NSF brings Campbelltown community together

Navitas Skilled Futures officially opened its new Campbelltown College this week, holding a welcome morning tea and information session for local support groups, providers, staff and students.

The event gave Navitas the opportunity to provide information about its wide range of flexible courses and to hear from the community about their requirements, so future courses could be designed and created to meet local clients’ needs.

“Whether it is learning English or digital skills or something more specific, such as English for Citizenship or courier driving, or employability skills and work readiness in a particular industry or area, Navitas Skilled Futures is flexible in its delivery of interest-based courses,” said NSF Stakeholder Engagement Manager Genevieve Lewis.

“We listen to the community and deliver what it wants, drawing on our extensive experience at other campuses. We offer niche job skills training courses that have already been tried and tested successfully at other campuses, and which genuinely assist people with employment readiness and job opportunities.

“Today was a great opportunity for everyone to come together, to reconnect face-to-face after such a long time, and for us to facilitate new contacts between people in the area.

“It is important for us to speak to each other and for us to hear from our stakeholders about what this community needs. We are looking forward to working with them to deliver it.”

The morning tea was attended by representatives from Western Sydney Migrant Resource Centre (WSMRC), Settlement Services International (SSI), Legal Aid, Communities & Justice (DCJ), MatchWorks, Max Employment, Jobs Statewide, Asuria, Ability Options/Olympic Solutions and Aboriginal Employment Strategy (AES), yourtown and NSF staff and students.

NSF currently runs the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) at the new Campbelltown college, with plans to run Skills for Education and Employment (SEE) classes in the near future.

“We are very excited to have reopened in Campbelltown with a new campus, right in the heart of the CBD and in the same building as many of the service providers,” Genevieve said.

“We are drawing on our extensive experience in South West Sydney and our stakeholder and industry connections to provide the best opportunities for people in Campbelltown and surrounding suburbs.”

Sana Al-Ahmar, a settlement worker with WSMRC, said it was important for organisations like hers to work closely with NSF to ensure its students were informed of all available services.

“Navitas is very good and it does give its students all the information but there’s still a lot out there they need to know,” Sana said.

“We have a good working relationship with Navitas; we come and talk to the students so they can learn about all the other services available to them on any issue, like housing, schools, police, health, DV. We have very good connections with everyone here and that is so important.”

Shrijana Sangroula, SSI Humanitarian Settlement Program Team Leader, said Navitas Skilled Futures had earned an excellent reputation for delivering programs for migrants and refugees.

“Navitas is excellent. They are expert in delivering AMEP; they have been doing it for so many years,” Shrijana said.

“Our stakeholder relationship is excellent. They are always so prompt in responding to us so our clients don’t have to wait a long time.”

Shrijana said for refugees English was “everything” and it was important they started lessons soon after they arrived in Australia.

“We want to engage them to start learning English as early as possible,” she said. “They want to know about a lot of things, and English is a barrier, so it is very important they learn English early and in a way that suits them, whether it is online, distance learning, or through the Volunteer Tutor Scheme.”

The Campbelltown College is located on level 6 of 171 Queen St, Campbelltown. The campus is brand new, with lots of natural light and a large common area in which the students can socialise. The current AMEP class has students of diverse backgrounds, from Asia, Russia, the Middle East and South America, which is perfect for practising English.