NELSON BAY SCONE BOURKE - Joblink Plus

SCONE
GRADUATING
Front: (L-R) Sharon Stair,
Amelia Glew, Amber
Gorton, Tammy Beveridge.
Middle:
Veronica Patterson
(QVE Trainer) Fiona
Thompson, Ruth Gillett,
Karen Carter,
Lisa Carey, Sarah Keats
(Joblink Plus Recruitment
Consultant)
Back:
Janelle Birch
(Director of Care),
Matthew Downie
(Strathearn Village CEO),
Deborah Duke,
(Strathearn Village Care
Manager) and Siobhan
Leonard (Strathearn
Village HR
Manager).
Meeting the demand for qualified aged care workers
A
partnership between Joblink
Plus and Strathearn Village
Aged Care Facility has opened
the door for eight job seekers to
develop skills and find a career in
aged care.
Eight job seekers recently graduated
from a partial qualification Certificate
III in Aged Care.
The five week course included three
days a week theory and one day
practical at Strathearn Village Aged
Care Facility.
Joblink Plus Scone Recruitment
Consultant Sarah Keats said the
partnership between Joblink Plus
and the Strathearn facility was
formed after discussions revealed
Scone would experience a shortage
of qualified aged care workers in the
near future.
“I met with Siobhan Leonard the
HR manager to get an insight into
their facility and their upcoming
8 community link April 2012
development. The projection was
that current staffing at Strathearn
would significantly increase over time
with the new development, creating
a much higher demand for qualified
aged carers in Scone,” Sarah said.
After graduating from the course, a
large percentage of the students are
now progressing on to a Certificate III
in Aged Care Traineeship at Stratheran
Village.
Graduates also have the opportunity
to move into further training and
employment with other aged care
providers in the community as well as
disability services.
“The success of the course means it
will be run again in the near future.
Strathearn Village and Joblink Plus see
this partnership as an opportunity to
offer local people the chance to start
or make a career change into aged
care. New skills are greatly needed in
this area,” Sarah said.
After raising children, course
participants Sharon and Karen were
looking for a way to re-enter the
workforce and gain skills they could
use in new and exciting careers.
“This course has been excellent.
Veronica and Susan are great Trainers
and have made everything easy to
understand. Thursdays were our
practical days at Strathearn and the
staff were excellent. It was good to
have hands on experience. Working
with the residents was wonderful,”
Sharon said.
“I found the training to be great and
the trainer excellent. I felt everyone
was very understanding when asking
questions,” Karen said.
Both graduates are now hoping
to move into further training and
employment with Strathearn Village
Aged Care.