Meet Penrith’s freshest graduates, who have just completed their Certificate II in Horticulture from TAFE Western Sydney.
With their new qualifications, Greg Rich, Steven Bellamy and Fiona Hinchliffe are skilled-up and empowered to undergo higher qualifications and seek higher paying work.
The talented trio are three of five people with a disability who have been undertaking a special three-term course with TAFE Western Sydney onsite at the Thorndale Foundation.
“We loved going out and meeting new people, and loved learning new things,” Mr Rich said.
“It means we can do maintenance on more equipment.”
Ms Hinchliffe made a special thanks to her horticulture teacher, Colin Hunt, who worked closely with the group adapting the learning and assessment to suit their needs.
Mr Hunt said he doesn’t feel he teaches them differently, but focuses on a special way of assessing their knowledge at the end.
“That’s the thing, they’re just people like anybody else. The teaching is done hands-on, they’re doing stuff on a job, with me and around the site,” he said.
“When it comes to assessment, the way we ask the questions and get them to show understanding is different.”
Mr Hunt said it was fantastic teaching students who actually wanted to learn, and is proud of their efforts.
“They have a drive to want to learn and want to know things, it’s great,” he said.
Senior Training Consultant at TAFE Western Sydney, Robyn Lambert, said the training program is about getting people acknowledged for the skills they already have.
“These graduates were already working here doing ground work like garden care and lawn maintenance, but generally they don’t get the opportunity to participate in the same training a regular student would,” she said.
She said the program aims to take graduates as far as they can toward a full qualification, and see how much they can do compared to a fully able person.
“Ideally, we can develop students to a certain point where they can increase how much they earn or move into open employment,” she said.
