This year, VU Polytechnic was the proud gold sponsor of the Wyndham Learning Festival and offered three, free events for the Wyndham community.
VU Polytechnic offered workshops on cyber security, job and employability, and mental health and wellness. These workshops were quickly pivoted from face-to-face to online formats as a result of the extension of Melbourne’s sixth lockdown, but it didn’t stop the residents of Wyndham from getting involved:
"The event was well structured, had great slides with useful information and the activities in the workshop was great!" — Participant, Assess Your Employability.
"Some great information to help us understand what stress physically does to our bodies and mind. 10/10 from me." — Participant, Mental Health & Wellness.
Workshop 1: Cyber Security
In the cyber security workshop, participants learned about security threats to data and information, investigated how it affects our society, and developed the key skills required to manage these types of threats. They were also introduced to data and network protection strategies, investigated how cyber security experts joined the industry, and discovered the career pathways available.
“The session went very well and they were very engaging! We had a mix of professionals at the session” – Ifradh Imthiyas, Program Facilitator & Industry Specialist, Wyndham Tech School.
Workshop 2: Assess Your Employability
In the employability workshop, which is the most popular of those offered by VU’s Skills & Jobs Centre, participants learned about the 8 key employability skills valued by employers across all industries and utilised the ‘S.T.A.R’ technique to express proficiency in each skill. The workshop featured interactive tasks where participants could practice their learning throughout.
“The workshop was lively, with most participants contributing to online chat responses and verbally in open forum. Many participants independently expressed thanks at conclusion of workshop and indicated that they found it “informative” and “useful”. Participants were engaged and some have already reached out to the Skills & Jobs Centre for follow-up assistance.” – Catherine Oldham, Senior Advisor, Skills & Jobs Centre.
Workshop 3: Mental Health & Wellness
In the mental wellbeing workshop, the first of its kind offered by VU Polytechnic, participants expanded their understanding of mental health and wellness, learned healthy new life skills to apply in their everyday life, and better positioned themselves to support their own and their loved ones’ mental health. Topics such as self-care and holistic wellness were also discussed.
“The class was very receptive to the concepts, they were engaged and active, and the feedback we have received so far is amazing.” – Kirsty Sacco, Mental Health teacher, VU Polytechnic.
VU Polytechnic thank the Wyndham community for their involvement in our workshops and wish them well on their journey of lifelong learning.