Helping your school leaver find a bright future

If your child completed the Year 10 School certificate, then a Centre for Industry Training Excellence at your local public high school can offer further education that will help them get a trade and study relevant HSC subjects in an independent, supportive environment.

Central coast public high schools offer courses in dozens of industries and career paths. We can help your child follow their trade or vocational career pathways to become a carpenter, a mechanic, a welder, a chef or many other options. When they finish school based trade and vocational training successfully, your child may come out with:

a Preliminary Certificate
a Statement of Attainment towards a Preliminary Certificate or a HSC
a HSC
a Certificate II or a Statement of Attainment towards a Certificate II
access to TAFE opportunities
the first year of an apprenticeship/traineeship in your chosen trade (if you are an SBAT)

A Centre for Industry Training Excellence is part of a school near you. Read the FAQs below and if you have any other questions, please call the Principal or Careers Adviser at your local central coast public high school.

"So how does this work?"

The trade training program is a different way of learning, and varies from school to school in how it is structured. The best part is that it is really flexible to meet your childs needs. It can involve trade or vocational study at school and or TAFE as part of their HSC, or can be a School Based Apprenticeship or Traineeship (SBAT). These are some of the ways it can work;

If your child has an SBAT they might spend three days a week studying toward their HSC at school, one day a week learning technical skills at TAFE relating to their trade and one day on the job with their employer.
They might be studying a regular HSC 5 days a week that includes one or two school VET courses.
They might be studying some HSC subjects at school and a TAFE VET course one afternoon a week.
They could set up a HSC pattern of study that gets them a HSC, a Certificate II in their chosen trade, and with an option to not sit a HSC exam.

"What is an SBAT?"

School Based Apprenticeships and Traineeships are more than just part-time jobs - they’re a great way to set your child up in the career they are interested in whilst they are completing their HSC.

School Based Apprenticeships and Traineeships are available to all Year 10, 11 and 12 high school students in NSW. They allow students to commence an apprenticeship or complete a traineeship while at school.

A School Based Apprenticeship or Traineeship combines paid work, training and school; and as well as an industry recognised national qualification students will gain credit towards the HSC.

Some apprenticeships and traineeships can contribute towards the ATAR.

Follow this link for more information; http://www.sbatinnsw.info/

"How do I know that this is right for my child?"

Studying at a Centre for Industry Training Excellence at school can open up a lot of opportunities. An academically focussed HSC that gains an ATAR is not the option for all students. A HSC without an ATAR that combines trade or vocational courses is more relevant for many students. For some a Certificate II and a Statement of Attainment is a valuable credential that will set them on a career path. Others may seek to supplement an ATAR HSC with a vocational course.

The advantage of combining trade or vocational courses with a HSC pattern of study is that it is flexible to suit the needs of the individual. This is about opening doors and options, and structuring a pattern of learning that leads to the right career path.

Consider the career aspirations and learning abilities of your child, and talk to the Principal or Careers Adviser at your childs high school to set up a learning plan that is specific to your child and where they want to go in life.