31 Jul Visit to South Australia
Last week, The Hotline’s manager, Vanessa Iles visited Adelaide to meet with representatives from various LLN sectors to gather information on the courses on offer there. It is important that the Hotline staff remain up-to-date on the details of the courses that we refer our callers to, and hearing it ‘from the horse’s mouth’ is an excellent way to do that.
She met at TAFE SA with teachers and managers from the Foundation Studies units and came away with a wealth of knowledge of different courses available. Of particular interest were the Women’s Courses with strong focus on literacy, also numeracy, digital and financial literacy and Indigenous support centres.
Vanessa also met with the Principal Lecturer for SEE and SEE Distance, which has the national contract for delivery, and was able to clarify some issues in order to make referrals from the Hotline more streamlined.
Her visit coincided with a meeting of the South Australian Council for Adult Literacy (SACAL). She reported that it was great to accept their invitation to attend their meeting and to discuss local and national issues facing the field, such as the need for workplace provision, the need for more qualified professionals, the need for resources and courses for people with intellectual disabilities and Indigenous learners. Other issues of concern were alternatives to the FSK curriculum, and provision of non-accredited courses.
She also met with Vicki Hartman and Gail Streather from Tauondi Aboriginal College and from Community Centres SA which is the peak body for hundreds of community and neighbourhood education centres and programs.