Collaboration between schools and TAFE in Toowoomba

The network creation workshop took place in Toowoomba today in chilly 8 degrees weather (recorded at 1pm - sleet reported at Inglewood).

Despite the cold and the absence of a number of people through illness, the small group of participants were able to develop the basis for future collaboration. Representatives from the Lockyer District High School explained their needs and explored ways to resolve them in collaboration with the Southern Queensland Institute of TAFE (SQIT).

Areas for future collaboration included:

• developing a business readiness program (incorporating online learning) for school students prior to undertaking industry placements
• collaboration on professional development in the area of online teaching and learning, including exposure to toolboxes, Certificate IV in Workplace Training for school teachers (with relevant RPL and emphasis on online learning), and TAFE staff "work shadowing teachers" to upgrade their knowledge of the school system.
• enhancement via online learning to the current school offerings in retail, childcare, aged care, Certificate IV in Business

There was also discussion around the benefits for Lockyer District High School (LDHS) of strengthening their inter-school networking with particular emphasis on the collaborative development of flexible learning/online learning. SQIT participants were able to identify potential collaborators for LDHS in the tertiary sector who were using flexible learning and online learning.

John Elich, Director SQIT, attended some of the discussions and reinforced the need to develop a deeper partnership between LDHS and SQIT. Vanessa Crothers, Deputy Principal, LDHS, agreed with the need to have an established partnership as a basis for ongoing collaboration.