Clontarf students upskill with support from skills academy

Narrabri Clontarf Academy students have completed a new three-day course to build their practical work skills and awareness.

The Year 10 to 12 students took part in a ‘Working at Heights’ and ‘Confined Spaces’ course held at Narrabri TAFE in March to help them progress with their training and encourage them to further their civil construction studies.

The course was offered thanks to the Australian Rail Track Corporation and Inland Rail.

The ARTC partnership with the Clontarf Foundation supports the education, training and employment of indigenous youth in communities along the Inland Rail alignment.

ARTC Inland Rail is providing $500,000 in funding, over two years, through the Inland Rail Skills Academy to support 14 Clontarf Academies along the rail corridor in Queensland and New South Wales.

This funding is helping to boost school retention, develop leadership skills and create pathways to employment through training opportunities for indigenous regional youth.

ARTC Inland Rail acting chief executive Rebecca Pickering said the students were thrilled to undertake industry specific training before finishing school, in the hope of gaining employment in the construction industry, or even on Inland Rail after their school years.