School not for you?

Dylan Clark found high school to be a challenge. Moving into a TAFE learning environment helped him work towards his goal of finding a satisfying job.

Some young people thrive in a mainstream secondary setting. Others find TAFE is a much better fit.

For Dylan Clark, the latter was true.

Dylan completed Year 10 at Patterson River Secondary College and was referred to Chisholm.

As a student, he had huge potential, but lacked confidence in his abilities.

“In my later years, I did find it hard at school,” says Dylan. “It was my teacher’s recommendation to try TAFE instead.”

Dylan completed several courses at Chisholm. To help fund his studies, he successfully applied for a Caroline Chisholm Education Foundation scholarship.

The first course he did was the Certificate I in Transition Education, which is designed for people with special learning needs and helps them develop a range of skills, from communication and numeracy skills to technology and literacy skills.

Students learn how to develop personal goals with support, participate in the community and explore self-development, among other units.

Dylan completed the course over a year, full time.

“Going to TAFE took a bit of getting used to, but I think I adjusted relatively quickly,” says Dylan.

“That first course was really basic,” says Dylan. “It was about getting you out of the school mindset into something more adult.”

Dylan went on to do several other courses, including the Certificate I in Work Education and the Certificate II in Work Education.

These courses equip students with job-ready skills, like how to communicate in the workplace, OHS processes, how to use a computer and apply basic maths concepts.

Dylan flourished at Chisholm, and with each course, his confidence grew.

“I made a few friends at Chisholm. At times it was really chilled and at other times you had to focus and crack down,” he says.

As part of one of the courses, Dylan volunteered at Pantry 5000, a charitable endeavour by Longbeach Anglican Church providing emergency and ongoing food relief to vulnerable people. Dylan ended up as a team leader.

His skills and confidence grew further during his work placement at Savers second-hand store in Carrum Downs and management was so impressed with his ability and work ethic, they offered him full-time employment.

“My favourite part of the job would be the people I work with,” says Dylan. “It’s a nice team.”

For Dylan’s hard work and efforts, he was nominated as Foundation Student of the Year at the 2023 Chisholm Education Awards.

Dylan says Chisholm helped him achieve his goals. He encouraged other young people who were struggling in a mainstream education setting to give TAFE some thought.

“If you can’t keep up with regular school, it’s definitely worth looking into these kinds of courses,” says Dylan.