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Now, students are benefiting from her knowledge, skills, and an unrelenting passion for teaching.
“Here at Nurunderi, there is a culture of everyone helping each other through each challenge and day, celebrating the good days or lending a listening ear on the difficult days. The team on campus wants each student to succeed,” Wendy began.
Wendy teaches the Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing and Disability) (CHC33021) course at the Nurunderi campus and has also taught a ‘Health’ Skills Taster for Year 10 students in her hometown of Kingaroy, which she found equally rewarding.
“The Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing and Disability) (CHC33021) is a great all-round qualification for those wanting to work in the aged or disability sector, either in a residential setting or in the community,” said Wendy.
“The course includes a mixture of practical skills and theory, with a vocational placement of 120 hours also required.”
“It’s often used as a stepping stone to other qualifications such as nursing or health services in the community.”
“There’s a shortage of workers in the aged and disability sectors, so this is a highly sought-after qualification and can lead to positions such as Personal Carer, Support Worker, Assistant in Nursing (AIN) or Home Care Assistant, to name a few.”
Most of the week sees Wendy at the Nurunderi campus. Tuesdays and Thursdays are dedicated to teaching, Wednesdays for assessment marking and lesson planning, and on her days at home, she is harassed by her cat ‘Caelic’, who gets unhappy with her being on the computer.
“After working in aged and disability sectors most of my life, teaching the skills required for the industry seemed like a great fit,” explained Wendy.
“The staff are really supportive here at the Nurunderi campus. I enjoy teaching and training the students who want to be here, and TAFE Queensland has a lot of good support and systems to make this happen,” she said.
Wendy also keeps industry-current by working as a Disability Support Worker with South Burnett CTC, where she provides in-home and community support for clients with a disability.
“This role involves helping clients with household tasks and exercises, assisting them to access community activities, or supporting them for appointments — these are some of the tasks I have recently done,” said Wendy.
Despite only recently joining TAFE Queensland as a teacher, Wendy has already enjoyed some clear highlights.
“I’ve had two memorable moments so far, one when a student who felt they were not keeping up found out they had passed their first assessment — they cried with happiness. They’re now working their way through other assessments with greater confidence.”
“And the second — attending NAIDOC events here in Cherbourg. It was amazing and everyone was so welcoming and helpful,” Wendy said.
“I love it! I grin all the way to work in the car,” Wendy beamed.