When the fireworks went off on New Year’s Eve 2020, not many Australians would have foreseen another tough year as a second wave of COVID ripped through the nation. We were all looking forward to a new kind of normality, which unfortunately did not happen, with 2021 being another struggle.
Here in the Learning and Development team, we merely applied our team mantra: Improvise, Adapt and Overcome, to deal with everything that was thrown at our training requirements. Collectively, as we look back at the year that was 2021; we feel we ended up doing alright.
Ben Jones (L&D Manager)
This year’s highlight for me, personally, was the adaptability and attitude of the Allambi Care training team. Both as a team, but more importantly, as individuals: as parents, partners and people.
In my experience with the L&D crew this year, everything we did had to be changed. This has affected both processes and training. The last 18 months has seen us having to manage our Induction and Diploma training being brought forward, pushed back, adapted, expanded, minimised, made into a ‘hybrid’ and so on. Whether it was COVID restrictions, travel bans, spacing limits, venues closing, working from home - we somehow found a way over the hurdle.
This also includes training virtually with smaller classes, larger rooms, changing dates, developing hours prior with no notice or even training during nights and weekends with our families in the room. Crazy!
A huge hats off to the staff and Allambi Care front-line students and inductees that have made this possible, being resilient, understanding and people focused. Not only did we hit the mark, but we also received amazing feedback, outcomes and nationally recognised training awards.
2021 saw Allambi Care take out the 2021 NSW Industry Training Collaboration Award for our work with the Bradford Institute of Advanced Education. As a manager, I am able to work with not just good professionals, but good people.
Mark “Robbo” Robinson (Trainer)
The training of Support Workers has become considerably more challenging as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the world, forcing us all to rethink how we live and interact with one another.
2021 has seen an ever-changing landscape with numerous lockdowns and changes to our working practices, yet we have been able to adjust our programs and delivery styles to ensure we provide new staff with the best possible training, regardless of this being in-person or online.
One major hurdle has been training through a mask, which is challenging, as much of our communication is non-verbal, making it difficult to get a feel for how information is being received. As trainers, we use our facial expressions to communicate, emphasise and express ourselves. This helps us keep learners engaged and allows us to communicate key information effectively.
Face masks create a barrier to these connections and we struggled initially to find ways to be expressive and engaging, particularly for long periods of the day. Yet despite these challenges, we found ways to engage learners and adapted to the new normal.
The training team have worked tirelessly to adapt to the ever-changing landscape using all their skills and knowledge to ensure the best possible learning environments regardless of what COVID has thrown at us.
Sally Sutton & Sarah Grabda (Practice Coaches)
Practice coaching has kicked off for the both of us and we are excited to learn and work with industry expert Eleanora De Michelle (child protection service delivery; early intervention; prevention; permanency, and restoration) and be able to use these skills to support the ITC team, to keep achieving outcomes for the children, young people and staff that they support.
At Allambi, our role will work alongside the Operations Department and support the staff by creating consistent opportunities for reflection to enhance their practice skills. Our role focuses on translating knowledge to practice.
2022 will be an exciting time for Allambi Care as we work with Management staff to ensure they are feeling confident and empowered within their role.
Julee Kennedy (Trainer)
In the last 12 months, we have achieved so much within the Diploma of Community Services.
We have successfully mapped 8 full units to the new induction/probation period, allowing us to recognise the valuable experience our staff get on the frontline in their first six months. This program will be rolled out early 2022.
In 2021, despite COVID-19, we kept the consistency of our monthly workshops by going online and have successfully implemented an intensive program to offer our existing staff an opportunity to complete a relevant qualification in a supported and shorter timeframe.
In total, we have had over 185 staff complete the Diploma this year with another 64 due to complete in March 2022.
And we thank you all for your capacity to deal with the ever-changing learning landscape you had to overcome this year. Your patience is truly appreciated.
Kristy Sneddon (Trainer)
I am fortunate to work alongside such an amazing group of flexible, adaptive, and supportive trainers that are truly passionate about training and supporting our staff both old and new, to be advocates and role models for our organisation and all that it stands for.
Just recently, I was stopped by a staff member in the café. I recognised the staff member as an inductee from TCI (I barely recognised her as we were all in masks during the 5-day training). She respectfully introduced me to her client and while the client was ordering her lunch she reflected with me about her induction.
She said, “The training Allambi gave me reminded me of the importance of self-reflection, self-control, and being in tune. The skills you and the other trainers gave me over that week have changed my life. Thank you to you and the other trainers for being such supportive role models while reminding me of the power of listening and being kind to myself and others”.
I was taken aback by her confidence, personal growth, and professionalism; the caring way she supported her young person was both inspiring and rewarding to see. And it made me realise we must be doing something right.
Kimberley Wright & Emma Crowther (Trainers)
What a year it has been, we have both been warmly welcomed into the training team learning new skills while developing new ways to support our staff through on-line learning.
COVID-19 has not been kind to many, stepping into a new role while developing our skills has at times been challenging and the support that has been extended to myself and Emma has been amazing.
We look forward to bringing our own personal and professional styles into our training and supporting our front-line workers so that they can deliver quality care to our young people. We would also like to thank all or our workers that have completed the Diploma over the past year, as this has been a learning curve for everyone, and our staff have truly shown the strength and commitment that we hold.
It is an absolute pleasure to be part of your development and we look forward to building on our connections with you all.
Brad Calder (Trainer)
2021 has been a challenging, but rewarding year. While COVID again affected our ability to deliver our training packages, as a team we were able to continue to be flexible in our approach and still deliver quality training to our staff. The development of probation learning for new staff has seen us able to map back and RPL 8 units of the Community Services Diploma, which has been a big highlight. It has been exciting to see that the organisation is starting to see the benefit of investing in staff from the moment they start their career at Allambi.
On a personal note, 2021 has been a busy one as I have stepped up to take the reins of Tact. This has been a big task, especially with so many training workshops having to be cancelled or rescheduled and even having to bring instructors home mid-course so they did not get stuck interstate. However, we have still managed to provide agencies with support in implementing the TCI system. 2022 is looking bright with the opportunity to provide more support and consultancy work with Fiona Waites coming onboard with Tact full time.
As a whole, the training team has worked extremely hard to continue to provide the best possible training for our staff here at Allambi Care and I expect that to continue on into the new year.
Melinda Norman (Administration Officer)
2021 has been another up and down year with COVID restrictions preventing us from delivering training face-to-face for a big part of the year. I think one of my highlights this year was seeing how the Learning and Development Team pulled even closer together to design and modify our regular training programs in such a way that we could still deliver this valuable training to our staff via an online platform.
I have also loved seeing how our staff have embraced online learning, even though we all know technology isn’t always our friend and things don’t always go to plan. I have no doubt we have all learnt a range of new and very handy problem-solving skills in the area of online learning over the past 12 months.
Neil Richardson (Trainer)
Blimey! What a bonkers time to join the training team! A mad twelve months where I’ve been constantly chucked into the deep end. Lucky ‘Robbo’ is a trained life guard and has saved me a few times!
Personally, I’ve loved meeting all our front-line staff. You are an amazing bunch of people!
Mark Said (Director)
A goal for next year is to externally face our Diploma program to contribute to the up-skilling of Youth Workers in our sector. It is hoped that we will successfully pilot both a face-to-face and online version.
On behalf of the training team, we would like to wish you all a very happy festive season and we look forward to whatever 2022 throws our way!
