WorldSkills success breaking down the barriers

Dear SkillsOne readers,

It's with great pleasure we congratulate Australia’s WorldSkills team, the Skillaroos, who returned from the WorldSkills International Competition in Shizuoka, Japan with Australia’s best ever result! Their hard work, high standards and passion demonstrate the value of trade skills to Australia and the vast opportunities for both women and men.

This year, the Skillaroo’s improved Australia’s ranking in from our previous place of 9th upto 5th in the world after competing with some 63 countries in the Olympics-style event.

All 27 members of the Skillaroos team have shown great talent and dedication to achieve skills excellence over the past 12 months as is now reflected in their outstanding result at WorldSkills.

Breaking down some 'traditional' barriers and attitudes, this WorldSkills team has shown how diverse and exciting trade careers are irrespective of gender. For example, Joel Drew took the Silver medal in Jewellery while Suwanna Rattananikom took the Bronze in Cooking. In either instance, the tables could have been turned with males in stereotypically 'female' roles such as jewellery, and females stereotypically in 'male' roles such as painting.

Special congratulations to the Skillaroos who achieved great success in winning medals at the competition:

CategoryName
Medal
Automobile Technology Dale McMullen Gold Jewellery Joel Drew Silver Car Painting Stuart Aisbett Silver Electrical Installations John Rudge Silver Cooking Suwanna Rattananikom Bronze Autobody Repair Luke Gallagher Medal of Excellence Beauty Therapy Holly Browne Medal of Excellence Bricklaying Tim Hambly Medal of Excellence Cabinet Making Anthony Cassar Medal of Excellence Floristry Courtney Barton Medal of Excellence Graphic Design Kim Harrison Medal of Excellence IT Software Applications Michael Kirkwood-Smith Medal of Excellence Landscape Gardening Rohan Blythe, Simon Buchanan Medal of Excellence Manufacturing Team Challenge

Joshua Morsillo, Samuel Pop,

Matthew Nunn

Medal of Excellence Painting And Decorating Shareena Sloan Medal of Excellence Plumbing Daniel Hogarth Medal of Excellence Refrigeration Lachlan Thomas Medal of Excellence Restaurant Service Sarah Rowsell Medal of Excellence Wall and Floor Tiling John Alebakis Medal of Excellence Web Design Matthew Ryan Medal of Excellence Welding Mark Williams Medal of Excellen

Also this week - SkillsOne are rua reminder to everyone to remember to get your entries in for the current Ultimate Apprenticeship promotion. Enter here

Anyone who is studying a trade skill or who have their qualifications in Automotive, Horticulture or Chef Trades are eligible to enter for a once in a lifetime trade skills experience. The prizes we have secured thanks to our partners at WPC group and A1GP are incredible:

• For automotive the prize is to work with the Australian A1GP team in Brands Hatch England
• For Horticulture the prize is to spend a week at the world renowned Singapore Garden festival; and
• For hospitality the prize is to work alongside some of Japans Chefs.
The three prizes are all inclusive, including air fares and accommodation and are valued up to $13,000.

Special thanks to our partners WPC and A1GP.

Brian Wexham
Chief Executive Officer, The Institute for Trade Skills Excellence