VET - Workplace Skills
On Wednesday 2nd of March, the VET – Workplace Skills course class had the privilege to go to LeMan’s Entertainment to get a full explanation of OHS protocols by the lovely staff, plus experience some fun go karting and laser tag with the company of Mr Andrews and Miss Martin.
You’re probably wondering, why would a TAFE course let their students go to go karting? Well, Mr Andrews, Miss Martin and Mr Hayworth firmly believe learning about future life skills is a must, but applying them into situations in a fun way is the best possible option, allowing students remember those tough life lessons with a positive memory.
The excursion wasn’t only fun activities, we went through a briefing on how LeMan’s entertainment operates. The class sat down and had Chris, the owner, go through a detailed sheet of health and safety protocols, this sheet went through to our ‘BSBWHS201: Contribute to health and safety of self and other’ outcome. We learnt the safety procedures staff use at LeMan’s, how they check the equipment used, some personal protective equipment (PPE) requirements, injury reports, what to do in an emergency, and workplace safety signs.
After our torturous, but needed, briefing of safety and PPE, we were let loose onto the fun part of the building. First stop, go karting!
We followed workers to the track, looking at the beautiful outside surroundings. They split us into two different groups, then explained to each group separately about what to do on the track, how to keep safe, rules and light signals. At this point, all of us were ready to race, wanting the thrill of speeding past our competitors, the wind blowing onto our very safe helmets that covered our entire head.
Some people were more excited to go high speeds than others, which caused a few crashes and spin-offs here and there. But, thanks to the staff and our (just learnt) knowledge, we knew what to do. Stay calm, listen to the staff, and stay seated while the karts were being placed back onto the track. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured, only people’s prides were bruised by the ending results of who won the fastest laps.
To calm our arms down from controlling a go kart steering wheel, we went onto holding a laser gun, how comforting. Everyone was once again pumped up. The epic fight between teams, shooting each other with lasers, destroying anyone in our paths (respectfully). In the end, my team won by a landslide, which we were pretty jazzed about.
Overall, even if people were surprised about our class going to a Go Karting place for education purposes, we learnt so much from the experience and we send our thanks to the teachers who helped make this happen. If you’re interested in this form of learning, you should try exploring more into VET courses, hands on learning for future life experience.
- Hannah Varnham, Year 12.