Short courses lead to ongoing training for industry

After the successful delivery of a suite of short courses during COVID-19 lockdowns, Victoria University (VU) is proud to be able to deliver ongoing training to Gymnastics Victoria.

Upskilling during lockdown

During the fourth and fifth lockdown, VU Polytechnic offered a tailored suite of short courses to over 70 club members at Gymnastics Victoria:

• Introduction to Communication for Effective Leadership
• Introduction to Emotional Intelligence 
• Introduction to Managing Workplace Priorities 

The workshops were tailored to suit Gymnastic Victoria’s needs and focused on building leadership and management skills, as well as personal development. Participants learned to improve their communication skills by identifying barriers to effective communication, developed an understanding of emotional intelligence and resilience, and applied strategies to build trust and positive workplace relationships.

To replicate face-to-face learning as much as possible, short courses were delivered online in real-time to ensure participants had the opportunity to interact with expert facilitators and fellow participants. Delivery of content included a mix of short videos, electronic resources and group discussions to ensure short courses remained engaging and dynamic.

Students gain essential skills

During the course of the workshops, participants provided positive feedback on course content and facilitation:

I would like to thank Gymnastics Victoria and Victoria University Polytechnic for organising these short courses. I am registered for all three short courses. The two that I had attended were very informative. Nathan is absolutely a great presenter.

As with all our short courses, there is a strong emphasis on real-world application of theory, knowledge and skills. It is therefore pleasing to hear glowing feedback on the practicality and timeliness of our short courses:

I found the results and discussion from the Emotional Intelligence questionnaire to be very valuable for me. I also found the stress component extremely relevant for me at the moment.

Building on our partnership

As a result of the positive experience shared by all participants during the snap lockdowns, we are proud to be able to offer Gymnastics Victoria ongoing training. Gen Simmons, General Manager, Gymnastics Victoria, is just as thrilled as we are:

The team at VU Polytechnic have been fantastic to work with and the feedback we have received from our community about the Leadership and Management short courses has been excellent. We sought a timely solution to be able to upskill our workforce while gymnastics clubs were unable to open and the team provided a solution which included setting up four short courses and an online landing page with booking functionality within 48 hours. Demand for the courses were high and we’re pleased to now have an ongoing partnership to be able to offer courses to our community.

Since 2018, VU have shared a strong partnership with Gymnastics Victoria centred around the highly successful Women in Sport Breakfast event. By signing up for ongoing training, our partnership continues to strengthen as we support the Women in Sport Breakfast, create opportunities for VU students to participate in Work Integrated Learning at Gymnastics Victoria headquarters, and provide their members with professional and personal development through tailored training solutions.

Unique opportunities arise from industry partnerships

VU Polytechnic are committed to building productive and successful partnerships through customised training solutions. Our team provide individualised consultancy services to assist you in identifying and customising training for staff within your workplace through workshops, non-accredited short courses or accredited qualifications.