While it may only be in its infancy, the VET faculty offers a range of subject areas to students including Business Services, Construction, Electrotechnology, Hospitality, Metal and Engineering, Primary Industries and Retail Services.

The VET faculty gives students the opportunity to be involved in major group project work, with students previously completing a large landscaping project around the school’s administration building and constructing vegetable garden beds for the Learning Support faculty.

High quality facilities

With new workshops and a Trade Training Centre catering for VET Construction, VET Metals and Engineering, students also have access to a large shed for Agriculture and Primary Industries, a new hall, Food Technology room, commercial kitchen and café.

With the workshops equipped with industry standard tools, machines and equipment for VET Metal and Construction students, the spaces also have the ability to be expanded through a series of automatic roller doors, giving students extra space to fabricate and construct large projects.

VET Construction students are currently working on a series of picnic tables which will be installed at a later date around the college.

Retail students at St Joseph’s have begun organising a store environment which will allow them to display merchandise and dress mannequins. Stepping outside the classroom, students develop their customer service and cash handling skills during the Caritas ‘Rice Day’ and utilise both simulated retail and ‘real world’ environments to develop their skills and complete competencies.

A practical approach

Thanks to highly experienced and industry-trained teaching staff, students are exposed to a number of theoretical and practical activities to achieve competence within their respective subjects.

Students also complete at least 70 hours of work placement outside school in a two-year period, giving them a chance to gain hands-on experience and explore what it is like working in the ‘real world’.

St Joseph’s Hospitality students will soon be serving in the college’s café in the morning before class, providing them with training and experience to complete the Prepare and Serve Espresso Coffee module.