Girls try on trades
28 May 2009
More than 100 girls from Geelong region secondary schools traded their school uniforms for overalls on April 28, as part of BacLinks Girl’s Big Day Out.
The annual trades day, co-ordinated through Karingal BacLinks, sees schoolgirls roll-up their sleeves and try their hand at a range of trades.
Employee volunteers from Alcoa, G-Force Recruitment, the Geelong Manufacturing Council and Waurn Ponds Bunnings store teamed with BacLinks, the Geelong Regional Vocational Education Council, the Gordon TAFE and the Smart Geelong Local Learning and Employment Network to expose the girls to as many trades as possible.
BacLinks Manager Sheree Holdsworth said as well as providing girls with ‘hands-on’ trade experience, the Girl’s Big Day Out also gave girls the opportunity to gain valuable information from industry representatives and hear from women successfully employed in trade positions.
“The event also encourages girls to make informed decisions about their future education and employment path and helps address the skills shortage in the Geelong region by promoting careers in trades to women,’’ Sheree said.
A significant trade skills shortage had been identified in the Geelong region and there was an urgent an need to market careers in the trades to school kids, particularly girls, she said.