Welcome to this edition of Progressive Trainings Newsline.
A lot has changed since we last published Newsline back in November last year. Firstly, we had to sadly farewell Jason Driscoll our previous CEO who left us for personal reasons in February. We thank Jason for his 6 years of service and wish him and his family well for his future.
As a result, we have restructured and we now have a new Manager of Quality, and we are delighted to welcome Geoff Oliver to this role. Geoff comes with a great deal of VET and auditing experience. Geoff has had a long association with Progressive and we are delighted to welcome him to be an even more integral part of our management team as we continue to build on the quality & compliance areas of the business.
Additionally, Jamin Feddersen is now in charge of the Operations role, and we thank him for stepping up to manage the organisation in the interim absence of the CEO until we had the restructure in place. Jamin has a passion for seeing projects and contracts managed successfully through to completion and we welcome him to the important role.
I also have great pleasure in welcoming back Bill Belson who worked for Progressive Training for 15 years before leaving for the Eastern States. Bill was previously our Senior Trainer/Assessor who undertook many other roles during his time with us. We look forward to working together again and continuing to build on our 45 years of friendship. Bill says, “I’m Back”, and I say the same now that I have returned to the CEO role.
It is with some sadness that we wish David Sims farewell, as he leaves us to live in Canada. David has been instrumental in heading up our Glass & Glazing team in Perth and we wish him our very best wishes as he starts a new phase of his life. Thank you, David for your valuable contribution, we will miss you.
We also farewell Tanja Parry, who is leaving to take up a role with Joblink and we wish her every success as she leaves us.
We also say thank you and farewell to Ree Dahmen, who has been a wonderful and loyal asset to our finance team. Ree is retiring and looking forward to travelling Australia in their caravan as far as Covid permits.
We welcome to the Glass & Glazing team Nathan McCain and Adrian Croft. We look forward to your contributions in this important area of our organisation.
I am looking forward to working with our existing and new Team in Geraldton, Burswood and Broome. There are some exciting changes coming to Perth, but I will leave that for the next Newsline.
Importantly, now we look forward to working together to serve our clients who continue to choose Progressive Training to provide Vocational Education and Training and consultancy to meet their needs.
Geoff Feddersen
CEO
Progressive Training.
It’s been a quieter year with the Workforce Development Centre (WDC) contract through Joblink Midwest. Career workshops were delivered by Progressive Training this year to schools and education facilities throughout the Midwest including Nagle Catholic College and Champion Bay Senior High School, Central Regional TAFE, and the Transition to Work program run through Joblink Midwest.
It was great to be part of Geraldton’s Jobs Fair this year providing career advice, and networking with jobseekers, employers and employment services.
Glass & Glazing
The Glass and glazing side of the business has been going very well and keeping extremely busy. We have recently had a new trainer/assessor join our team Nathan McCann his previous experience has been working at Walshs Glass for over 10 years and targets the glass processing side of our training. Over the past few months we have signed off 5 students whom have completed their Cert III in glass and glazing as well as signing up 2 new students into our program. More recently we have just completed a visit down south to Albany and Denmark to carry out some training with our students, and coming up in the next month we are carrying out a visit to Geraldton again to carryout training with our students.
Progressive Training Broome
With Indigenous communities still closed due to Covid, 2021 got off to a slow start. However, as restrictions eased, clients began filtering back into town.
In addition, there have been staff changes at the referral agency, (Nirrumbuk Employment Services)
At present Broome office has 10 clients participating in the SEE Program. Four of whom have been referred since the beginning of April.
Negotiations with Balgo community for remote participation in the SEE program, which began at the onset of the wet season, are ongoing.
New Staff
I’m Back!
After 3 years away, living in NSW, I have returned to the best state in Australia and to the best place I have ever worked - Progressive Training, Western Australia.
It was for family reasons that I went east but am very happy to now be back in Geraldton and back working with the team at Progressive Training. There are a few new faces that have come on the scene since I left but what hasn’t changed is the great team spirit and sense of comradery, this is one of the things I really missed.
Previously I was involved in training delivery and resource development for:
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment
- Safety Rep. Training
- Facilitating a range of workshops on various topics
- Writing and development of Training Manuals on plant and equipment
- Writing and development of Training Manuals and assessments for Glass & Glazing
For me now the focus is predominantly on resource review and upgrading for our Glass and Glazing resources. No doubt the role will also include all other duties at CEO’s discretion (as is often joked about here at Progressive Training – the unwritten rule in our job descriptions). For me though, I am especially happy to be back because I get to work with my lifelong friend of 45 years, and CEO of Progressive Training – Geoff Feddersen.
Hi!
I'm Kylie and I am the current trainer for the Certificate 111 in Early Education care. I have many years of experience in the early education and care sector working across all age groups and in different early years settings. I have worked as an educator, early childhood teacher and also as a centre manager. I’ve worked with children from varying backgrounds and cultures and also spent several years teaching English as a second language to both children and adults. My passion however is with the little ones and it's great to be able to share this passion and knowledge with up and coming enthusiastic educators!
In my spare time I like to relax with my family, travel and spend as much time in the great outdoors as possible!
Geoff Oliver – Manager Quality
I have been working with Progressive Training for close to 15 years as a trainer (the old TAE and Auditing qualifications) and as a consultant and internal auditor, so I am really excited to now be an ‘official’ part of the team working to ensure we meet our obligations to the regulator and our clients. My background is in Film & Television, starting in television when it was just B&W (yes I am getting on!) and then starting my own production company producing Corporate Video’s, TV Commercials and documentaries.
This took me to Singapore in the 90’s where I shot throughout Asia and in the US.
20 years ago I started training at TAFE where I trained students from Certificate III all the way to Advanced Diploma in Media where the students made films. Fifteen years ago I moved into the quality area and have since been offering consultancy services to RTO’s delivering a range of programs from security to mining to aged care and many in between.
I have found my work making Corporate Videos has prepared me well for this role as I have filmed in a great variety of workplaces. My wife is a golf widow as I do enjoy playing golf, the most frustrating yet exhilarating sport (when you get it right).
Progressive Training is a great RTO and I look forward to working with everyone in providing the best quality training to our clients.
VET in Schools
The Leadership program is in full swing at Leeming Senior High School. Welcome to Donna Grida who is taking over from Louisa who is taking a well-earned break. The course is providing an excellent pathway for students to increase their confidence and literacy abilities as demonstrated through their workbooks.
This is in no small part due to the passion of the teachers delivering the course. We now have been given permission from South Central TAFE to continue to deliver the updated qualification and process for putting it on scope has commenced.