CEDoW VET students have successfully participated in the WorldSkills Australia Vocational Education and Training in Schools (VETiS) Regional Competitions across several skills categories during October and November.

The WorldSkills National Championships is Australia’s largest vocational education and excellence competition - a series of work-simulated projects based on industry standard frameworks, designed and administered by practising teachers and industry professionals in a variety of categories.

There are nine regional competitions in NSW - the Illawarra being one of those regions, with local public, Catholic and Independent secondary school students all competing from October through to November.

This year, students from within our Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong RTO have successfully participated in a number of competitions in the Illawarra region:

VETiS Metals and Engineering Competition

Edmund Rice College hosted the VETiS Metals and Engineering Competition on Wednesday, 25 October. Participants were required to construct a working hobby machine vice within the allocated timeframe.

Congratulations to the placegetters - all from Edmund Rice - Lachlan McClennan (1st place), Jake Cavdarovski (2nd place) and Peter Buzik (3rd place) and all the participants on their hard work. These students were awarded their certificates and medals at a recent Edmund Rice school assembly.
Lachlan has also been selected as reserve for the national VETiS Metals and EngineeringWorldSkills team.

VETiS Electrotechnology Competition

Our students also competed in the VETiS Electrotechnology Competition, hosted by the Sydney Catholic Education Office at Saint Yon Trade Training Centre, Bankstown on 27 October.

Three students from Holy Spirit College, Bellambi competed against several Sydney school students to fix, secure and wire a light to a hollow wall and complete an exercise with a parallel circuit. The boys worked tirelessly for five hours to complete the task.

Congratulations to Mark Mancini on being awarded the 1st place gold medal for the highest points scored, and to Rhys DaCosta (3rd place - bronze) and Jayden Blacka for participating in this event.

VETiS Commercial Cookery Competition

Dapto High School hosted the Commercial Cookery Competition on the 1 November, where six of our Hospitality-Kitchen Operations students participated.

Each competitor was tasked with preparing and presenting a three course meal for four guests. After over four hours of cooking, students plated up a trio of bruschetta for entree, chicken of breast with Duchesse potato and jardiniere carrots for main and a lemon polenta cake with chantilly cream for dessert.

Our CEDoW students were awarded all three medals: Congratulations to Tahlia Khayat from Corpus Christi, Oak Flats (1st place - gold), Mariah Paradisis from Holy Spirit, Bellambi (2nd place - silver) and Bella Foye from St Joseph’s, Albion Park (3rd place - bronze).

Tahlia will now travel to Mackillop Catholic College, Bathurst in December to participate in a ‘Skill-Off’ with successful students from other regions in the state to determine the final NSW representatives for the national competition in 2018.

VETiS Business Services Competition

On 17 November, St Mary’s Star of the Sea College in Wollongong hosted the Business Services Competition, with students from a number of schools around the region taking part. A number of students from Corpus Christi and St Mary’s competed, with Corpus’ Macy Coleman winning the gold medal (1st place).

Selected Regional Competition winners will advance to the national WorldSkills Australia stage to compete against their industry peers from around the country, and possibly at an international level.  

Taking part in the WorldSkills Australia Vocational Education and Training in Schools (VETiS) Competition creates an exciting, interactive and engaging environment for our participating VET students to ‘test their trade’. It offers huge benefits and opportunities for them: they’re able to strive and be recognised for excellence, while boosting their workplace skills and performance; and they get to engage with industry and peers to demonstrate their potential to current and future employers and benchmark their skills against others in their field. It’s a chance to fast-track their careers and develop valuable skills in their trade as well as in time management, organisation and communication.

Competitors may also be in the running for pathway and scholarship opportunities involving additional study, work experience, overseas travel or financial support.

UPDATE: Fantastic news for Electrotechnology student Mark Mancini from Holy Spirit College, who has succeeded in achieving a spot in the National Team for the Australian 2018 WorldSkills Competition being held over 3 days in June at Darling Harbour.
With 500+ competitors, 159 medals to be won and approximately 21,000 visitors to the event, this will be a fantastic opportunity for Mark to display his skills.
A further congratulations our very own Holy Spirit teacher Mark Hamlet, recently announced as Team Leader for NSW Electrotechnology Team. A wonderful representation of VET in our Diocese’s schools!

The VETiS Regional Competitions operate on a two-year cycle with WorldSkills Australia’s Regional Competitions. They are open for students who are enrolled in the first year of a VET course in secondary schools. The next World Skills Regional Competitions will begin in 2019.