New Level of Industry Collaboration and Engagement

The introduction of the Australian Government policy to establish a continuous, naval shipbuilding program across the construction of submarines and major and minor naval vessels, provides an opportunity to establish a sustainable National Naval Shipbuilding Enterprise in Australia. This national program also includes a substantial investment in workforce growth and skilling initiatives in order to enable construction and sustainment of the new naval capability. Indeed, it has been well recognised workforce growth and development needed to underpin a sustainable and cost-competitive Australian industrial base is one of the critical enablers to the success of the Naval Shipbuilding Plan.

This oncoming intensive growth of Australia’s naval shipbuilding industrial ecosystem provides a unique opportunity for career development and upskilling across a multitude of job categories, from fabrication roles in the construction yards through to engineering roles in the design bureaus and leadership opportunities within shipbuilding management teams.

The collaboration and cooperation that has been established among the major global shipbuilding companies involved in the Enterprise (Naval Group, BAE, ASC, Luerssen, Lockheed Martin and SAAB) is extremely rare and demonstrates a sector level commitment to collaboratively grow the talent pool, through establishing and developing new workforce pipelines to ensure the success of the Enterprise. The Naval Shipbuilding College (the College) and Defence works closely, and is part, of this Enterprise collaboration. This effort will be driven down the vertical supply chain with Australian small to medium enterprises. The College has established a national network of public/private Vocational and Higher Education providers to assist with this large career growth and upskilling task.

 This panel, including representatives from the College, Naval Group Australia, TAFE SA and the Department of Defence,will discuss the collaboration between organisations that is leading to a number of initiatives and solutions to address the requirements for the supply of a skilled workforce.

Discussion points will include:

• Aggregation of industry demand data;
• Analysis of available training and education programs;
• Modification and contextualisation of training programs;
• Industry engagement;
• Engagement and attraction; and
• Solution delivery.

The panel members will discuss their experiences including challenges, lessons learned and provide information on strategies and successes that can potentially be applied by VET providers and other industry sectors.

This session has been identified by the Presenters as being relevant for those who have been in VET for MORE than 5-10 yrs not requiring fundamentals.

Using `big data’ to Understand, Find, and Attract your Ideal Student

You have probably seen a lot of news stories lately about how our phones are listening to us and our social media apps are tracking what we do. This is the tiny tip of the big data iceberg. However there is a positive side for RTOs. It is now easier than it ever was to analyse the demographic and psychographic profile of your ideal student, and then identify a target audience of more people `just like them’.

By using the intersection of technology and psychology to determine your target audience you can stop `broadcasting’ (putting your content in front of everyone e.g. on TV or radio which can be expensive) and start `narrow-casting’ (placing it just in front of the target audience).

All of the tools you need to do this are either free or very cost effective! In this session Melanie will show you some case study examples of how RTOs have applied this science, and show you step by step how to do this in your own RTO. She will also answer questions, offer solutions, and hear ideas from delegates on what they’ve tried in the past which you can then adapt, adopt or apply in your RTO.

This session was identified by the presenter as being a Deep Dive (pitched for those who have 5-10 years experience but still want validation of their knowledge/understanding)

Future Proofing your RTO!

There is at least one certainty in business, especially RTOs, and that’s change.

Society and our industry are constantly evolving so if we (our RTOs) don’t keep up, we will quickly fall behind, making our RTO’s systems, processes, products and services old and out of touch.

 With the challenges of 2020 already making an impact on the VET sector, as well as the ever-evolving regulatory framework heavily influencing our day to day operations, it is now more critical than ever to consider the evolution of our business. While this may seem daunting, ignoring the issues will not make them go away.

 How do we ensure that we stay current with the needs of industry and our students, while balancing compliance requirements? How do we evolve our processes to introduce things like autonomy into our business? How do we stay ahead by working smarter and not harder? And how do we protect our business and investment?

 Learn how to grow and future proof your RTO in 2020 and beyond by exploring the use of basic business principles, integrating them with a systematic approach to compliance and operations and utilising freely available programs and apps to assist.

This session will look at strategies, processes and techniques you can take back and apply within your RTO to help embed compliance, product development, and good business practices into your RTO.  It has been pitched by the presenter a being relevant to those who those who have RTO compliance experience but who might be looking for validation of their knowledge and some new ideas or ways of thinking when it comes to looking beyond 2020.

TBC

Session Overview Coming Soon!

Building the Stress-Free RTO: Rapid Fire Fact or Fiction?

Does this sound familiar?

• you’ve been managing your RTO for a while
• you’re all over compliance
• audits don’t scare you
• clients come from referrals

BUT your biggest frustration (and where your energy goes every day) is managing the four pillars of an RTO Business

1. Time Management (Focusing Your Time)
2. Business Strategy (Growing Your Business)
3. People Performance (Managing Great Teams)
4. Systems Simplification (Building Simple Systems).

And as a result, you

• Know something’s wrong in your RTO but don’t know what
• Know what’s wrong in your RTO but don’t know how to fix it
• Want to grow or improve your RTO but don’t know where to start

Then this session is for you because if you’re constantly fighting fires and band-aiding rather than actually managing the business, you’ll never achieve your RTO’s Vison for this year, let alone the next five, ten etc.

Remember the game show ‘Mastermind’ where the contestant was asked as many questions as possible in the time limit on a speciality topic.

Tamara Simon is Australia’s Only Dedicated RTO Business Coach so her special topic is Managing RTO Businesses.

In this rapid fire and interactive session, Tamara will gain feedback from delegates about whether they believe you can build a stress free RTO or not.  By getting as many delegates as possible to ask questions and also share what’s worked for them (and what hasn’t), Tamara will build on these ideas to provide advice and/or practical simple solutions which you can then adapt, adopt or apply in your RTO.

This is an opportunity to ask questions or present real scenarios about

• How to manage your Business, People and Systems
• How to have the ‘hard conversations’ with your team
• How get back an hour a day

So bring your ‘magic wand’ questions and see if you can stump Tamara.  But be prepared for a ‘Tough Love’ Presenter who will challenge procrastination and avoidance to help you build a simple profitable RTO business.

This session has been identified by the presenter as being relevant for those who are Veterans of VET (being in the industry for 5 or more years)

Literacy Support Solutions for all Students

Session Overview Coming Soon!

Afternoon Tea & Networking

Future Work, Future Jobs

The presentation will focus on key findings from phase two of Jobs Queensland’s Future Work project and how these findings can impact decision making across all industries including Vocational Education and Training (VET).

The economy and labour market are changing; our population is growing, and new industry sectors are emerging. The population is also living and working longer and alternative ways of working offer new possibilities for jobs and skills.

A highly skilled workforce is needed to underpin our future prosperity, and VET plays a major role in the supply of skills. What is unclear is how the VET system will need to transform to support the future workforce.

In late 2019, Jobs Queensland released Future Work, Future Jobs: Preparing Queensland for the evolution of work. The research and consultation undertaken to develop this report identifies five key areas in which action needs to be taken if we are to have a prosperous and harmonious future:

• Change is inevitable, however we can manage transitions.
• Skills drive social and economic prosperity.
• Access to quality work is essential.
• Place-based leadership creates stronger regions.
• Lifelong learning and skills attainment underpin Queensland’s future.

Our decisions today can influence the role VET has.

Re-Defining Competency: Time for a new approach

When we think about a Vision for the Future in the VET Sector, we ask ourselves, what might it look like? Take a Deep Dive into a new perspective in this session, where participants will have the opportunity to step back from their day to day management or leadership role, and consider the bigger picture of the role of the VET Sector!

What does it mean to be work ready, competent or proficient? This presentation seeks to define these terms in a way that would allow the VET sector to play to its strengths and reduce the current levels of compliance required by RTOs, whilst increasing the level of trust by industry.

There has never been a more important time to have a vibrant and flourishing VET sector. Massive and unprecedented technological advancement is changing equipment, skills and processes, therefore fundamentally altering the way work is done. Yet not all enterprises move at the same pace, and the “old ways” of doing things are just as relevant for many workplaces, including those in transition, so the VET sector needs to be able to provide for both current and future skills needs.

The sector is enthusiastic about meeting these and other challenges, yet it is bedevilled by issues such as the need to access to a unrealistic definition of competence and a compliance system which limit VET's ability to deliver much needed services across all industries.

VET delivery hours represent less than .005% of all hours worked in the Australian economy.  How can these delivery hours provide the best value to industries to support them with the skills required to compete domestically and globally?

Every person in the room is making a key contribution to the sector. This session will explore and recognise the value of that contribution with a focus on how we could all deliver so much more, in a VET reform environment open to policy changes that could make a huge difference.

The Presenter has pitched this session for those experienced VET professionals who have more than 5-10 years in the industry via a deep dive into a potential new approach for VET!

VET for Secondary School Students: trends and destinations

This presentation reports on findings from NCVER research that investigates the uptake and five-year employment and further training destinations of students who participated in VET for Secondary School Students (VfSSS) programs in 2011, and the relationship between these courses of study and ensuing destinations. The research links data from the 2011 National VET in Schools Collection to data from the 2016 Census of Population and Housing. Comparisons are also made with findings from earlier research in which data from the 2006 National VET Collection are linked to data from the 2011 Census of Population and Housing.

The findings show that doing a school-based apprenticeship or traineeship increases the likelihood of VfSSS students gaining full-time and on-going employment in an occupation of choice five years down the track. They also show that doing a trades or trades-related program also has similar outcomes.

To find out how destinations vary between students who do VfSSS programs and those who do not, researchers also undertook an exploratory analysis using data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY 2009 commencing cohort). When analysing the LSAY data, it became apparent that students who undertook VfSSS programs were not a homogenous group, and that a significant proportion (45.2%) also achieved an ATAR. A preliminary analysis indicated some significant differences between the outcomes of VfSSS students who achieved an ATAR and those who did not achieve an ATAR. Statistically significant differences were found between the employment and further training destinations of students who do VfSSS programs and those who do not.

I See You! Ensuring your website ticks the boxes

Access to RTO’s information via the web has never been easier. As our stakeholders embrace the convenience of this information source, it has never been more important to ensure that your RTO’s website’s content is accurate whilst putting your RTO’s best foot forward.

With your stakeholders including the VET Regulator and funding bodies alongside industry and potential applicants, this workshop will work through the kinds of information which will capably serve all audiences.  It will also share ‘dos and don’ts’, mapped to the relevant Standards for RTOs  (2015), to support you to prepare great content and to ensure your website is accessible by all.

This session has been pitched by the Presenter as being for those fairly new to VET or who are looking for a refresher in the fundamentals.

Engaging the Unengaged

There are many reasons why our students become unengaged. This session will not only explore these reasons but provide trainers with some practical strategies to …. Engage the Unengaged! Bring your phone and an open mind and walk out with a tool kit of ideas. 

Key topic covered:

• Why students are disengaged in the first place
• Why student expectations are not matching delivery
• What does 'engagement' look like?
• Universal Design for Leaning
• Strategies and practical ideas that reengage students that trainers can implement straight away including technology and old school approaches

This session has been identified as being relevant for those who have training experience but would still like validation of their knowledge/understanding.

Principles of Adult Learning for 2020s

The principles of adult learning underpin how we help people develop the skills and aptitudes they need to thrive at work. Join Chemène as she offers a version of the principles of adult learning for the 2020s—one that brings together recent research and discoveries about adult learning and performance.

This interactive and practical session aims to help you answer the ‘so how’ question: ‘So how can I use these latest insights?’

You will have a chance to discuss ideas with other attendees, then reflect upon and identify ways to incorporate the updated principles of adult learning into your own practice!

The Presenter has identified that this session could be for anyone in VET (experienced or new) who is interested in adult learning principles.

Networking Lunch

VET Student Loans and Tuition Assurance Taskforce

The VET Student Loans program has undergone a series of reviews over the past 18 months. This presentation will outline the key findings from these reviews and look at where to from here.

‘Glimpsing the future: why supply chain careers just became the new black’

Supply chains are radically transforming! This presentation will deep-dive into what that transformation looks like, the economy-wide implications for industries and jobs, and the future skills required by industry in Australia and globally.  It will stimulate and challenge business development managers and practitioners in VET to think and plan how they might best connect with this untapped yet booming area and ultimately deliver a suite of new Skill Sets recently developed by supply chain experts in Australia.

Explore ‘Supply chains in 100 seconds’ and the contemporary, digitalized, supply chains that exist today. This session will dispel the stereotypical image that it’s all freight and trucks – and illustrate how supply chains are literally all around us, across all industries and across the globe, continually moving people, goods and data.  

As an attendee of this session you will look at some of the qualitative and quantitative data that will help the you understand the current composition (job roles), demographic and size of the supply chain workforce, and how digital transformation and automation of supply chains are eliminating some job roles but already creating dynamic new ones, which will in turn revolutionise whole industries!  

As supply chains branch into every aspect of our lives and become ever more sophisticated, it’s become clear that many of the new and emerging skills are common across industries. Explore three such skill areas – blockchain, traceability and ethical practice. It will also illustrate how supply chains, and the jobs within them, are starting to tackle some of the most pivotal issues of our time such as sustainability, transparency, modern slavery and ethical practice.  

The presentation will also showcase the 10 cross-sector Supply Chain Skill Sets that have been developed by industry and are now available for delivery! It will include a deep dive into:

• the target learner audience and industries
• the skills and knowledge covered by each Skill Set
• the Companion Volume Implementation Guide (CVIG) ‘compendium’ which is packed with high quality supply chain resources for each unit of competency and each Skill Set (videos, blogs, websites, articles, reports, social media channels and links)
• how Australian Industry Standards is trialling the CVIG compendium as a ‘living document’ and will be continually updated to enable VET practitioners to contextualise delivery and easily stay up to date with current practices and events.

Attend this session to get a full picture of the emerging supply chain careers and pathways, and how supply chain skills will enable people to move between industries, along different aspects of a supply chain and work in countries around the globe.  It will include marketing and promotion materials developed to help training providers create demand for their own business!

Deep Dive: Analyzing Learning Effectiveness

This session typically applies to learning and development practitioners, course development consultants and middle to senior management of RTOs and industry training departments; CEOs, TAFE Directors, Principles, RTO Senior Management, RTO owners & managers, Training managers and Enterprise RTO management representatives. It has been identified by the Presenter as being relevant to experienced professionals - those who have been in the VET Sector for 5-10 years.

Why do we educate? What is the value proposition of our core business?

This session addresses skills and knowledge needed to reflect and evaluate training to measure the effectiveness value proposition of programs within your organisation. There will be strategic critical thinking goalposts used to analyse the impact of training of learners, the role of trainers and the benefits to relevant stakeholders including the learners, employers, organisations and the community.

It will explore:

1. An overview of the Training Evaluation Model
   1. Understanding Kirkpatrick's Four Levels of Evaluation Model to prioritise the goals of training to match the intended result and develop training to meet this need.
      1. Level 1 – Reaction
      2. Level 2 – Learning
      3. Level 3 – Behaviour
      4. Level 4 – Results
   2. Understanding Philip’s (additional) fifth level of Evaluation – Return on (Training) Investment (ROTI)
2. Integrating Phillip’s Training Evaluation ROTI model to begin to translate that impact of training into monetary terms and compare it to the total cost of the program to calculate ROTI (Return of Training Investment)
3. Guidance towards calculating the Cost Benefit Ratio (CBR) to populate training evaluation tools.  
4. Shared strategies for continual improvement and development with like-minded RTO management stakeholders

Let's Talk about eLearning

Freestyle Facilitation – Let’s talk about……eLearning!

Delegate feedback has helped shape this concept!  Attendees of past events have identified they would love the opportunity to attend a less structured session that allows them to network with others.  Requests for a space to talk to others, to ask for hints and tips.  

As an attendee YOU get to help shape this session!

This NOT a:

• Pure Q & A/Panel session
• Formal PD session
• A platform for airing grievances

This IS an opportunity for:

• positive discussions
• to share ideas, thoughts, concerns with likeminded practitioners
• a facilitated networking opportunity to help inspire your innovative thoughts, or activation plans around RTO Administration
• making positive connections with others
• idea generation

Preparing for a DESBT Audit

The Queensland Department of Employment, Small Business and Training (DESBT) undertakes compliance audits against the departmental funding programs outlined in the Annual VET Investment Plan, including User Choice and VET Investment programs, to determine if a pre-qualified supplier (PQS) is satisfactorily addressing the requirements of its PQS agreement.

It’s important to understand that by entering into a PQS agreement, the supplier commits to meet its obligations for compliance. This session will unpack the Queensland VET Quality Framework and assist PQS’s in understanding the audit evidence requirements.

Key topics:

DESBT’s new audit model including:

• Understanding the audit process
• Understanding breach notices
• Effective rectification action planning
• Common non-compliances identified during audits

Audit evidence requirements for User Choice and VET Investment programs including:

• Enrolment
• Employment Arrangements (User Choice only)
• Training
• Assessment
• Fees
• AVETMISS Data
• Administration

When implemented correctly, the audit evidence requirements will help your organisation work more effectively within Queensland’s funded training program environment, assist in maintaining compliance and mitigate much of the stress that can be associated with compliance audits.

Permission to Play

As children we embraced the joy of exploration, the wonder of discovery and the excitement of creativity. But as adults, we often lose our way, which is why we need to give our learners and ourselves permission to play.

In this session we will explore why it is important to play, how we can influence play around us and finally set a plan to introduce the concept of play into our regular practice.

This session was also classified as a Hands On/Hands Up! Designed to empower attendees to be creative in their training approaches, the Presenter has pitched that this session could be for those fairly new to VET, or for those who are experienced trainers looking for validation of/ideas about new approaches.

How to Prepare for an ASQA Audit

Regardless of the role you have in your RTO, Re-registration audits can sometimes feel burdensome! But if we approach them armed with a good understanding of ASQA’s requirements, and a plan of attack when it comes to preparation, your RTO can be in a great place when it comes to compliance.

This presentation will explore the ASQA audit approach and discusses how RTOs can use this framework to prepare for an audit. The presentation logically follows the student life cycle (as per the Chapters) and discusses tips for achieving compliance or strengthening compliance, common non-compliances at audit, etc.

With a focus on the Re-registration audit, topics covered will include trainer compliance (trainer files, PD evidence, industry currency, mapping competencies), Training and Assessment Strategies (volume of learning, amount of training, industry engagement, identifying cohorts, etc.), financial viability (common traps, key considerations when submitting to ASQA), complaints and appeals, fit and proper persons, marketing and recruitment practices, pre-training review and enrolment procedures, validation and continuous improvement.

This session has been pitched by the Presenter as being designed for those who might be fairly new to VET or who are looking for a ‘fundamentals refresher’, however it may also be of benefit to those who have some experience and looking for validation of their knowledge/practices.

Modernism Workplace Learning

The world of work is complex and continues to change changing rapidly.  Massive change is occurring on multiple fronts – technology, globalisation, mobility, social structures, consumer and workforce expectations.  As the world of work continues to transform and shift at pace, learning has the potential to fuel organisational agility.  What can we do to unleash the potential of learning in modern organisations and remain relevant and effective?

Join the 2019 Australian Institute of Training and Development’s Learning Professional of the Year, Michelle Ockers, for a contemporary, evidence-informed look at modernising workplace learning.  This interactive session will help you answer the questions:

• What is driving change in workplace learning?
• What does workplace learning need to look like now and into the future?
• What do learning teams need to do differently?
• How can learning teams and professionals equip themselves to modernise workplace learning?
• Specifically, what steps should I be taking in my organisation – or encouraging my clients to make?

The presenter has also categorised this session as Hands On/Hands Up! and has pitched the level as being for those who have been in VET for 5-10 years.

Using Brain Science to Guide Education

Session Overview Coming Soon!

Collecting Meaningful Evidence

Compliant assessment requires the development of assessment tools that are directly linked to the requirements of the unit, are relevant to the learner needs and reflect industry practice.  As practitioners we need to be sure that these tools are likely to produce quality evidence and need mechanisms in place to make appropriate decisions with this evidence collected.  

However, do we spend enough time on ensuring that we truly collect meaningful evidence? This session will help you to identify how to collect relevance and meaningful evidence that clearly links to unit of competency requirements and appropriate AQF level indicators.

The presenter has identified that this session content has been pitched as relevant to those who have some experience but still want validation of their knowledge and/or those fairly new to VET or who are looking for fundamentals refresher.

The Future of Work Start with your Own VET Workforce

The future of work is predicted to be significantly disrupted by digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, robots, visualisation and automation (NCVER, 2019).  At the same time, the demand for digital literacy skills in job advertisements has increased by 200% (FYA, 2016).

This has serious implications for all industries, and will require the Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector to provide the skills needed to allow Australia to remain competitive in global economy.  However, this must start with a VET workforce who has the digital capability and experience to not only deliver the technical skills for Industry 4.0, but to also be able to do this using progressive training methodologies which adopt digital technologies to deliver and support training and assessment (TAFE Queensland, 2016).

This Hands-on session will take participants on an Appreciative Inquiry journey using a range of easily accessible digital tools to discover how their current trainers' digital literacy compares with their colleagues in the room.  They will then work collaboratively and collectively to dream and design a VET workforce of the future for their organisation using established digital skills frameworks for building capability in the vocational education and training sector.

The Presenter has also identified this session as sitting under the Management category and pitched as being designed for those who have been in VET for 5-10 years, who have some experience but who could be looking for validation of their knowledge. 

Let's Talk About Observation

Freestyle Facilitation – Let’s talk about……Observation!

Delegate feedback has helped shape this concept!  Attendees of past events have identified they would love the opportunity to attend a less structured session that allows them to network with others.  Requests for a space to talk to others, to ask for hints and tips.  

As an attendee YOU get to help shape this session!

This NOT a:

• Pure Q & A/Panel session
• Formal PD session
• A platform for airing grievances

This IS an opportunity for:

• positive discussions
• to share ideas, thoughts, concerns with likeminded practitioners
• a facilitated networking opportunity to help inspire your innovative thoughts, or activation plans around RTO Administration
• making positive connections with others
• idea generation

Morning Tea & Networking

Motivational Speaker

Strengthening Career Information in Australia, Grant Lovelock, Assistant Secretary, National Careers Institute

Day 2 Welcome Address - Velg Training

Catch Up over Coffee

Welcome Function

The RTO Enrolment Blueprint for $uccess

The way to get started is to quit talking and start doing – Walt Disney

When I ask anyone running an RTO, ‘If I had a magic wand and could fix one thing in their RTO, what would it be?’, invariably one of the most common answers is, ‘Can you please help me get me more students?’.

And of course that’s what any business wants because without paying customers, there is no RTO business – regardless of how good you think your training is or how committed you are to your RTO’s Vision.

But for many RTOs, they haven’t taken the time to:

• determine their business model which works for them AND is profitable
• really look at how they market to their students (from a return on investment perspective)
• put themselves in the shoes of their customer (who is often an uneducated buyer) or
• developed a marketing strategy which they implement every single day

We all have the same amount of hours in the day, but for many people running RTOs, they seem to drift through each day fighting fires and reacting to whatever comes through the door or on email which means they get to the end of the day and think, ‘What did I even do today?’.  

And this means that marketing (which is the strategy to get more customers/students) has again fallen off the To Do List.

Yet everyone knows, staying in reactive mode and band-aiding things, is no way to run a simple, profitable RTO business.

In this straight talking and interactive presentation, you will discover:

• How the training industry is being disrupted and why your RTO’s Vision may no longer be viable
• Why looking at your RTO through the eyes of your customer/students is critical for success
• The 1 mistake most RTOs make when selling their training
• 3 proven strategies to getting more students signed up and dollars in the bank

And you’ll hear ideas from delegates on what’s worked and hasn’t worked for them in managing their staff which you can then adapt, adopt or apply in your RTO.

This Deep Dive session for RTO Managers has also been identified by the presenter as Hands On/Hands Up!

Trainer & Assessor Compliance and Effective Industry Engagement

Session Overview Coming Soon!

I am an Auditor Ask Me Anything

Session Overview Coming Soon!

Training: The Learning Magician...it's a skill and incredibly enjoyable

This session will be highly interactive and was also classified as fitting in the Hands On/Hands Up category. It has been pitched by the Presenter as a session for those who have some experience but still want validation of their knowledge/practice.

If you are a great Trainer and Assessor, then here’s a title to add to your resume.  As a great Trainer, you are, in effect, a “Learning Magician” because in Training, magic is the name of the game if effective transfer of knowledge is to occur.

“Magician?” I hear you say, “not me!”

 Well yes, it IS you, and there can be light and fun in the training magician’s world – and we’ll prove it.

The Experience of Learning needs to be more than just ‘consumption’ of information. You may have your students physically present but getting them mentally and attitudinally present is the key.

For real learning and transfer of skills to take place, there must be a connection created within the learners’ brains. Your role is to become a Learning Magician in assisting this process to happen. Learning is about connecting brain cells.  We need to closely look at what we are offering students in our training delivery.

 Do we ...

• stimulate their brain’s curiosity?
• touch their hearts?
• shift their headspace and thinking?
• equip them with hands-on skills?
• move their feet into action?

This Presentation will both challenge you and have you experience what this means for you and your learning and delivery design. Be prepared to have fun and to shift mental mindsets. It will not be a talk feast but an experience where magic will happen, and practical skills learnt.

Impressed to Assess

Suitable for Trainers & Assessors, Curriculum Developers, Pre-service VET teachers, the presenter has identified that this session has been designed for those who have some experience with assessment development, but who may be looking for validation of their knowledge/application and for new ideas!

This session sets out to challenge the way we are assessing and the measure that we assess our learners with ensuring industry readiness, active learning, participation, compliance and… fun!

Training package units of competency, Foundation Skills, Dimensions of Competence, learning styles and 21st century skills will be unpacked as our to-do list grows in time for our next validation.

Whether you’re tasked to write quizzes, practice activities, diagnostic, formative or summative assessments, this practical-minded session will explore a range of easily-contextualised assessment instruments for when you next sit down to validate and/or design assessment tools.

We will map two Units of Competency with different AQF levels and samples of varied instruments that you could adapt. Participants of this program can explore a large span of ideas for evidence, including OJT assessment tools.

Using Labor Force Data to Plan Program Offerings

NB: this will be a “hands on” session. Access to a laptop and the Internet is required.

The session will focus on data tools that are available to inform decision making for RTO managers. While the main focus is on the tools developed to support Jobs Queensland’s Anticipating Future Skills project, national tools such as the Labour Market Information Portal (LMIP) will be also be demonstrated.

Understanding where jobs growth is likely to occur in the next few years is crucial to planning for success and meeting market needs. Access to up-to-date and reliable data underpins decision making.

Jobs Queensland is tasked by the Queensland Government to undertake research and provide advice on future skills needs. The Anticipating Future Skills project, which entails the economic modelling of future scenarios, is one of the ways in which Jobs Queensland is performing this work.

In consultation with stakeholders across the state, Jobs Queensland devised three future scenarios, which are useful tools for dealing with complexity and uncertainty. Grounded in existing data and trends, scenarios do not generate predictions but depict plausible futures. When contrasted with a baseline or “business as usual” scenario, alternative scenarios can be used to measure their impact and identify what factors may or may not influence outcomes.

A suite of data tools has been developed as an outcome of the project. These tools can help inform decision making at a local, industry or state-wide level. You will have the opportunity to use these and other tools during the session.

Afternoon Tea & Networking

ASQA Session

Session Overview Coming Soon!

How to Rectify Non-Compliances Following an Audit

When your organisation has been through an audit and has had adverse findings and non-compliances, its sometime daunting to know how and where to start the process of rectification. This session will look at how to take a strategic and systematic approach to rectifying and re-mediating non compliances.

 This session will cover: 

• How to review and analyse the non compliance
• Undertaking a root cause analysis
• Determining if similar non compliances exist
• Analysing the possible and actual impact on your stakeholders
•  Implementing relevant corrective actions
• Reviewing and monitoring the corrective actions

How to ensure that your VET in Schools, School-based Apprenticeship and Traineeship Delivery is Audit Ready

VET in Schools continues to creates engaging learning opportunities for students, in 2018 VET in School students was 230 700. School based apprentices and trainees was 18,200 representing 7.9% of all VET in School students (NCVER 2020).

VET in Schools is a state, territory and national priority and continues to remain an area of creativity, inspiration, debate and regulatory focus. The Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) Regulatory Strategy 2019-2021 identifies VET in Schools as Target area 2. (asqa_regulatory_strategy_2019-21.pdf). With ASQA continued focus on VET in Schools, our team will share the insights on how to get audit ready.

This session will look at the VET Schools trends and will explore the two distinct models of VET in School delivery and assessment, Secondary School (standalone RTO) and Secondary School (Auspiced Arrangement with partner RTO). How to achieve best practice in teaching and learning whilst maintaining a compliance lense to support achieving quality outcomes.

You will leave this session with a clear understanding of the differences and benefits of each model. Unpacked and discussed, will be the regulatory obligations a Secondary School with Auspicing agreements is required to meet as well as how to achieve these and continue to create an enriched VET in School learner experience. This session will share audit insights and provides tips on where to focus on your quality and compliance resources for your VET in School, school based apprenticeships and traineeship programs.

Key points covered within session:  

• VET in Schools key trends
• Standalone RTO verses an Auspiced Agreement with an RTO – which is best?
• Audit insights, what does the quality consultant and auditor look for in a
  • VET in Schools audit
  • School based apprenticeship and traineeship audit
• Next steps, how do I prepare for our audit

The Presenters have pitched this session as being for those who have some experience in the VET sector.

This session will be co-presented with Natalie Daniel, Quality Consultant and Auditor, Audit Express.

Enhanced Retention and Recall with Lessons from the Cognitive Sciences

One of the central roles of educators is to find ways of interrupting the processing of forgetting and help students to develop mental models about how to perform tasks and solve problems. Unfortunately, many learning strategies advocated in the past and still employed today, fall short of helping students learn and may even hinder their progress.

Drawing on research from the cognitive sciences, this presentation will discuss the benefits of retrieval practice and spaced retrieval, two research-based learning and instructional strategies are proven to enhance retention, recall and even increase student satisfaction.  We’ll discuss ideas for implementation that are applicable to classroom, eLearning and even work based learning environments.  

Expect an interactive presentation that will provide you with effective and relatively easy to implement instructional strategies that improve learning outcomes.  

Instructional designers, trainers, assessors or anyone interested in improving retention and recall should attend.

Bring your internet-connected mobile phone or tablet to get involved.

The presenter has pitched this interactive session as being designed for those who have some experience but who would still like validation of their understanding/application of this content.

The Influence of Formal Education

For the first time ever, Australia participated in the international Hope Barometer research project in November 2019. Mentor Education assumed responsibility for analysing and reporting on the Australian data set whilst focusing on the impact of education and contributed to research design by way of question contextualisation.

Analysis of the data set and focus of the presentation serves to answer the question; ‘Does engaging in formal education influence an individual’s level of hope, positive psychology and outlook on opportunities; if so, to what degree and what impact does this have on the perception of the workforce, society and economy as a whole?’

The objective of the study is to identify the key factors that influence hope-filled learning strategies aiming to systemically improve retention, completion and graduate outcomes. It is hypothesised that the implementation of such strategies will improve the efficiency, flexibility and responsiveness of the VET system.

The dataset includes 474 Australian respondents amongst 9838 in total across the globe. In addition to measurement of hope and perception of future scenarios, 9 socio-demographic questions including level of education and training obtained by participants is also included.

Initial findings indicate that education and study have a considerable impact on individuals’ level of hope. On the perceived hope scale, an increase in level of hope between those who had completed year 12 and those who have completed vocational study was witnessed. A higher increase in the average level of hope was seen in those who had completed a degree or higher.

Building a Kick Ass Strategy for the New Decade

Why do our strategies not hold firm, or get lost somewhere in the G:/Drive only to make an appearance at the annual staff meeting? - Because it’s not KICKASS!

Much like ourselves, our organisation, individual departments and the amazing staff within them get lost without a map, and our strategy is the company road map to tomorrow.

So, if you too get lost without a map, let us be your Google Maps to a session created just for you!

Building a kickass strategy for the new decade will encompass a whirlwind of techniques and skills to embed within your own company strategies to help build a business that becomes a force to be reckoned with.

You will not only learn all about building a kickass strategy for the new decade, you will also have the opportunity to manifest your own strategies in this hands on session. The Maven Effect’s CEO and Founder will guide you on your journey to:

• Create a VISION that inspires your staff to jump out of bed every morning.  
• Build a MISSION that connects with your staff, and translates to their individual roles.
• Design ACTIONS that defy and challenge stereotypes of the industry.
• Weave the chain that binds teams TOGETHER, helping staff understand each department and their importance to an effective workplace.
• Communicating the kickass strategy to your teams, to ensure that everyone knows HOW they fit into the puzzle, and WHAT they can do to contribute to the game plan.

WARNING: This session is not for the faint of heart. Building a kick-ass strategy for the new decade requires – courage, tenacity, passion, inspiration, and an attitude to rise to the occasion with an open mind.

This session has also been classified as a Hands On/Hands Up! and is pitched at those who have been in VET for more than 5 years, not requiring fundamentals.

Networking Lunch

What Auditors are Looking for in Completed Student Files?

Our students are at the core of the Vocational Education and Training ecosystem. Student administration and specifically the contents of the student files are critical to the success of the student, the teacher and the Registered Training Organisation.

This session will look at a student file from the auditors lense. What are the must have documents to meet your regulatory obligations, what are the maybe documents and the nice to have documents in a student file. What is a student administration file verses a student assessment file. Which approach and tools are best to manage student files and how do we encourage a culture of inclusivity where everyone is responsible for student files.

How long do we need to keep student files, and what is the best approach for preparing our student files for an internal audit and an external audit. What are the differences in audits and preparation, and how do you ensure ongoing compliance and quality processes.

You will leave this session with a clear understanding of the requirements and regulatory obligations for student files, including advice and tools on how to prepare a student file from the auditors lense for a best practice to support the student experience and best practice outcomes.

Key points covered within session:  

• Student File
  • Student Administration File verses Student Assessment File
  • Key differences and why I need both files
  • Which approach and tools are best for student file management
• What must be in a student administration file and student assessment file
  • How does the Auditor know what is missing?
  • How to rectify missing student file documents?
• Next steps, how do I prepare for our student file audit?

This session will be co-presented with Simon Cochaud, Quality Consultant and Auditor, Audit Express.

Welcome to VET: Intro to the Standards Part 2 of 2

The role of the RTO within the Australian VET system is pivotal to the future supply of skilled workers. All RTOs are governed by the legislative instrument, Standards for Registered Training Organisations 2015, which outlines the requirements that an organisation must meet to be [and stay] an RTO.

In an NVC first, ‘Welcome to VET’ is a dual session with Parts 1 and 2 running on the Day 1 program.

Presented by Michelle Charlton, ‘Welcome to VET’ is specifically designed to offer a helicopter view of the Standards. Michelle will go through each of the eight Standards and their underlying Clauses, and give a summary of what these mean and how they apply to an RTO, its operations, its staff and overall requirements. Throughout, Michelle will offer guidance on interpreting the Standards, and how your RTO can use the Standards to inform its operations and overall compliance.  

After providing overall context for the Standards and where they fit in the provision of vocational education, Part 1 of ‘Welcome to VET’ will discuss the role of the National Regulator, and will give a summary of the eight clauses and what they mean for your RTO.  Part 2 will review Standard 1 which contains the requirements to provide nationally accredited training and assessment, and also the Clauses against which RTOs have most difficulty at audit.

‘Welcome to VET’ is positioned as ideal for anyone new to the VET sector, new to RTO operations and/or anyone who would like a refresher or confirmation of their own practice.  Information will be at beginner level and there will also be opportunity for Q&A.

Learning Differently - Addressing the Challenges faced by students with Dyslexia and other learning differences

Up to 20 % of the population are impacted by Specific Learning Disorders such as Dyslexia and Auditory processing disorders. Although not currently researched, the number of students accessing VET programs in particular would appear to be much higher as students access alternative methods of learning that are more hands on.

This session aims to provide attendees with an understanding of how SLDs such as Dyslexia present, how to identify a student who learns differently, as well as insights into some of the day-to-day learning challenges these students face in the classroom. It will also provide some practical, easy-to-implement strategies that will progress student learning – without funding – that will make your classroom accessible to all your students, especially accommodating students who need to learn differently.

This session has been pitched by the Presenter as being designed for those who have been working in the Sector for 5-10 years.

Influences of AQF on assessment questions

Units don’t have an AQF level – that’s what we’re told. However, the AQF combined with other schema are essential considerations when deciding the type and complexity of questions to ask in an assessment event. They also impact on how, and indeed whether, technology can be used as the assessment medium. This session outlines the importance of AQF, LLN, Foundation Skills, Bloom’s taxonomy and technology in the design of effective knowledge assessments for a unit or cluster of units of competency. 

This session has been identified by the presenter as being relevant for those who are either new to VET or who might be looking for a fundamentals refresher.

Solving eLearning Design Challenges

Session Overview Coming Soon!

Compliance the Annual Approach: Deep dive

This session will assume you already have a strong understanding of the obligations of the Standards for RTOs 2015 and instead of explaining these obligations we will explore proven strategies that RTOs can implement to achieve and maintain compliance.  

Creating a culture of compliance rather than functioning via a reactive approach often means first identifying the key areas of risk, gaining a ‘where we are at now’ status and unpacking the potential consequences of not identifying and addressing non-compliance.  Once this occurs an RTO can then truly look at developing and implementing strategies to manage compliance obligations as a part of everyday business.

This Deep Dive session aims to shift our thinking from looking at one person within the organisation as being solely responsible for all-things-compliance, to sharing the compliance obligation across the organisation.  An approach where the key compliance person is responsible for overseeing evidence gathering and supporting others to achieve compliance as an embedded practice, through targeted activities that scheduled across the year to ensure that compliance evidence is current. Attendees will explore the importance of thoughtful planning, identification processes and action, action, action!

This session has been identified by the presenter as suitable for those who have been in the VET industry for 5 or more years who do not require fundamentals.

ASQA Session

Session Overview Coming Soon!

Welcome to VET: Intro to the Standards Part 1 of 2

The role of the RTO within the Australian VET system is pivotal to the future supply of skilled workers. All RTOs are governed by the legislative instrument, Standards for Registered Training Organisations 2015, which outlines the requirements that an organisation must meet to be [and stay] an RTO.

In an NVC first, ‘Welcome to VET’ is a dual session with Parts 1 and 2 running on the Day 1 program.

Presented by Michelle Charlton, ‘Welcome to VET’ is specifically designed to offer a helicopter view of the Standards. Michelle will go through each of the eight Standards and their underlying Clauses, and give a summary of what these mean and how they apply to an RTO, its operations, its staff and overall requirements. Throughout, Michelle will offer guidance on interpreting the Standards, and how your RTO can use the Standards to inform its operations and overall compliance.

After providing overall context for the Standards and where they fit in the provision of vocational education, Part 1 of ‘Welcome to VET’ will discuss the role of the National Regulator, and will give a summary of the eight clauses and what they mean for your RTO.  Part 2 will review Standard 1 which contains the requirements to provide nationally accredited training and assessment, and also the Clauses against which RTOs have most difficulty at audit.

‘Welcome to VET’ is positioned as ideal for anyone new to the VET sector, new to RTO operations and/or anyone who would like a refresher or confirmation of their own practice.  Information will be at beginner level and there will also be opportunity for Q&A.

Making Micro Credentials Work in Your RTO

This session has also been identified by the presenter as sitting under the Deep Dive category (and will skip the fundamentals, diving straight into the content).

The Australian Vocational Education System is at a crossroad and is needing to re-establish its purpose and relevance for the future. Current NCVER VET data confirms that enrolments into nationally recognised programs (qualifications) are declining year-on-year, whereas enrolments into stand-alone enrolments (single units, skillsets and microcredentials) are increasing year-on-year.

RTOs need to look closely and carefully at the way they structure, design and deliver AQF qualifications, skillsets and stand-alone units. In doing this, RTOs should be considering the role of microcredentials and digital badging in the development and delivery of their training programs.

This workshop will unpack the definition and concepts of micro-learning, micro-credentials and badging, and will explore the benefits that each of these can offer your organisation.

You will leave this session with a clear understanding of the difference between microlearning, microcredentialing and digital badging. You will also gain insights on how to start offering micro-credentials in your RTO.

Key points covered within session:  

• What are the differences between microlearning, microcredentials and digital badges?
• What microcredentials could my organisation offer?
• What role should digital badges play in my organisation?
• What is happening across the globe in relation to this multi-billion-dollar microlearning and microcredential industry?

WVAR: A paradigm for Design

When we think about the future of our learning content we need to remember that learning design is a complex process that requires logical pragmatism balanced with creative inspiration. This session explores a simple paradigm for designers to follow in order to achieve a balance between pragmatism and creativeness.

Geoff will unlock his WVAR (waiver) for design, a four-step process for making better instructional design decisions and delivering more targeted and effective learning solutions. Get your free pass to improved design!

The Presenter has identified that this session has been pitched for those who have some experience but still want validation of their knowledge/practice, those fairly new to VET, or those who are looking for fundamentals refresher.

Mental Health of our Students

It can be really tough to see a student you’re working with struggling, especially when you suspect there may be a mental health problem at play.  We’re in the teaching profession because we want to help develop our students fully, enabling them to be the best they can be.  If you work in a School, as a workplace trainer supporting young people in Traineeships & Apprenticeships or even if you are an RTO working with adult learners, it’s incredibly important that we become fluent in Mental Health and common mental illnesses.  

 In this session, we’ll take a look at Mental Health in VET from a number of perspectives. We’ll start by covering the key stats and facts around mental health in Australia. We’ll explore the prevalence of mental health problems in different demographics, as well as the impact poor mental health has on the workplace, society, and the broader economy.

I’ll give you the basics on two of the most prevalent mental health conditions - anxiety and depression - as well as dispel some of the common myths and misunderstandings about them and we’ll explore how all this affects us in our Schools, RTOs and workplaces generally.

 In this session, we will unpack the questions:

• How do we support a student experiencing mental health problems?
• How might we spot the signs of a mental health problem in our students, colleagues and stakeholders?
• If I sense something is wrong, should I say something?
• How do we look after ourselves whilst looking after others?

And because mental health is such a complex topic, I’ll make sure there is time to ask questions and discuss issues. Got a question you’d like answered? Tweet me @avetmess

Innovation in Adaptive Skill Set Development for Future Employability

While the intent to deliver and develop foundation skills is always present, having the tools and curriculum to support such development across a range of different VET courses, and finding the time to focus on them, is another issue.  On reflection, we try to make Training Packages suit everyone and every need and fit every change and technology and every generation …. In the end they are too big, too complicated, too costly too unwieldly to adapt, update, deliver etc etc

PEER aims to have to have the most sought after apprentices in South Australia and to achieve that goal, we need to ensure the employability skills of our graduates are first class.  

“There’s a major shift happening in the skill sets people need to stay relevant……One of the most important ingredients to success in life and business is the ability to adapt as technology changes and new trends emerge…….You can start preparing yourself for the future of work by investing in yourself and what matters to you.”

What if there was an innovative way to support shifts in skill sets, adaptive to new technology and new trends?

This presentation reports on a trial we ran with the Inventorium, an innovative online skills based curriculum, to boost the 21st century work skills of our pre-apprentices.  The trial revealed some fascinating results and we are now extending the use of the platform to our VET in schools, and apprenticeship programs to see if we can replicate the results.  Of particular interest was how an online platform managed to increase skills confidence and bring around an attitudinal shift compared to a control group, as we took part in this innovation project.  The presentation outlines what we did, how we did it, how the platform operated, what the results were, our key learning going forwards, and an update on where we are now.  

Morning Tea & Networking

Housekeeping

National Skills Commission Update, Adam Boyton, Interim National Skills Commissioner

ASQA Update, Saxon Rice, Chief Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, ASQA

Senator the Hon. Michaelia Cash, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business (Invited)

Official Opening - Velg Training

Welcome to Country

Registration