Jordyn Greenhill and Amanda Lowe have 25 years of industry experience between them and now they have returned to the secondary school classroom to help grow the industry.  

Both teachers deliver the Vocational Education and Training Delivered to Secondary Students (VETDSS) program in the Community Services department. 

At this level, the coursework is at an introductory level, laying the foundations for them to pursue further training after school. 

Jordyn has taught at SuniTAFE for close to two years and holds a Master of Social Work. When she isn’t teaching, she works as a Child and Family Therapist. 

Jordyn is passionate about informing and inspiring her students to make a difference. 

“I love working with teenagers and getting them excited about Community Services,” Jordyn said. 

“I like introducing them to the field, getting them used to study, and getting them excited to come here to SuniTAFE to learn.”

The VETDSS program is the best starting point for a secondary student who wants to turn caring for others into a career. 

“We always need more community services workers and I think it is so important to get students excited about the foundations of it and the reasons why we do it before they get into what sections they want to work in, like child protection or housing for example,” Jordyn said. 

“I think that this benefits the community because you have young people who start from the basics. They learn to communicate, how to manage their time, or how to manage case notes before they get into the heavy stuff.
“They can just focus on practising and getting used to it, making them better at their work in the long run.”

Amanda has taught at SuniTAFE for more than two years now, after having worked locally for 15 years.

Her workload is split between teaching VETDSS students and adult learners at the diploma level. This has given her a unique perspective on the varied learning needs of each cohort. 

“You have to break things down a little bit more when you’re dealing with secondary students because they don’t quite have some of the life experience and life skills that adults have,” Amanda said. 

“I try to make delivery more fun to get them engaged. The classroom is more relaxed; students are allowed to sit on the ground with their laptops, we take breaks and go for walks.”

This engagement in the content is so important, because passionate learners are needed in the Community Services sector.

“The Community Services industry has such a lack of workers out there at the moment,” Amanda said. 
“The industry is screaming for new workers and I think it’s really nice for young people who have a passion for caring to be able to start their studies at school to get a feel for it and see what it’s really like.

“Hopefully this encourages them to progress the pathway into TAFE and then University if they’re interested.” 
As the academic year approaches, Jordyn and Amanda are looking forward to teaching and supporting a new cohort of secondary students. 

Click here to read more about SuniTAFE’s VETDSS program.

Do you want to turn your passion for caring for others into a career? Click here to see the Health and Community courses on offer at SuniTAFE.