It is tools down for the Port Macquarie IT student Liam Spindler and Kempsey local Luke Creighton who competed for TAFE NSW at the WorldSkills National Championships last week, with judges to award the winners in the coming months.

WorldSkills competitions celebrate excellence while creating opportunities for young people, who are passionate about their skills and training, to test themselves against their peers.

Throughout August and September, students have been taking part in one of the hundreds of skill competitions held virtually across Australia, in more than 50 skill areas including IT systems and networking, business, cloud computing, and 3D game design.

Mr Spindler who works in IT security said that his anticipation was high after months of mentorship by TAFE NSW teachers as he prepared.

“Competing in the National WorldSkills competition was a great experience, where I learned lots of new things,” said Mr Spindler.

“While studying through TAFE NSW and in my training for WorldSkills, I was able to spend many hours honing my practical skills so that in competition, I was well prepared to deal with any scenario.”

Liam is working towards completing a Bachelor in Computer Science and joining the Air Force to combine his love of IT and aviation.

“I had a great experience at Nationals – the challenge of the competition has made me more confident in my trade.”

TAFE NSW WorldSkills coordinator Jenny Frost said the WorldSkills competition provides trainees with a practical way to test their skills and knowledge against others.

“These competitions develop young people’s confidence and will really help their job prospects, and we are amazed after seeing the talent that our local competitors have,” said Ms Frost.

“WorldSkills competitions provide TAFE NSW students with amazing, and potentially life-changing, learning opportunities. It creates an interactive and engaging environment for participants. They will learn important life-long skills that will not only help them succeed individually, but will help deliver a highly skilled workforce.”

The championships were held digitally this year in light of COVID-19 restrictions, with the students competing from home.

For more information about enrolling for semester two at TAFE NSW, call 13 16 01 or visit www.tafensw.edu.au.