There are some things that can only happen when we come together.
The Hedland Collective builds opportunities for all people and the Hedland community to thrive. By joining up the efforts of people and organisations, the Collective connects, researches, advocates and kick starts projects.
A key initiative that the Hedland Collective supports is the School Based Traineeship program. A program that speaks directly to the Collective’s mission of boosting opportunities for all people and propelling enterprise.
In early 2019, the Hedland Collective began to support the Hedland Senior High School’s School Based Traineeship program when it became apparent there was a gap for local students transitioning from year 12 into meaningful employment. The School Based Traineeship program partners year 11 students with a participating organisation for two years, to develop essential workplace skills, receive mentorship and a formal qualification. It provides students the opportunity to experience the workforce and develop essential skills, gain a greater understanding about their future careers and the opportunity to grow and learn before finishing their studies.
Before students are accepted into the program, they go through a formal process to help develop their work ready skills. This includes a series of information sessions, career guidance, resume writing, key tasks and activities as well as a formal application and interview process. The program then partners students with participating organisations to begin their traineeship.
Students can either spend one day a fortnight or two weeks a term at TAFE and all students spend one day a week with their organisation. At the end of the two-year program, when the students graduate high school, they will have not only completed their Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE), but also a nationally recognised Certificate II or III qualification. This puts students who have completed a School Based Traineeship a step ahead in starting their career with the skills and experience to enter the workforce.
It’s a great opportunity for businesses too. Through the School Based Traineeship program businesses in Hedland support local young people to gain work ready skills but can also ensure that future staff are familiar with business’s ethos and values, the working environments and specific methods and practices that are integral to their business.
For Creating Communities, through our work on the Hedland Collective, our role focuses on facilitating and driving project outcomes that bring people and organisations together and develop Hedland as a safe and vibrant community that attracts and retains residents and businesses. And the School Based Traineeships is the perfect example of a project that does exactly that.
With over twenty-five years of experience working in communities all over Australia, at Creating Communities, we know when it comes to achieving great outcomes, it’s all about tapping into the heart of a place and working in partnership with others to find ways to move forward together.
Port Hedland is an incredibly unique place, with a range of challenges and opportunities unlike many other regional towns. By focussing on building strong stakeholder relationships, creating connections with local businesses and not-for-profits and leveraging investment, the program was able to be created in a way that not only supports the needs of the students, but also the wider community.
Creating Communities Research Lead, and Hedland Collective Project Manager, Gemma Bothe said “the opportunity to bring young people and businesses together in this new way has been an incredibly rewarding process”.
“ It took some time to fine tune the planning, but now we’ve got a range of really diverse businesses involved. From childcare, mining and resources, industry and human services, the feedback from both the young people and businesses involved has been so encouraging. ”— GEMMA BOTHE
Recently, we produced a video for the Hedland Collective and Hedland Senior High School to celebrate the incredible opportunities that the School Based Traineeships create for the Hedland community.
If you’d like to learn more about the School Based Traineeships, or more about the work of the Hedland Collective, click on the links below.
