HITsa Newsletter

Renovations

Clarence Gardens new Training Centre Complete

HITsa's new Health Skill Centre and Training Rooms opened to students on Monday 14.11.2022. Renovations to it's ground floor premises at 353 Cross Road are now complete, including student and disabled parking.

The freshly renovated site boasts 4 Training Rooms, a Health Skill Centre and a Hospitality Training Room which facilitates practical training in Bar Operations, Barista Skills and Gaming Operations.

Clarence Gardens is ideally located across the road from the Emerson train station, making this site highly accessible for students from southern Adelaide.

Parkside Closure

With new beginnings comes the end of an era after operating as HITsa's Health Training Centre near the CBD, the big move to Clarence Gardens was on.

Staff spent weeks packing up Parkside, until it was almost ready for the move after it's last training day on Tuesday 8th November.

HITsa staff uncovered many treasures in the process; old things, broken things and things we didn't know existed. On moving day, boxes, furniture and resources were all loaded in the van and on their way to the new location. Staff put in a massive effort on the day and for days to follow - top job Team HITsa!

HITsa's new Health Training Room accomodates 19 students, with the new open plan Skill Centre providing students better visibility and accessibility during their training.

Salisbury's Stands Out

HITsa combines with its new neighbours Chemist Warehouse; students will find it hard to miss us with this bright building!

The renovations have been ongoing since late September and are still a work in progress. HITsa is very excited to see our new neighbours moving in and creating a home with us here at Salisbury.

Stay tuned for new updates of our bright and bubbly new look.

HITsa Out and About

We love getting out and meeting with different audiences to support students in kick starting their next career through different industry training opportunities.

Southern/Western Adelaide

HITsa talked Industry, Training and Employment with local school students and jobseekers recently at 4 events: Wise Employment Expo - Warradale & Adelaide, Aberfoyle Park High School Employment Expo and the Reconciliation in the West event at Tauondi Aboriginal College.

Northern Adelaide

Salisbury Business Association Networking Event

HITsa Training and Employment is an active member of the Salisbury Business Association, attending events throughout the year promoting HITsa to our local area.

Most recently we attended the 'After Dark Cocktail' event in October at the Salisbury Community Hub. We had the opportunity to host an Expo Table to showcase our training to attendees.

It was fantastic to meet attendees from other local business and explore how HITsa can support their training needs.

Leadership in the Riverland

HITsa prides itself in facilitating training to Regional areas of SA.

This year HITsa has been travelling once a month to Moorook in the Riverland to deliver our Certificate IV Leadership.

We have a number of students across management, administration and manufacture that are completing their studies.

The group have completed 8 units and are on the home stretch now!

Students have found that keeping up with their studies and workload at a busy peak season quite the challenge though rewarding, as they see the finish line for their qualification coming closer as they carry out the last of their classes.

Hands on at HITsa | Practical Skills Training

The trainers teach the necessary skills at first, then set various scenarios, in which the students need to demonstrate the acquired skills they have learnt.

Students who undertake the Certificate III Individual Support Course are required to participate in Manual Handling, Meet Personal Support Needs - Skills Day and x 4 Practical Skills Days. The students are signed off by the trainer once they demonstrate their efficiency in use of equipment, participation and understanding of set tasks.

We often receive feedback from students indicating that the practical side of our training is what they enjoy most. Both our Clarence Gardens and Salisbury sites have very impressive practical skills areas that provide students the opportunity to become familiar and confident with much of the equipment that is common place out in industry.

These photos show our students in action at our Salisbury Health Skills Centre. Our training sites also boast practical training spaces for the hospitality industry, including espresso coffee machines, fully functional bar with beer taps, glass washer and other common tools and equipment. We have a separate gaming training room for those undertaking accredited Basic Gaming training.

Talking HITsa

HITsa honestly has some of the best students around. HITsa loves hearing success stories from current and previous students following their training.

Cassandra has been a regular student since January, completing a wide variety of hospitality industry courses. Cassandra has recently been successful in obtaining employment and is absolutely loving her new career path!

“I have always loved the support of the HITsa staff and trainers, I started training with HITsa through the EST training program in early 2022, when I started I was unsure whether the training was for me, however I gave it a go and enjoyed it so much that I came back for a number of short courses such as espresso coffee training, cocktail making, basic gaming and bar operations, I already have and will continue to strongly recommend HITsa for all training opportunities”

Cassandra R

Marshall, a recent student of both the Retail and Cookery Skill Sets, was offered employment at the Gilbert Street Hotel following his training with HITsa.

“I’ve recently done two separate skill sets with HITsa, currently undertaking a third course. The process was smooth and the trainers I had were caring and helpful, the environment and atmosphere was good and welcoming and my overall experience with HITsa has been amazing!”

Marshall G

Kylie completed her Get Ready for Cleaning Skill Set with HITsa earlier this year. Through HITsa’s partnership with a number of industry employers, Kylie successfully gained employment following the completion of this Government Subsidised Skill Set.

“What I loved the most about training with HITsa, was the support that I received from my trainer. They were very approachable and really knew their stuff’

Kylie W

An Employment Provider gave feedback from their participant and what they had to say about their experience at HITsa

"HITsa is friendly and helpful. Jessica has trained with HITsa in the past and found that the trainers have always accommodated her, made her feel comfortable when learning has been a challenge and she has recommended HITsa to others".

Sylvia from Jobs Statewide said on behalf of her participant Jessica M

Rocking Retail

HITsa recently trained our first group of 'Retail Skill Set' students at HITsa Clarence Gardens.

The accredited units of training in the course give students a snapshot experience in the Retail sector.

Here are a few happy snaps of the latest group using their new skills from their favourite unit 'Produce visual merchandise displays'. The students did an amazing job and we congratulate them on their success.

Job Service Providers who may have clients suitable for our Skill Sets courses can contact HITsa for future course info: [email protected] | 08 8375 2800

Local Jobs Project gets Underway

Our “GO Hospo!” program launched in November with two courses delivered at our Salisbury site.

15 participants in each course received skills training for entry level roles in hospitality or retail and also received opportunities to meet with local employers who have job vacancies.

Each course is delivered over 3 weeks, with classes held 4 days per week.  Attendance and course completion rates have been outstanding. 

Jodie, HITsa’s GO Hospo Program Coordinator, has been super impressed by the interest and response to the training opportunity.  “Our first information session was over-subscribed, so we brought forward our second course to give as many applicants as possible the opportunity to enrol.  Both Hospitality and Retail businesses are entering their peak trading period, so there are plenty of employers looking for staff”.

Job Service Providers who may have clients suitable for this program can contact Jodie for future course info

[email protected] | 08 8375 2800

HITsa partner with ACA to deliver pre-employment training

HITsa has been working with ACA (Apprenticeship Careers Australia) to deliver pre-employment training to provide a formal pathway to attain a nationally recognised Certificate III qualification through a traineeship arrangement.

The Federal Government, via the Department of Health, and ACA have partnered to design and deliver a pre-employment talent development program. HITsa has been involved in the delivery of training to provide participants with the base skills and accreditation required to work as a personal care worker in the Home Care sector.

The program is aimed at delivering fee free training and employment pathways for 1400 workers into the Home Care sector to facilitate the delivery of personal care services throughout SA and NT.

Our first course commenced in May 2022 and to date we have put more than 60 participants through this training initiative.

With the end of the year fast approaching we have already scheduled our first course for 2023 which will kick off on 16th January.

Thanks to our Work Placement Partners 2022

HITsa delivers Certificate III in Individual Support in Ageing and Disability. Students are required to complete 120 hours of Work Placement as part of their qualification. HITsa arranges this placement with our current partners or partners with new sites as requested by our students.

We appreciate the commitment required for organisations to host placement for our students - we wish to extend a huge thanks to our partners in 2022

• AnglicareSA
• Resthaven Inc.
• Kalyra
• One Care Support Services
• Focus Day Options
• SA Care
• SA Disability Care
• Gawler Grande Views
• Life Care
• Kidman Park Primary School
• Empowering Futures
• Premium Home Care Services
• Wallara
• Enabling Independence

HITsa Health and Wellness

In the month of November the HITsa team undertook a step count challenge as part of our monthly employee health and well-being calendar.

Congratulations to our team of participants who registered an impressive total combined step count of over 1.8 million steps!

A notable shout out to our very own Executive Officer Olivia who individually registered a total step count of 355,000.

A huge thank you to R U OK? for providing HITsa with some wonderful prizes to promote health and wellness in the workplace. HITsa is a proud supporter of this fantastic organisation that do so much in the community for early prevention intervention by having a simple and meaningful conversation.

The HITsa team will be undertaking a water consumption challenge for the month of December to promote the importance of staying hydrated through the warmer summer months.

Qualified Chef - 4 Years in the Making

Meet Ben H, who studied with HITsa since 2019 and recently completed his qualification: Certificate lll in Commercial Cookery.

In his last completed unit, Plan and Cost, Ben created an amazing seasonal menu of his favourite flavours - Asian cuisine!

Congratulations Ben on all the hard work. This was a qualification that made our day to issue. Here is a testimonial from the man himself:

My story of Food - Believe and Achieve

My love of food came from a young age with my family. I have always enjoyed cooking in the kitchen to provide meals for family, friends and now paying customers - seeing the enjoyment on their faces is what I crave!

During my high school era from 2015 to 2019, I studied food at school and was able to learn fundamental skills like; knife skills, food orders, ingredients and more. In 2018, I completed my Certificate II in Kitchen Operations at Regency TAFE. I was lucky to study with three amazing chefs who taught me so much about the kitchen and how to produce different styles of cooking/dishes and so much other general wisdom about Chef Life . From here I was able to use these learnt skills and knowledge at school and home. I knew in my heart that this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

In 2019 I was offered a Chef's Apprenticeship at the Mile End Hotel and commenced training with HITsa. This was a great year for me, with so many personal and professional achievements. I am a very humble person and have always kept a journal, looking back at the time I started my apprenticeship, I wrote:

"My time at the Mile End so far has been great. I have met amazing people that I know will be there for me when I need support and will be able to teach me across these 4 years and beyond.  I’ve learnt so much in the short time I’ve been here - not only about food, but about myself and the Chef I want to become. I can’t imagine how much I will know by end of a 4-year apprenticeship"

Now I am qualified and have reached the end of this chapter. It raises mixed emotions in me of both excitement and sadness. Looking back, it stands out to me how far I have come in my development as a chef from start to finish. Some days I feel like I don't know enough to be qualified, but deep down I do know it. Every day you learn something new - despite if you are qualified or not!

Training at HITsa, I remember being nervous for the first few classes as I did not know anyone. Once I got used to training, I was able to show my trainer Nicole who I was a as chef and as a person. HITsa accommodate the way I learn best, supporting and helping me across the journey. Throughout my training I learnt new skills, refreshed existing skills and built my knowledge. I enjoyed exploring myself as a chef through the mystery box training. I was able to build connections with others in the hospitality industry along the way.  

From the bottom of my heart, I can’t thank everyone who has helped me along the way, from other apprentices, chefs, lecturers, trainers and everyone who has been a part of this amazing journey of mine. I’m so glad that I get to share it with them all, they have all given me their love, support and help.

I am looking forward to the future and seeing what it holds for me in the next chapter.