Mater Education’s new simulation home
Mater Education’s courses have been getting more popular by the day, and with a plethora of new students wanting to study at Mater Education additional training facilities were needed.
Until recently Mater Education only had two simulated ward environments—level four of the Duncombe building and a simulated ward and classroom on level two of the Potter building.
Due to increasing demand of the Certificate III courses and Vocational Education and Training in Schools (VETIS) classes in 2017 an additional simulated ward and training facilities had to be created, and fast!
On the lookout for a new space Mater Education liaised with Capital Works to locate somewhere suitable. Capital Works showed them the remaining area of level two of the Potter Building and a business case was made in October 2017 for Mater Education to invest in the redevelopment of that spaces.
Fast forward to January 2018 and Mater Education has created a new education hub that encompasses the entire second level of the Potter Building.
Prior to it becoming Mater Education’s new education hub a large proportion of level two of the Potter building was an unused space after it was severely damaged in a storm a few years ago.
The project was a complete rebuild. The space had been completely abandoned and stripped back to timber framing, no ceiling, no walls and no toilets.
A construction company started work in the first week of December and two months later the first of the 2018 students were using the facility.
“Our new training and simulation facility has enabled us to expand our offer through additional VETIS and Certificate level programs. It’s also an overflow area for our Diploma of Nursing students and it has given us greater capacity to conduct training and simulated activities,” Mater Education’s Director of Vocational and Educational Training Barry Hankinson said.
“Vocational programs are skill-based programs and being able to undertake those activities in an environment that is as real as possible is fantastic. Students here can be truly immersed in health and see the variety of career opportunities the health sector has on offer.”
Since the new facility opened Mater Education has been able to increase their amount of VETIS students from two schools to eight schools and there are plans for more Certificate III and VETIS students in the near future.
