“You can’t ask a teacher to be passionate about an industry they’ve never worked in,” Watson says. “We hire the industry’s passion, then teach them how to teach.” He points to Rocco, the college’s veteran picture framer—three decades in industry before joining the school in 2010. “Rocco has mentored some of our more at-risk boys. He’s helped them find belief in themselves through real client work and pride in their craftsmanship,” he describes. That trust is palpable on the client side too.“People hand over treasured family items—war medals, grand final jumpers—and we assign a student to the job under Rocco’s supervision,” Brendan says. “It’s rare for a school to place a student face-to-face with paying clients. But our quality is second to none and word-of-mouth brings people back,” Watson says confidently. STUDENT SUCCESS, COMMUNITY IMPACT CRC Sydenham’s model is anchored in dignity of work, hands-on mastery, and community connection. One standout story is Saad Al-Kasab, a Syrian refugee who entered Year 11 with limited English, finished Year 12 as dux with a 96.65 ATAR, earned a University of Melbourne scholarship in biomedicine, and is 5 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 07, ISSUE 10 CATHOLIC REGIONAL COLLEGE SYDENHAM
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