Students from the Bankstown and Canterbury areas recently brushed with success after completing a hairdressing and beauty course designed to encourage them to complete Year 12 or transition into further education and training.

The 12 girls and one boy in Years 9 and 10 were among 368 students from 20 schools who have graduated from the Coordinated Pathways program since 2005.

Coordinated Pathways facilitator Romina Figuerola said the program was set up to support students who may be at risk of leaving school early or needed a boost to re-engage in studies.

Some students were also just inquisitive to know more about a particular career path, she said.

“It just gives students an opportunity to have a taste of TAFE to see if it is the career path they want to go into.

The other side of that is to see if they’re ready or not ready to leave school.

Our aim is to keep them engaged in education or training,” Mrs Figuerola said.

The courses offered are run through local TAFE campuses or independent trainers.

Fields of study have included hospitality, animal care, horticulture, automotive, plumbing, spray painting, carpentry and a job preparation strand called KANDOO.

For the graduates of the 2007 hairdressing/beauty course at South Western Sydney Institute of TAFE’s Bankstown campus, it was a chance to make new friends, master the blow-drier and consider their future studies.

Year 10 Beverly Hills Girls High School student Zeinab H said the course had made her reflect on available opportunities and helped make up her mind to finish school.

“I was thinking of leaving but I want to go back to Year 11 and 12 and figure out exactly what I want to do,” she said.

“If I hadn’t done this I would have dropped out and maybe regretted it.

I used to think that hairdressing is what I wanted to do but now I just think there is more out there.” Year 10 Sefton High School student Jasmine I said the course gave her an introduction to TAFE and new career plans.

“At first I wanted to do accounting and now I want to do hairdressing for sure,” she said.

“I know that I’m going to come to TAFE and this is what I am going to expect.

I’ve learnt plenty of new skills – I’ve learnt to braid, blow-dry, curl hair, facials, manicures, how to apply makeup.” Mrs Figuerola said 97 per cent of students who took part in the course remained at school for the rest of the year and showed a renewed interest in studies.

“Teachers find them to be more engaged at school, more punctual, their attendance level goes up – even their physical appearance improves,” she said.

“They go [to the course] in complete uniform because something they are learning in these classes is how they need to look – they need to wear the right shoes, etc.” About 300 early school leavers have also been case-managed through the program.

Almost 70 per cent of this group have successfully re-engaged in training or found jobs, with the remaining 30 per cent returning to school.

The Coordinated Pathways program received a silver gong in the 2007 Premier’s Public Sector Awards for its local delivery of services.