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Student Stories

Maisie Hall - Certificate III in Visual Arts

My 16 year old daughter Maisie was having a terrible time at school. It was a daily struggle for her to get there. She felt disconnected, despondent and really not sure what her future held. Maisie had always been a keen artist and throughout her childhood and turned to creating as a relaxation tool.

Halfway through year 10 she enrolled into the Certificate III in Visual Arts at Byron Community College with the hope she’d get some joy again from learning. The thought of leaving school, attending the College 2 days a week  and focussing only on art seemed like the perfect choice for her. And wow, what a fantastic experience it turned out to be. As cliched as it sounds, this course has really changed her life. She eagerly got up out of bed every day, keen to get there and get creating. She engaged with the staff and spoke in glowing terms of the way they taught and nurtured. Being so young, she had anticipated she may feel overwhelmed or excluded, but the other students were so encouraging and positive. The flow on effect to her mood, interactions at home and her self-esteem were just delightful to see. Her only complaint about the course was that it wasn’t full time!

Her afternoons and days off were spent in her art room, working on the assignments, but more importantly, just spent doing her own art for her own enjoyment.
The art exhibition at the end of the 6 months was a really joyous event for Maisie’s family to attend. The calibre and diversity of the work on show was truly inspiring and to see Maisie’s art holding its own amongst it was buoying. But equally important was seeing her interactions with the staff and fellow students. Her growth in confidence, her relaxed demeanour and her happiness and pride in her work were delightful for us all to see.

After she had such a wonderful positive foundation at Byron Community College she has now enrolled in a full time TATE art course.
Thank you so much. I would highly recommend this course to anyone!

Ellie Powditch
(Maisie’s Mum)

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