The Skill Engineer Ltd has had a year of Covid-19 lockdowns, big project commencements, renegotiations of space back at Kariong’s Green Central, great teamwork every day in work placement, and Skilled Creative recognised by the Department of Education for the extraordinary creative work that is generated by the team.

The work placement team reached all KPIs, although placements were not made in Term 3 and 4 of 2021 due to school lockdowns. Catch up occurred in Term 1 creating considerable pressure. Whilst in lockdown, staff undertook a range of projects generated by the department and in house. There were catch up training sessions and professional development opportunities. All staff were pleased to return to the office in the latter part of Term 4. In this time of lockdown, the key project was the staging of the inaugural virtual VET Awards for 2021. What a success. Congratulations to Skilled Creative and all the team for an event that was second to none in that year and widely applauded for its engagement of young people in the production. The contribution by our employer base demonstrated the esteem that work placement is held in developing the skill base of the future workforce.

Skilled Creative has continued to produce weekly content for the Youth Voice podcast. The project has also been engaged to produce, film, edit and consult with Department of Education on the RAW project. The Welcome to Country that the team filmed, and the logo created by Erin have been widely applauded.

The Girls of Steel project kicked off in June 2021 in Wangaratta. Its start date was delayed in NSW due to lockdowns. Despite this, the interest in the project has been overwhelming. It is a great success and we are looking at where the future potential for this initiative may lie. The NG Central School has welcomed us to Green Central where the Girls of Steel Gosford group operate from. We also have use of the old Bara Barang demountable for our classroom space.

This year the (Regional Education Industry Partnerships) REIP project team approved funding for the BRACE program. This comprises of resilience and self-esteem workshops for diverse learners to support them to undertake work placements and to demystify the workplace. These projects will run in the latter half of 2022 and into 2023.

For short periods of time, The Skill Engineer Ltd has provided executive support for Broome Youth and Families Hub Inc. (BYFH). This proved to be a good funding stream and has cemented the relationship of our organisation with BYFH in the Kimberley, paving the way for future projects.

I have been voted onto the workplace learning committee. It has been an enjoyable time and I have been able to promote collaborative approaches to funding with network members as well as advocating for strategic overhaul and a relook at the constitution.

In the year that we are reporting I would like to advise that I have applied for over $5.5mil worth of funding and am pleased to advise, we have secured over $1.6mil. We were not successful with two bids for Transition to Work worth approximately $3Mil. It was an ambition bid given we had only been trading for 7 months. The secured funding does not include work placement funds granted in the previous financial year.

This year we welcomed two new Board members, Emma Aldrich and Matt Grant. Their contribution has been exceptional, and I thank them. I also thank the other Board members. Each member has a unique perspective, and they bring these perspectives to the table at every meeting.

I would like to make a special acknowledgement of Brendan who launched the Girls of Steel and who remains the poster boy and expert on the project.

Erin has extraordinary superpowers as a graphic and web designer. She has made our brand a standout and we love the optics and freshness of her approach. Charlotte has been a guiding professional hand behind Skilled Creative and the organisation continues to reap the rewards of this.

We have a young and talented Board taking on and growing into executive roles and providing an enthusiastic and innovative approach to the governance of our organisation.

Thank you to all the team at The Skill Engineer Ltd. Your skill base, experiences and knowledge are vast. Thank you also to Sue who manages all our bookkeeping from Wangaratta and has never missed a pay. We have excellent and trusted accountants – Kevin Byrne and Associates providing back up to Sue.

Debbie Thompson is a miracle on legs. As CEO I could not do my job without her guidance and contribution to leadership and a healthy, happy, and productive work environment. Given the year, the Covid-19 lockdown and the disruption to classes and work placement in Term 1 2022, she has been the lighthouse. Thank you, Debbie.