all staff are not aware of the conditions, the consequences can be deadly.

‘Two events which have tested my level of self-reliance, resilience, teamwork and communication skills were a Cooking Class and Lunch for Ports Australia and a Degustation Dinner held off site in a customer’s private residence.

‘On the 28th October 2010 Ports Australia commissioned Lebrina Restaurant to conduct a cookery class and serve lunch to 18 of its staff from all over Australia. I was heavily involved in the class, and was required to not only demonstrate my cookery skills in front of the customers but also to discuss the techniques being used. Even though I was nervous, the class was a great success, and some of the Ports Australia group came back to the restaurant the following evening for dinner.

On the 16th April 2011 Lebrina Restaurant held a degustation dinner involving seven courses at a private residence for a client and 15 of their guests. Going into an unknown kitchen at 5pm to serve dinner at 7pm was challenging and stressful. To move seven courses of prepared ingredients, as well as crockery, cutlery, cooking utensils and a myriad of other items to the venue took perfect communication and organisation, and were key to the dinner’s success.

‘Through both the Cookery class and the offsite Degustation dinner I found in myself a level of leadership I did not realise I possessed. The leadership gained through the daily work in my apprenticeship, I will take with me through my entire career, whether it be in Hospitality or otherwise.’

Ben fits in his passion for food with the joy and responsibility of raising his daughter, Kate. ‘Working in an Apprenticeship with on the job training has given me the flexibility to do that,’ he says.

My message to other apprentices, and those interested in an apprenticeship is clear; don’t hold back, work hard everyday both at work and outside of it. If you are passionate about what you want, and work hard everyday to get it, you will. Your apprenticeship can take you there.

Business links with school

A local business has joined forces with Pakenham Secondary College [and MEGT Group Training] to provide on-the-job training and job opportunities for local students.

Pakenham Secondary College student, Keith Newling, has started a school-based apprenticeship arrangement at Middy’s Pakenham branch, enabling him to comibine his Year II VACaL studies with accredited training and on-the-job experience.

Keith had been working at electrical supplier Middy’s on a casual basis, but was excited about the opportunity to sign up as a school-based apprentice under the pilot scheme.  [MEGT Group Training employs Keith and has placed him with Middy’s.]

“It’s a great opportunity for me to develop new skills and to learn about all aspects of running a business,” Keith said.

Middy’s Pakenham brand manager, Derek Page, said the trial program offered benefits to both local students and the business.

“As a business based in a country town, we like to employ local people,” Mr Page said. “This program gives us the opportunity to support our local students and schools, and get young people involved in meaningful training.”

Middy’s will set up trial placements at its Warragul and Bairnsdale branches following the successful implementation of the Pakenham program.

[Prue Leighton, Industry Employment Consultant with MEGT Group Training has been working closely with the school, Middy’s and students to establish around 10 regional placements for 2012.]

Story courtesy Pakenham Star
Thursday 1 September 2011

Young indigenous mentors connect

Aboriginal trainees are advancing cultural exchange in schools, writes Keeli Cambourne.

Simon Price, a school principal for many years, says one of the most endearing things he has seen was when he walked into a classroom recently and saw two of his students hunkered over an assignment with a teachers’ aide.

What made it special was the mix of those involved.

“There was one of our Aboriginal students, with one of our non-Aboriginal students, working quietly with our Aboriginal teachers’ aide, Mafi Kailahi, on a project together,” he says.

“It was wonderful to see. In many small regional towns like ours, seeing that can be quite unusual but that is beginning to be a more normal occurrence now.”

Price is the principal at St Mary’s Catholic School in Wellington, in the central west of NSW. Two young Aboriginal women have been working in the school as teachers’ aides for the past year as part of a federal government program that places Aboriginal youth as trainees in education support.

Price says the cultural exchange between the trainees and his students has made a world of difference to his school and the community.

“We have had older Aboriginal educational workers on staff, but having people the age of the trainees helps Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal kids across the school,” he says.

”The students look to them as mentors and although they work in classes which have predominantly Aboriginal students, their presence has helped with the whole culture of the school.”

The federal government has invested about $23 million in the Indigenous Remote Service Delivery Traineeships, which, from 2010 to 2013, will place trainees aged 15 to 24 in schools and indigenous childcare services in remote areas.

In NSW, 24 young Aboriginal people are undertaking traineeships in teaching-support roles, mostly in independent schools. Their influence has been far reaching, helping Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students make a cultural connection, says the national manager of indigenous programs at MEGT Group Training, Debra Nooyen, who places the trainees.

“Mafi Kailahi is focusing on her Aboriginal language and helping the Aboriginal students identify with their language, which in turn helps them with their literacy,” Nooyen says.

Another trainee, Casey Jones Fisher, is working at St Joseph’s Primary School in Eugowra and organised the school’s first NAIDOC Week celebrations this year, with people from her community in Forbes teaching the students dance, language and music.

Nooyen says the presence of trainee Paul Simpson, working at St Patrick’s Primary School in Griffith, ”is a positive representation of Aboriginal males” at the school.

For Kailahi, the traineeship means that she is not only enhancing her own educational skills, but can pass on some of her heritage and knowledge to the younger generation.

“I went to Wellington High School and left in about year 11,” Kailahi says. ”Back then there was not really a lot of support for Aboriginal people in school.

”Working in the school now is a great opportunity for me to help the Aboriginal students get the knowledge about their culture and heritage that I didn’t have and make it easier to combine that with the culture we live in.”

Kailahi says that knowing more about their background helps the students feel proud of their heritage.

“I was raised on a mission and that gave me a lot of cultural background,” she says. ”Teaching the [Wiradjuri] language is also helping me as well.”

She says her presence in the school ”is helping all students see that Aboriginal people can work in the community and, more importantly, in education.”

”I hope I am breaking down the barriers between the students, too, so they learn they should get to a know person rather than just think about their heritage.”

Article courtesy The Sydney Morning Herald
Monday September 12, 2011
Keeli Cambourne
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/young-indigenous-mentors-connect-20110911-1k409.html#ixzz1Xis2hsP8

Jobs created by MEGT

The MEGT Group Training Greenhouse project was started over a year ago as an initiative to create employment for apprentices and trainees.

MEGT Group Training has purchased 6 blocks of land at the Selandra Rise Estate in City of Casey, Victoria, through Stockland and has partnered with Stocklands and Porter Davis homes to create those employment opportunities.

The houses are being built in line with best practice environmentally appropriate initiatives.

The houses are already under construction and 15 apprentices and trainees have been placed with a wide variety of organisations involved in building a new community.

Winner – Tasmanian Training Equity Awards

‘I thought special things happen only to special people,’ says Martin Leeson –  Marty to his friends. But this is Marty’s time to shine and to be recognised for his achievements as winner of the 2011 Tasmanian Training Equity Awards – Vocational Student of the Year on the 19th August.

To achieve what he set out to do – to improve his employment opportunities, Marty has worked hard with Coles, Cosmos Inc, Optia and MEGT Institute. Everyone pulled together to support and encourage Marty, and the five other trainees studying for their Certificate II in Retail,  while he gained on-the-job experience with Coles.

‘During my childhood and teens,’ explains Marty, ‘I have faced many challenges. I have a learning disability and [have found it]  extremely difficult to understand some instruction and communication … as quickly as most people can.’

The frustrations of his challenges affected Marty’s personal relationships and taking his place in the workforce. But he didn’t face his challenges alone and he had the strength of character and determination to grasp the opportunities provided by MEGT Institute, that provided the vocational training, Cosmos Inc, who provided the disability support services and the local Coles store and staff that provided the workplace experience. The whole community has walked alongside Marty on his journey.

When Marty first started at Coles, he worked a couple of days a week in what he explains is called grocery face-up. ’You bring the stock from the back to the front,’ explains Marty. This is so produce is always the freshest on the shelves. As a trainee studying his Certificate II in Retail Marty gained work experience in a new area: in fresh produce. ‘Coles was very impressed that I was working very well,’ according to Marty, and he was offered a full time job in fresh produce.

‘The training helped me get full time work and I got offered jobs that I did not get the opportunity to do before. It has given me more self confidence and belief in myself.

‘My advice to others is, do not be afraid. Give it a go. Just do your best. That is all I have to suggest. You never know what you can achieve if you put your mind to it.’

Once the course was over, and he had qualified, Marty did not expect to hear anything further. He was already pleased with the employment outcomes offered to him at Coles. But since then, he has received accolades as Runner Up in the National MEGT Student of the Year Awards and is now the winner of the Tasmanian Training Equity Awards.

So special things can happen for anyone. Just take Marty’s advice.

Winner – Lance Bernard Memorial Award

Well deserved winner of the Lance Barnard Memorial Award for her focus on a life in business and volunteering is also on GTA’s Today’s Skills, Tomorrow’s Leaders program.

It’s often hard for a young person to decide on their career while they are still at school. Not so for Toni-Lee Hills who was always determined to work in a business environment.

Her determination has been recognised – as the winner for the Lance Barnard Memorial Award in the 2011 Tasmanian State Training Awards and being accepted into the Today’s Skills, Tomorrow’s Leaders program for Group Training Australia.

Toni-Lee has received recognition in the past as well: receiving the Glenorchy Young Citizen Award in 2010 for her work as a volunteer through Glenorchy City Council and a Certificate of Excellence in VET Business and Business Studies while at Claremont College and Rotary Youth Leadership Awards.

One of the key stages in her pathway to a career came when she stepped away from the pressure of going straight from college to university in order to do a Business Degree and instead gained employment through MEGT Group Training as a Business Trainee.

Toni-Lee was placed with the Royal Automobile Club of Tasmania, where she gained her workplace experience and on-the-job training at the same time she was paid for her work. Toni-Lee successfully achieved Certificate III in Business with MEGT Institute in February 2011 and was offered ongoing employment with RACT Insurance.

Sarah Burnett, one of MEGT Institute’s trainers and assessors comments that throughout the training,  “I often received feedback from RACT on how Toni-Lee was progressing in developing professional communication skills and developing effective relationships with the broader RACT network and clients.”

Scott McGrath, Senior Industry Employment Consultant with MEGT Group Training was so impressed by Toni-Lee, he nominated her for the prestigious Today’s Skills, Tomorrow’s Leaders program and Toni-Lee will head off in August to Canberra for a series of seminars. “At MEGT we are extremely proud to be able to work alongside Toni-Lee – organising her traineeship through our Australian Apprenticeships Centre, organising her work placement through our Group Training Organisation and her business studies through MEGT Institute. We feel as though we have walked beside her for this very important part of her journey and look forward to seeing just how far she will go in life.”

Trainees honoured with youth awards

Griffith’s apprentices and trainees have been honoured in a special award ceremony.

Sonia Rinaldo, Area Manager for MEGT Australian Apprenticeships Centre, has been actively involved in the Griffith Rotary Club for many years and has extended her support for employment initiatives in the region through her involvement in the Rotary East Youth Training Awards to recognise the efforts of a host of the city’s up-and-coming employees.

“The awards encourage and hopefully help them (the recipients) see a clear career path and what training does for them so they continue (with their studies),” Rotary’s Denis Conroy said.

More than 150 people turned out for the awards ceremony where the winners of the nine categories were announced.

The categories covered everything from school-based traineeships to Indigenous youth, as well as apprentices who have either just started out or nearly completed their apprenticeships.

Mr Conroy said the quality of trainees this year was again impressive and the judges were full of praise for the applicants.

“The judges [including Ms Rinaldo] were looking for those who were keen and passionate about their work, who had very defined goals about what they wanted to achieve and what they understood about the businesses they were involved in,” he said.

The winners on the night came from a huge range of industries, including hospitality, automotive mechanical engineering, environmental health, information technology and transport and logistics.

Australian Apprenticeships are an Australian government initiative.

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