News

With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting international border closures the Gold Coast education sector has instigated numerous digital initiatives to maintain our relationships with our overseas partners through the implementation of virtual exchange programs with considerable success.

Recently, China’s Beijing No 25 Middle School approached Study Gold Coast to see if it was possible to implement a marine conservation program for their students with a particular focus on coral bleaching, loss of biodiversity and the reduction of the human ecological footprint within marine habitats.

Designed to coincide with the UN’s World Ocean Day (June 8), the school was actively seeking insights as to how other countries dealt with their environmental issues in a bid to better understand how our marine resources can be managed more carefully.

Riviera has been building luxury watercraft on the Gold Coast for 40 years. From humble beginnings the company has grown to become an internationally competitive force in the marine industry. As Australia’s largest builder of luxury motor yachts Riviera is the jewel of the Coomera Marine Precinct, which is the largest facility of its kind in the southern hemisphere.  

The company has over 600 personnel working on site daily with a further 1500 suppliers providing parts and contract labour. Needless to say, Riviera is an incredibly significant player within the local economy and Queensland’s booming boat industry.

Khairul Alam arrived in Australia in 2014, originally studying for his PhD in Newcastle before accepting an engineering job in Melbourne, but his real passion in life has always been dentistry. For numerous reasons his career path led him down a different road, but with the advent of COVID-19 he began to reassess his life and career priorities.

Dentistry has always been Khairul’s lifelong dream, he even married a dentist, but until now he hasn’t had the opportunity to pursue his goal. It was while he and his young family were in lockdown that he began to explore his options and he heard about Study Gold Coast’s Student Accommodation Grant, which provides up to 10 weeks’ accommodation for students who want to relocate to the Gold Coast to study.

Three Gold Coast teenagers have taken their first steps in a career in the military. 

Ethan Blackstock, from Bonogin, Ken Yamamoto, from Pimpama, and Max Brown, from Upper Coomera, are among the latest officer cadets to join the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) having achieved excellent ATAR results in their final year of high school.

From continuing on a family legacy of service, to fulfilling leadership opportunities and embracing new challenges, these young men had a variety of motivations to join Defence.

When local Gold Coast radio personality, Christo was challenged by country music star Casey Barnes to produce a country song in just three minutes he turned to TAFE Queensland for help. The 102.9 Hot Tomato breakfast show host collaborated with music and sound production students from TAFE Queensland’s Coomera campus to record the vocals, play instruments and input creative direction to produce a high quality track in one of the campus recording studios. 

Within weeks of it being officially released, the song titled ‘I Don’t Care (I Want My Dog Back)’ hit #3 on the Australian iTunes Country Music Chart behind global superstars Keith Urban and Dolly Parton. 

Traditionally the trade industry hasn’t attracted a lot of females outside of administrative roles, but the shape of that workforce is beginning to change. Ella Flack has been working on the tools as a tradie for the past seven years in a broad range of roles, skills that have come in very handy after landing a job with the Caravan Guys on the Gold Coast.

“I love working here because it brings all of the trade elements together”, says Ella. “It’s like building mini houses on wheels. I’ve always wanted to work on caravans because they cover the basis of every trade – plumbing, electrical, carpentry… you name it. You can do sheeting and welding too – it’s incredible. You don’t get that opportunity in any other trade.”

This week St Stephen’s College transitioned a study tour with Showa High School in Japan into an online experience as the result of Australia’s current international border closure. Traditionally the Japanese students would visit the Gold Coast for a week to gain what Sam Holmes, the school’s Executive Director of International Education, calls ‘a taste of St Stephen’s’.

The partnership between the two schools began four years ago and has expanded over that time to now include similar relationships between Showa and several other South East Queensland schools. All up 100 students were due to visit Queensland this year through the arrangement, with double that number scheduled by 2023.

As the number of students participating in the study tours has grown exponentially, so too have the long-term enrolments from Japanese students - and then COVID-19 changed everything. Working with Australian International Student Tours CEO Tanya Ferguson, the team at St Stephen’s College devised an online version of the program by condensing the experience into two days.

TAFE Queensland Event Management students have used their newfound skills to help local children doing it tough over the holiday season by raising more than two thousand dollars for a local Gold Coast charity, Paradise Kids.

While COVID-19 put a stop to most face-to-face events throughout the year, the students were undeterred and pressed forward with their plans to organise and execute a successful fundraising event for the charity as part of their final assessment.

Twenty-four-year-old student, Chantelle Burkin spent six months working virtually with her team mates on their ‘Neverland’ concept and said it was all worthwhile when they were able to finally host the event.

In August 2020 a group of Japanese students from Hashimoto High School in the Kanagawa Prefecture were due to visit Australia for an international study exchange with Trinity Lutheran College through Study Gold Coast. As the year unfolded and it became increasingly clear that international travel wouldn’t be possible the program was totally rebuilt as a virtual experience.

By October the first virtual class was underway with an introduction to the program and an English language lesson for the Japanese students. Later sessions included virtual experiences with the Gold Coast Student Hub and the Home of the Arts (HOTA), as well as a tour through a homestay family’s home and a visit to the Gold Coast City Council Chambers with a presentation from the Mayor’s Office. 

Bond University is launching the world’s first climate law degree for undergraduate students who want to fix the system from the inside.

The university’s Faculty of Law took its cue to develop the new Bachelor of Laws (LLB) in Climate Law from the hundreds of thousands of students who protested to demand action on climate change during 2018 and 2019.

Executive Dean of the Faculty, Professor Nick James, said COVID-19 had temporarily taken the focus off climate change but “there are still many young people out there who are passionate about doing something to help heal the planet.”

“My sense is that concern among high school students and young people hasn't gone away and that they are energised and keen to learn more about the issue and how to do something about it,” Professor James said.