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“This job is awesome!”

These were the words that Melanie Joseph, a recent graduate from Sparrows FET College said as I asked her how she was finding her new position at the Sparrow Foundation School.

“It is challenging but exciting, and every day is completely different!

It is hard to believe that this young, confident lady had previously been unemployed for over two years, as she spoke so passionately about her current work situation.

Melanie Joseph, a recent graduate from Sparrows FET College, now working at Sparrow Foundation School.

Melanie heard about the opportunity to study for free from her sister in law and applied straight away. After passing the assessment in August 2015, Melanie was accepted onto the End User IT Programme in November 2015. In Melanie’s class, 17 of the 26 students had a physical disability, which ranged from students in a wheelchair to students who had hearing and speech impairments. This is what made the experience for Melanie so unique:

“We were like a family… I helped the other students with disabilities but by the end of the course we were all helping each other!”

Melanie and her cohort spent six months from November 2015 to May 2016 at Sparrow FET College learning about different computer programmes ranging from Word, Excel and Powerpoint. The second part of the course, the students spent their time in a work environment to gain practical experience in the office and put to practice everything that they learnt. Melanie was put forward by the facilitator, Mr Banda for the role as HR assistant and receptionist at Sparrow School’s Head Office, based in Melville. This proved to be a challenging role, working alongside Sparrow’s HR Manager who has the demanding job of dealing with over 100 staff in the organisation.

“Romela, my mentor, taught me so much! It was also a great experience to work alongside Jackie Gallagher, the founder of the organisation.”

After continuing to work hard and support the staff at head office, Melanie was promoted to a new position based at the Sparrow Foundation School in December 2016. Her new role involves supporting the Principal of the Foundation school, the teachers and dealing with parents of the children at the remedial school.

The other students from Melanie’s course are also excelling.

“They are all working at their placements, which have been extended or they have gone onto further studying with stipends. Sparrow FET has opened the door to opportunities for all of us! I would recommend Sparrow FET to anyone!”