More than 30 students taking part in support program
18 July 2023
The GFG Foundation program at SIMEC Mining Tahmoor Coking Coal has received a huge tick of approval from the parents of participating students.
The GFG Foundation has continued its growth in Australia with this year’s first intake of 30 students at the GFG Alliance operation in New South Wales from Picton High School and the Wollondilly Anglican College .
The GFG Foundation focuses on programs to support people, particularly young people, to reach their potential and strengthen industries and local communities by boosting skills and employment prospects.
It runs programs in areas that GFG Alliance has a significant presence in. These programs help give students important skills to help them towards being job-ready after school. These include STEM based learning programs, designed to involve students in problem solving real-world issues that are happening in their local communities.
Everyone was very friendly at the first session and the kids looked very engaged … Jorja just can’t wait now to go underground and see the mine
LORRAINE WILLIAMS
Parent Lachlan Hearne said the GFG Foundation program was perfect for his son William, a Wollondilly Anglican College student, because of his involvement with STEM at school and the alignment with his skill set and interests.
“William likes maths and science and while he’s not quite sure what he wants to do moving forward, this GFG Foundation program is a great opportunity to see what’s available and where he can best use his skills,” Lachlan said.
“I was really impressed with this first session, I didn’t realise how diverse the mine was in what they do and what they offer in regards to careers.
“I think this program will be really beneficial for the kids and it was great to see both schools represented and all the students mingling.”
Another parent, Lorraine Williams explained how excited her daughter Jorja was about the GFG Foundation program. She is also very STEM based in her schooling and has aspirations to become involved in robotic engineering after school and university.
“The GFG Foundation came to Wollondilly Anglican to do a presentation and Jorja came home very keen, telling me all about it and how interested she was,” Lorraine said.
“We then went on and did the parent webinar on the GFG Foundation’s website, it looks a really good program with the involvement of mentors and the outcomes, so from that point we’ve been actively getting involved and keen to be a part of it.
“Everyone was very friendly at the first session and the kids looked very engaged … Jorja just can’t wait now to go underground and see the mine.”
The program will continue for two terms with weekly workshops conducted by the ten mentors from the mine. An on-site visit and a tour of the underground mine will also be scheduled for the students.
I was really impressed with this first session, I didn’t realise how diverse the mine was in what they do and what they offer in regards to careers
LACHLAN HEARNE
Established in Australia in 2019, the GFG Foundation extends to a Year 7 and 8 program that will be introduced to Tahmoor next year.
For more information on the GFG Foundation go to GFG Foundation |
MAIN IMAGE: William Hearne and his father Lachlan at the first GFG Foundation session at Tahmoor.