It is with great pleasure that we are able to celebrate with 2010 Year 12 student Hannah Callow who was recently awarded an Australian Vocational Education and Training Prize for her efforts last year. Hannah won the award for her work in the area of Child Care where she is currently employed four days a week.
Hannah had the opportunity to experience child care through work experience at Angle Vale Kindy Care. “I loved this so much that I volunteered every Friday afternoon after school. I decided to do a VET course within school to gain my Certificate II in Community Services which I completed and focused my Year 12 studies on Community Studies, supporting the IONA students with cooking and sport. At the end of Year 12 I had completed this certificate and my SACE.”
Through Hannah’s dedication to child care and her voluntary work she has gained a traineeship with Mission Australia for Certificate III in Community Services. She will then go on to do her diploma at Angle Vale Kindy Care. “I started off doing 15 hours a week but I am now working 4 days, or 30 hours, per week. I work in the baby room. My job is to look after the babies, provide them with their food and bottles, give them a clean nappy and help put them to sleep. I also have to provide craft activities for them to do and make sure they have got lots of toys to play with.”
We asked Hannah how she felt when she found out she had been awarded the prize. “I was so happy to win this award. When I received it in the post and opened it up and saw what it was I was crying I was so happy. I felt like all of my hard work and dedication to my VET course had paid off.” Hannah was awarded a certificate and $2000.
“My plans for the $2000 include going on a trip to Melbourne. I brought a few accessories that girls must have like shoes and bags but I have saved most of it because I would really like to take my family to Melbourne. I was going to wait until Port Power got into the grand final so I could go up there and watch them. But by the time they get in the grand final I could be a millionaire, so I am going to go up to Melbourne with my family for a well deserved holiday.”
Hannah informs the Coracle that there are many people who supported her and helped make winning this award possible. “The IONA staff were always helping me and making me feel happy at school. They would always give up their time to help me with my work. My Dad always helped support me in lots of different ways. But I’d mostly like to thank my Mum. Whatever would happen at school Mum would be down there supporting me 100%. She would spend hours a night helping me complete my work. My Mum and Dad always helped me by getting me a tutor who always played a big role in my life.
“One more special mention would have go to Mrs Robinson, the school counsellor, for her emotional support which was very important for me and really helped me to achieve my goals.”
Hannah says that one of the lessons she learnt from school is that if you want something badly enough you can achieve it by continuing to persist, working hard and not letting barriers get in the way.
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