Welcome to the latest instalment of Talking TAFE with Josie, keeping you up-to-date with all the latest and greatest developments at TAFE NSW Narrandera.

TAFE NSW continues to deliver quality education and training while still abiding by social distancing and other important safeguards during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The state-of-the-art TAFE NSW Narrandera Connected Learning Centre (CLC) is operating its normal hours, Monday to Friday from 9am to 4.30pm.

We have measures in place to keep our students safe, including sanitiser stations and changed room layouts to ensure social distancing.

Several of our face-to-face courses are back in the classroom and it’s been great to interact with students and hear their stories about what they have been doing.

Students are excited to be back, especially so the Thursday “Boori Dreaming” Aboriginal Women’s group who are participating in a “Our Storytime” course this semester.

This is a program designed to improve literacy skills and encourage reading with young children.

The group, made up of Elders and younger Aboriginal women, also are involved in a lot of art and craft activities and are working on creating a storybook.

On Tuesdays we have a combined class for the Certificate I in Access to Vocational Pathways and the Certificate II in Skills for Work and Vocational Pathways students. We still have vacancies in these classes and students can join at any time.

The courses are customised for people who haven’t studied for many years, may need help with reading and writing, or who want to undertake a general course to regain their confidence.

At this time of year, there are some school students who aren’t certain of what they want to do next year and would like to gain skills and knowledge in preparing to join the workforce. I would encourage high school students to call into the CLC to explore the range of options, from certificates to degrees.

There is a number of fee-free courses in Community Services on offer throughout October:

• Commencing October 15 – Statement of Attainment in Introduction to Community Services – nine-week course
• Commencing October 19 – Statement of Attainment in Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Intervention Skills – nine-week course
• Commencing October 29 – Statement of Attainment in Domestic and Family Violence Frontline Skills – two-week course For more information about what’s on offer at the Narrandera Connected Learning Centre visit tafensw.edu.au, call 131 601 or just pop in for a chat