A new Trade Skills Centre has been opened in Glenala State High School, based in the Archerfield, Richlands, Wacol area where much of the trucking industry is based, to the West of Brisbane. The TSC is a federally funded initiative through the Trade Training Centres in Schools Project and will, with the help of the Heavy Vehicle Industry Association, be the venue for the delivery of the Certificate 2 in Automotive Vocational Preparation (heavy vehicle stream) and Certificate 2 in Logistics to Year 11 and 12 students from July 2016.
“The success of the Glenala Trade Skills Centre provides HVIA with a model to roll out to the other regions in Australia to support the entire heavy vehicle industry having access to trained school leavers seeking entry level positions within the industry,” said Brett Wright, HVIA CEO.
HVIA has received support from industry on this project, in particular, Iveco Trucks Brisbane who donated a second hand Iveco Eurocargo truck to the school as the mainstay resource the students will use during training.
Wright congratulated the staff from The Brown and Hurley Group, Cummins South Pacific, Warby Tools and Levanta Superior Workshop Solutions who have been providing their industry expertise to the project to ensure that the TSC was workshop capable.
Heavy vehicle trainers from Queensland TAFE SkillsTech and driveline service specialists, Gibbs Truck and Trailer Parts spent many hours modifying the Iveco truck and preparing it for its second life as a training resource.
HVIA has partnered with the school on this project since 2012 when the initial funding application was first made. It has been instrumental in determining the training package to be delivered, the suitability of the registered training organisation to conduct the delivery and led a working group from its Service Managers Council who co-ordinated with school staff and their stakeholders in the development of the building plans, fit out of the Centre and selection of training resources required.
HVIA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Glenala SHS in September 2015 which formally established a commitment between the two entities to work co-operatively for the next three years to achieve successful training, work experience and employment outcomes for the students who undertake the heavy vehicle training at the TSC.