Case study: Westside Circus
Skills, Thrills and Spills
Changes to the Victorian vocational education and training (VET) system are making it easier for not-for-profit organisations to provide their staff with subsidised training and higher qualifications, as Debbie Maziarz of Westside Circus is discovering.
It was 17 years ago, while working as a youth worker in Melbourne’s western suburbs with some of Victoria’s most disadvantaged young people, that Debbie Maziarz first discovered that mastering circus skills was a great way to build self-esteem and confidence.
That realisation has resulted in Westside Circus, a flourishing not-for profit organisation that teaches circus skills to some 400 children a year in classes and another 8,000 in community outreach programs. And for the ten or so children who have graduated from participating in Westside classes to become trainers themselves, their self esteem and confidence has no doubt grown even more. “They are now in high demand as trainers and are the greatest strength of our organisation,” says Maziarz, now Westside Circus’s CEO.
Maziarz had to learn the necessary skills to manage the organisation as she went along. She is also keen to help her trainers to upgrade their skills and qualifications as well. “We have an ongoing commitment to mentorship and skills pathways for our staff,” she says.
Westside Circus was eligible for assistance from Skills for Growth: the Workforce Development Program, as Maziarz discovered when a representative from Apprenticeships Australia visited them to talk about the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.
“We were interested in taking on traineeships in Arts Management and Arts Administration for some younger people who have grown up through the organisation and he suggested we call VERVE (the Industry Training Advisory Board for the arts, culture, sport and recreation sectors in Victoria)”, Maziarz explains.
Maziarz did, and soon the training specialist came to the circus. “They conducted a skills audit of the entire organisation and developed a training plan for our staff team based on where the organisation wants to go,” Maziarz says. The whole process took about three months.
Maziarz was especially impressed that the consultant recognised that for Westside Circus, people are the organisation. “They interviewed everyone,” she says. “It’s great to look right across the organisation and at each of the individuals in it – as people with names and futures rather than just as roles within an organisational structure.” She hasn’t seen the completed plan yet – “it’s almost ready” - but has been told the overall recommendations and says they make good sense.
Westside Circus recently also took the Victorian Skills Pledge, a public declaration by businesses of their commitment to skills development. Taking the Victorian Skills Pledge gives businesses a range of marketing opportunities to show potential customers they are dedicated to up-skilling their staff to best-practice standards. “It’s a way of formalising our commitment to something we believe and support,” Maziarz says.
“It has been an optimistic process because it has been about making people better and part of the future,” Maziarz says of Westside Circus’s new training program: “It’s great to be able to support people’s dreams in this way.”
More information
Below you can get further information about changes to the TAFE and training system, including:
Alternatively, contact the Victorian Cultural and Recreational Industry Training Board (VERVE) on (03) 9614 5566.