Issue 13
February 2023

We'd like to wish all of our Health Gateway Schools a happy new year, and hope you have settled in for the first term. The Health Gateway team have been busy making connections with new industry partners and meeting with schools around the state who are keen to learn more about the program. 

With the teams calendars quickly filling up with events, student talks and meetings we would like to encourage all of our schools to reach out to their relevant Gateway Coordinator to book them in as soon as possible.

The year is already shaping up to be a big one with plenty of opportunities to network with other schools and industry partners and we look forward to working with you and your students in 2023.

We are excited to be launching the inaugural Health Gateway Yearbook!  The Yearbook showcases the breadth of amazing work you, our Health Gateway schools, have undertaken throughout 2022. We would like to thank all of the schools who submitted articles for the yearbook and let you know that all official Health Gateway schools feature in the yearbook. The team will be sharing this piece of work with the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training (DESBT) so that they are aware of the great work you have been doing. Schools are able to download a digital copy below however we will also share a hard copy with each of you too. 

We will be publishing annual Health Gateway Yearbooks so if you didn't get an opportunity to submit an article for this edition, please keep an eye out for our email requests later in the year and we will include your article. 

* Please note; for best viewing please open link on your PC.

To ensure all of our partnerships can continue, all existing Health Gateway Schools are required to complete a new Gateway Activity Plan (GAP) for 2023.  The Gateway Activity Plan is an important document as it helps to consolidate all relevant VET health education, career activities and industry connections to assist your relevant Health Gateway Coordinator to support your school effectively. It should only take around 5 minutes to complete.

Below is a link to the updated Gateway Activity Plan template for 2023. It would be greatly appreciated if you could complete and email this to Sabrina Kerr (sabrinakerr@checkup.org.au) by COB Friday 17 February 2023. If you have any questions in relation to this process, please don’t hesitate to contact your relevant Health Gateway Coordinator (see contact details below).

• Wide Bay, Central Qld and Central West Queensland
  Cassie French - cfrench@checkup.org.au
• Brisbane North, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich and surrounds
  Kat Murray - kmurray@checkup.org.au 
• Townsville, Mackay and North West Queensland
  Brianna Delacour - bdelacour@checkup.org.au
• Cairns and Far North Queensland
  Melanie Sheridan - msheridan@checkup.org.au
• South West Queensland and Toowoomba
  Isabel Walker - iwalker@checkup.org.au
• Brisbane South and Gold Coast
  Sabrina Kerr - sabrinakerr@checkup.org.au

Please note if your school has only recently joined the Health Gateway Program and has already completed a GAP for 2023, please disregard this request

If your school has already identified key events dates for the year please let your Health Gateway Coordinator know so they can lock it into their diary. As we are approaching 50 schools you can imagine how busy the calendars get so please get in early. Please keep in mind that terms two and three are the busiest time for the team and we will endeavour to have a representative at all events. If you would also like the team to come out and have a chat to your students about the many career pathways and opportunities in healthcare please get in touch (contact list in the above article) and we will book in a time. 

For those involved in the Health Gateway program in 2022, you may recall CheckUP hosted Health Gateway Network meetings where representatives from each of our Health Gateway Schools were invited to attend a virtual information sharing and networking meeting every term. We know many of our existing schools found these meetings very valuable.

We would like to continue to offer these meetings to all our Health Gateway Schools this year and anticipate holding these events on a Tuesday in the middle of each term (30 minutes maximum). Feedback regarding the day/time is welcome and we can adjust these as required. 

These meetings are a great opportunity for Health Gateway schools to connect with each other, learn from one another, ask questions, identify cluster activities and provide feedback to the Health Gateway Team. The Health Gateway Team will attend these meetings and will guide discussion, but we would like these to be your meetings.  There is no formal agenda or recording of minutes for these meetings as they are intended to be an  informal discussion and networking opportunity.

The first meeting is scheduled on Tuesday 14 March at 8am and future meeting dates/times will be discussed this meeting.  As new schools are signed onto the program, they will also be invited to join these meetings.

We hope you are able to participate and look forward to sharing information and ideas between schools!

If you have any questions on any of the above, please don’t hesitate to contact your relevant Health Gateway Coordinator.

The Health Gateway to Industry Schools team were fortunate enough to take a tour through the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH) and had the privilege of meeting with various Directors and Managers from Metro North Health. We are excited to be collaborating with Metro North Health and hope to build on various opportunities for the Health Gateway schools within this region. The Health Gateway team also have plans to meet with the other Hospital and Health Services throughout Queensland to work on creating opportunities for all our schools.

The team at RBWH were kind enough to share a video (below) with us which explores  the Administration team at the hospital. Kristy Jackman, has also recently participated in the Five Things a RBWH Nursing Podcast, sharing her career pathway from a nurse to Director of Administrative Services at the RBWH. 

Listen here >

The team at RBWH have also expressed an interest in visiting local schools to talk to students about the vast career opportunities available at the hospital. If you think this is something your students would benefit from please contact Kat Murray (kmurray@checkup.org.au).

Join us for our first QPHCN event for 2023

You are invited to join us for our first Queensland Primary Health Care Network (QPHCN) event for 2023.  

A well-performing health workforce is the backbone of an effective health system and our upcoming event will focus on the skills and training needed to grow the future workforce. Event details are below. 

Topic: Health workforce
When: Thursday 9 March 2023 | 10am - 12pm 
Location: Online or in-person at the Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council (QAIHC) training rooms, Level 1/36 Russell Street, South Brisbane (upon entering the building there is an elevator on the ground floor that you can take to level 1)
Tickets: Health Gateway Schools - Free!

Following the event, attendees will have the opportunity to network while enjoying light refreshments.

Speaker details will be announced soon! 

Spread the word, we're open!

Nominations are now open for the 2023 Queensland Training Awards – celebrating excellence in training and the transformative power of skills.

Nominations are now open and close 15 March 2023. 

Want to enter?

Check out the Queensland Training Awards website for more info about the awards, including how to apply in a few easy steps. 

Pictured above: Matthew Siver
2022 Runner-up Australian School-based Apprentice or Trainee of the Year 
2022 Queensland School-based Apprentice or Trainee of the Year
2022 North Coast Region School-based Apprentice or Trainee of the Year