Institute News
Institute News 2009
January | February | March | April | May | June
June
Alison Taafe Book Launch
Sports Day a Winner for New Arrivals
May
BNIT Students Design for Peace and Freedom
April
TAFE course
Girls prepped on IT
Restaurant re-opens on northside
March
BNIT students to gain practical skills at this years Brisbane Festival
Students take part in National Youth Week 2009
"We love to celebrate our graduation"
February
BNIT Platinum Sponsor of Technology Takes You Anywhere
Snap-Fresh signs Memorandum of Understanding
January
Alison Taafe Book Launch
On Wednesday 17 June, 30 Brisbane North Institute of TAFE (BNIT) Events and Hospitality students helped deliver a five-course food and wine tasting event, to celebrate the release of top chef Alison Taafe's unique new cook book Fun, Fast and Fabulous Food.
BNIT Hospitality Management Student Megan Colby said the event was suited to professional or busy people who loved to entertain at home but dreaded the thought of shopping, preparing, cooking and organising for the lunch or dinner on the day.
"Plus guests provided BNIT Events and Hospitality students an opportunity to work alongside a top chef, and develop professional skills," said Megan.
Sports Day a Winner for New Arrivals
Young migrants and refugees studying English at TAFE got a dose of dinkum Australian culture at a typical Aussie sports day at Kangaroo Point on June 2.
Brisbane teachers of TAFE English, Language and Literacy Services (TELLS) organised the Youth Classes Get Together sports day, complete with cricket, volleyball and a sausage sizzle, for students taking part in TAFE's Youth Program.
TELLS Teacher Willians Alcala Pabon said many of the Youth Program students had lived in villages or refugee camps before coming to Australia and had never been exposed to a city lifestyle.
"The TELLS Youth Program teaches migrants under 25 years of age relevant English skills suited to accessing career opportunities and Australian youth culture," said Ms Pabon said.
"We usually take our young migrant students on field trips to museums, gardens and zoos but this year the special Youth Classes Get Together sports day provided an opportunity for the students to meet other language students and join in popular Australian activities such as cricket, volleyball, and a sausage sizzle."
The event involved students from Brisbane North Institute of TAFE (Bracken Ridge), Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE (Loganlea and Mt Gravatt), and Southbank Institute of Technology.
The Youth Program includes both Adult Migrant Education Program (AMEP) and Language, Literacy and Numeracy Program (LLNP) students.
AMEP is a free education program, funded by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, offered to migrants who meet visa requirements. It consists of 510 hours of free English classes and has been running for more than 10 years.
LLNP is funded by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and the Federal Government and consists of 800 hours of English classes for eligible people who are registered as job seekers with Centrelink.
For more information go to the AMEP website at http://www.immi.gov.au/living-in-australia/help-with-english/amep/, or the LLNP website at http://www.llnp.deewr.gov.au/.
BNIT students design for peace and freedom
Eight BNIT Graphic Design students have launched a range of t-shirts, bags and mugs for the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).
BNIT Graphic Design teacher Joy Hinckley said the new range reflected the high standard of skills being developed at BNIT.
Founded in 1915, WILPF empowers women of different political, philosophical and religious views to work for peace, justice and environmental sustainability. It operates in 45 countries around the world.
Ms Hinkley and BNIT Graphic Design student Alex McMahon attended the 2009 WILPF Triennial Meeting, officially opened by the Governor of Queensland Penny Wensley in Brisbane on Saturday 23 May.
To view the BNIT TAFE Graphic Design students' designs, or to pick up your own Women's International League for Peace and Freedom merchandise, go to www.cafepress.com.au/WILPFaustralia
TAFE course
BRISBANE North Institute of TAFE is offering a six-week course called Helping Your Children Learn at Home starting May 22.
The course will cover time management for busy parents, communicating with your school, reading with your child and literacy and numeracy.
The course costs $46.20 and is held at the Grovely Campus. For more information please call 3259 9074.
Girls prepped on IT
The Technology Takes You Anywhere seminar was held at the Brisbane North Institute of TAFE's Ithaca Campus in April.
More than 600 school girls from south east Queensland participated in the one-day program.
The program is designed to encourage girls to consider careers in Information, Technology and Communication (ICT).
The program was run by volunteers from the education industry, including two Brisbane school teachers, a Griffith University lecturer and a Department of Education and Training employee.
Volunteer Fleur Provost said the program provided the school girls with the information necessary to make the right decision and develop the confidence and competence to pursue ICT as a career path.
Restaurant re-opens on northside
The fine dining training restaurant, Polaris Restaurant, recently re-opened at the Brisbane North Institute of TAFE Bracken Ridge campus.
The fully-licensed training restaurant is once again open to the public after the traditional end-of-year closure.
"The restaurant offers all-inclusive food packages that are well priced and of the highest quality," said Brisbane North Institute of TAFE hospitality teacher Rebecca Cawood.
This semester the restaurant is introducing some new and exciting initiatives, with lunches in a hurry and special events, trivia and wine and cheese nights.
"The kitchen is overseen by qualified staff and we ensure the patron's fine dining experience is not compromised because Polaris is a training restaurant," said chef Craig Wheate.
For more information about Polaris Restaurant, call 3258 5300.
BNIT students to gain practical skills at this years Brisbane Festival
Students undertaking hospitality, event management, business marketing and interior design studies were given the opportunity to gain some practical experience in their fields of study at this year's Brisbane Festival.
More than 20 students provided bar and wait staff services for the Albert Street Lunch held on September 13.
Students also undertook duties such as overseeing service, managing arrivals and seating guests.
Students contributing to the running of the Albert Street Lunch were enrolled in Certificate III in Hospitality or Diploma of Hospitality Management courses.
Students also conducted market research during the 2009 Brisbane Festival's Across Brisbane program, Spiegeltent program, King George Square program and selected Under The Radar performances.
With the guidance and input of the Brisbane Festival Marketing Department, students were responsible for designing the market research criteria, conducting research, collating and analysing data and presenting research findings.
Certificate IV in Interior Design students, as part of their course studies and upon request of the Brisbane Festival, got the opportunity to assist with the design and decoration of the lounge areas of the Spiegeltent. This may involved submitting design plans and budgets.
The Brisbane Festival is Brisbane's largest arts festival and runs from September 12 to October 3, with QBE Riverfire on September 12.
The 2009 program of events will available at the Brisbane Festival website from June.
For more information of BNIT's participation in the Brisbane Festival, please contact Marty Rollings on 3258 5350.
Students take part in National Youth Week 2009
Once again, second year Diploma of Community Welfare Work students will be hosting the Youth Week Expo to be held at the Bracken Ridge campus on March 31 from 10am to 2pm.
The Expo supports and is part of National Youth Week (NYW). NYW is the largest celebration of young people in Australia; thousands of young people aged 12-25 all across Australia get involved in NYW each year.
The Youth Week Expo is the initiative of teachers Dr Chris Van Der Linde and Sharon Kellett, who have made it part of the course content, with students being assessed on the project.
The Expo is now in its 7th year with approximately 35 international and domestic students managing this year's project. Students are responsible for the entire event including Expo program development, fundraising, arranging for participation of community agencies, the day's activities and a post-event report.
The Expo's activities include a BBQ, a live band and up to 30 community agencies providing information and networking opportunities to all who attend.
"The aim of the Expo is to promote opportunities available to today's youth. It also gives attendees the chance to network with specialty community and support agencies," said Dr Van Der Linde.
Dr Van Der Linde also believes the Expo is a great way for students to develop their skills and injects fun into the learning process.
For more information on the BNIT Youth Week Expo please contact Dr Chris Van Der Linde on 0412 742 299.
If you wish to get involved in National Youth Week please visit their website, YouthWeek.com.
"We love to celebrate our graduation"
Brisbane North Institute of TAFE sees graduation as a way to celebrate the special achievements of graduates with their families and friends.
Graduation is a traditional event and Executive Team Member Mike Diezmann, representing Education and Training, introduced everyone to the evening's proceedings at the Graduation Night on March 25.
Lynne Foley spoke about quenching her thirst for learning and encouraged graduates to be open to all the learning that is around them. Wishing them the best in life and delivering some inspiration by reciting text from the Dr Seuss book, Oh, The Places You'll Go! Lynne closed her speech with a clear message again from the text of Dr Seuss, "this is your day, your mountain is waiting, so, get on your way".
Then it was into the formal proceedings of the evening, with a presentation from Wayne Forrester who spoke about how training has changed over the decades. "Today there is so many options when choosing to take on formal study, external, RPL, workplace, etc. When I first started in the industry you had two options only-full-time study, where you attended college during the day or part-time, where you attended college during the evening, this is no longer the case".
Institute Director, Lynne Foley and the Faculty Directors from all four faculties formally recognised individual graduate's program completion.
Christine Mullins from Fuji Xerox presented the Student Achievement Awards to four graduates, three graduates taking the stage and one graduate sending her apologies. We truly appreciate Fuji Xerox's sponsorship of this event.
Student Representative, Daniel Cresswell was invited to speak, Daniel's light hearted speech, lightened the mood to help wind down the formal part of the evening. Reflecting on his Project Management studies, he demonstrated how he applied the techniques learned to his graduation preparation, giving the audience a step-by-step approach.
Lynne's closing statement showed Brisbane North Institute of TAFE's commitment and support to graduates. Lynne Foley delivered a powerful statement, "you have made it, you are successful and it's up, up and away".
Once again graduation was a success and showed that achievement is rewarding.
BNIT Platinum Sponsor of Technology Takes You Anywhere
Technology Takes You Anywhere, an annual event, will be hosted on April 6 by Brisbane North Institute of TAFE with both morning and afternoon sessions. Technology Takes You Anywhere aims to encourage and educate girls by developing their Information and Communication Technology (ICT) confidence and competence.
Now in its third year, this year's event gives girls the opportunity to listen to speakers from across Queensland and from a range of fields, along with providing time to partake in hands-on workshops.
A visit to MyMultiMedia is also part of the program including experiences such as animated film festivals, robotics, music-making and videography, and graphic design.
The Technology Takes You Anywhere committee will be distributing pamphlets to all schools located throughout Brisbane.
Registrations opened last week and almost 400 students have registered to attend. Registrations will close at 600 students.
Students participating on the day will receive a sample bag containing information relating to ICT programs and training providers.
Statistically, girls as less likely to choose an ICT career path. Male students tend to outnumber female students and take on further education in information technology courses.
The Technology Takes you Anywhere program is exclusively designed to create awareness among girls and is aimed at schoolgirls in Years 4-9. The program will show girls of varying ages that ICT is fun, challenging, rewarding and has the ability to offer a diverse range of future career options.
For more information on this program visit Technology Takes You Anywhere or contact Marcel Lavrencic on phone 3259 9051.
Snap-Fresh signs Memorandum of Understanding
The newly formed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander unit has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Snap-Fresh and the Department of Employment and Industrial Relations, to provide a year long employment strategy project for Indigenous people.
The program is supported by QANTAS and offers successful applicants a full-time position. For applicants to secure full-time employment, first they will be subject to a six week preparation program, followed by a six month traineeship. Once these prerequisites are completed the applicants will continue on to a full-time position with Snap-Fresh, a global food production company.
A total of 60 participants will be selected for entry into this program and all are required to fulfill the employer's entry application process to take part in the program.
For more information contact the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander unit on 3259 4565.
Ergon Energy Art Awards
Brisbane North Institute of TAFE teacher Rod Butler recently became a finalist in the prestigious Ergon Energy Art Awards.
The awards and exhibition are conducted by the Rockhampton Art Gallery and are presented to support the development of artists, promote public interest in art and enhance public and corporate collections in Central Queensland.
As a result of becoming a finalist, Rod was able to sell his submission Bling bling meets Joseph Cornell to the Rockhampton Art Gallery.
Rod teaches BNIT art students ceramics, drawing and painting at the Ithaca campus. To view Rod's works click here
MEDIA CONTACT
To contact the BNIT PR & Media Liaison Officer,
phone 3259 9031 or email BNIT.marketing@deta.qld.gov.au