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Nirimba partnership gives students a taste of uni success

On Wednesday 5 June, 15 Year 12 students from Terra Sancta College andWyndham College graduated from university units from the University ofWestern Sydney (UWS) as part of the multi-sectoral educational partnership at

Nirimba Education Precinct, Quakers Hill.

Held at the UWS Nirimba campus, the graduation ceremony recognised studentswho have successfully completed a tertiary unit of study while still at highschool. UWS offers the courses as part of their Schools Engagement Program,which provides students with tertiary educational opportunities in westernSydney.

Students undertake their courses over a school term in addition to their usualsubjects and are required to attend classes after school. All students who pass

units receive pre-HSC offers to UWS courses for which they are eligible andstudents who achieve distinctions or high distinctions receive a $500 study grantand the offer of a conditional Academic Excellence Scholarship of $5,000 per yearfor up to four years of study at UWS.

Now in its tenth year, the Nirimba university program is seeing increasingly highsuccess rates. In 2011, 94 percent of students who studied a tertiary unit whileat school went on to enroll at UWS and eleven scholarships were awarded.

Nirimbas manager of Education Development and Coordination, Ian Wing, saidthe program provides a unique opportunity for students.

Students get a taster experience of tertiary education attending lectures andtutorials alongside UWS students enabling them to experience first-hand, theexpectations of university and to liaise with and compete with students who areolder, said Ian. Because of the careful selection of candidates by the schools, thementoring by school staff, and the support provided by UWS/UWSCollege,students have achieved spectacular successes over the years this program hasrun.

Terra Sanctas cooperating principal, Phil Smith, congratulated the students on

achieving their outstanding results and thanked all involved for their support ofthe program.

No other schools in western Sydney get this kind of opportunity, said Phil. Wethank UWS and the Nirimba Precinct partners for their support and thank theparents whose work is invaluable in helping our students to succeed.

Karen Smith, principal of Wyndham College, said the bond in the Nirimbaprecinct is continuing to grow each year.

We are so proud of the involvement of our students, they have shown a great

commitment to their learning and proven that they are independent learners,said Karen.

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UWS Dean School of Business: Professor of Management, Professor CliveSmallman, who presented the students with their certificates, said they haddemonstrated a commitment to their learning and shown that they are morethan capable of success in their tertiary studies.

These students have shown that they can succeed in their university studies andthat is no easy feat because there is a big step up between secondary anduniversity studies, said Professor Smallman. I congratulate the Terra Sancta andWyndham College students on their success and look forward to seeing wheretheir studies will take them in the future.

The Nirimba Education Precinct is a four partner education consortium. The fourpartners University of Western Sydney, Western Sydney Institute of Technicaland Further Education, Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta, andDepartment of Education and Communities are represented on the QuakersHill site by UWSCollege, Nirimba TAFE, Terra Sancta College, and WyndhamCollege.