VET dishes up opportunities for talented young foodie

Olivia with Mark Compton, Bede Polding College Principal and Claire Claxton, TAS/VET Teacher.

With a passion for food and working with others and a Vocational Education and Training Certificate II already under her belt, Bede Polding College South Windsor student Olivia Myers has made a great start in her pursuit of a career in the hospitality industry while also being named a finalist for VET in Schools Student of the Year at the NSW Training Awards (Western Sydney & Blue Mountains region).

The Year 11 student is proud to be one of the first students from her school to complete an accelerated VET Hospitality (Food and Beverage) Certificate II course while in Year 9 and 10 and is excited to continue developing valuable career skills through her final two years of school.

“In a way, we were the ‘guinea pigs’ for this sort of course at my school,” said Olivia.

I saw it as an awesome opportunity to go outside my comfort zone while engaging in captivating learning. I experienced new ways of learning and it’s a wonderful investment in my future.

While completing part of her course during the COVID-19 pandemic certainly presented some challenges, it also afforded Olivia some unique opportunities including volunteering to provide food and beverage services for the Class of 2021 school formal which had to be held at school due to COVID-19 restrictions.

“This was really rewarding, allowing me to gain practical experience on how functions operate in the hospitality industry,” said Olivia.

Claire Claxton, Bede Polding College TAS/VET Teacher Inclusion Leader has been amazed by Olivia’s passion for hospitality and completing her VET course at such a young age.

“Olivia has been a fantastic VET student over the last two years,” said Claire. “Although two years younger than many of the HSC students completing this course, she had the maturity, intelligence and work ethic to know what was required and was willing to put in the effort at each stage of the course.”

“Olivia is a team player as well as a humble leader which is a rare combination. I love that she has excelled at both the VET aspect (Cert II) as well as the HSC aspect (the exam) of her subject. Olivia is already an ambassador for VET in schools and will continue to serve as a wonderful example and source of support for other young students exploring this study option and HSC pathway.”

“I have talked to younger year groups at my school about joining the accelerated program and have explained the opportunities that it provided me,” added Olivia. “I continue to advocate for the VET course, sharing my personal insight and experience.”

With 80 schools across Western Sydney and the Blue Mountains, CSPD is a leader in Vocational Education and Training through highly successful trade training programs including at CathWest Innovation College, vocational education and training programs across 26 sites and the virtual School of Now.

In 2022, CathWest was awarded the ‘Innovation in VET Award’ at the Australian Training Awards, building on the recent success of our VET offering being named ‘Training Provider of the Year’ at the NSW Training Awards in 2021, and as a finalist for the 2021 ‘Small Training Provider of the Year’ at the Australian Training Awards.