The Shepherds Park Education and Training Unit (SPETU) has taken home the top prize for Training Organisation of the Year for VET in Schools at the 2024 Welding Excellence Awards, which recognise the best welders, fabricators and educators across Australia.

Operating in the Riverina Youth Justice Centre, SPETU currently has an enrolment of 42 students and caters to incarcerated youth between the ages of 11-21.

The school has always had a strong focus on providing vocational education and training (VET) for their students. In the last four years, the SPETU has made a conscious push to deliver more VET courses internally to provide meaningful pathways for its students.

Technology and Applied Studies teacher and VET Coordinator Bradley Ryan has been a driving force in delivering VET courses at the school and accepted the award on behalf of SPETU.

“I’m very proud of this achievement. It is something that has been in the works for a long time,” he said.

“By getting these students involved, they not only develop the industry skills, but also the soft skills they need to reintegrate successfully back into their community.”

The school offers a Certificate I in Engineering course and Industrial Technology (Metalwork) program, all delivered internally by teachers.

SPETU recently implemented the use of an augmented reality (AR) welding machine to support the school’s delivery of VET courses in engineering qualifications as a direct response to persistent skills shortages in the manufacturing industry.

This machine provides students with a safe and engaging way to learn and refine their welding skills, with two students competing in the Regional WorldSkills AR welding competition this month, and one student taking home first place.

SPETU Principal Sean Librando credited Mr Ryan and the teachers delivering the VET courses internally to growth in student confidence and reducing reports of misbehaviour by around 75 per cent.

“It’s really the soft skills they learn like communication, resilience, initiative and the promotion of self-worth that sets them up for success once they are released,” Mr Librando said.

“Our education and training unit is one of the only units across the state that offers these courses to incarcerated students, no matter their rank within the justice system.”

SPETU strives to set their students up for success by supplying them with access to industry-standard tools and partnerships with local manufacturing companies, along with the integration of advanced technology into their courses.

“I hope that these courses create more stories of students getting out and getting jobs, because that is the first step in breaking the cycle of reoffending,” Mr Ryan said.

Mr Librando shared the goal to expand the VET course options available internally at the school to further support students.

“We are fortunate enough to have teachers trained across various VET subjects enabling the school to deliver these courses internally and less reliant on external providers. We are in turn creating more pathways for these students, especially in areas that have persistent skills shortages,” he said.

To read more about the awards, head to Weld Australia’s 2024 Awards Honour the Best and Brightest in Welding from NSW and ACT.