Wadja Waja High School, an independent school in the remote Aboriginal community of Woorabinda, has opened new vocational training spaces including a cafe and hair salon. The facilities allow the 110 students to pursue vocational certificates that contribute towards their year 12 graduation while improving local services typically unavailable nearby. Principal Cherie Blinco reports increased student attendance since these programs began, as they provide practical skills relevant to the community's needs.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-08,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Wadja Waja High School, an independent school located in Woorabinda, a remote Indigenous community southwest of Rockhampton, recently opened new vocational education and training (VET) spaces including a cafe, hair salon, and recreation facility. The initiative aims to provide local students with practical skills they can use within their community without needing to leave for further education. With over 1,000 residents in Woorabinda, the school serves around 110 students who now have access to these training opportunities on-site. Principal Cherie Blinco reports that attendance at the school has improved since the new facilities were introduced. The hair salon and cafe are particularly significant for a community with limited local services, offering both educational value and practical benefits.
Written for “Indigenous School Enterprise Program” on 2026-10-09,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 67146 · logged 2026-10-08
In short:
New VET training spaces have opened at the Wadja Waja High School, with a cafe, hairdressers and recreation facility.
asserted
spaces → open → cafe
It allows the 110 students at the independent school in Woorabinda to access more education and training closer to home.
asserted
students → allow → home
Principal Cherie Blinco says attendance at the school has improved, as the new opportunities give the students a reason to come.
asserted
opportunities → say → reason
There is more than meets the eye when you look inside the collection of green buildings nestled at the rear of the Wadja Wadja High School.
asserted
you → be → School
The front donga has been kitted out as a cafe, with a counter space for taking orders, a coffee machine and a dining area.
asserted
donga → kitte → orders
Across the corridor, fishing rods hang on the wall, with tables arranged into a study room.
asserted
rods → hang → room
The services might be commonplace in other communities, but for the 1,000 people who call Woorabinda home, these spaces are a rarity.
uncertain
spaces → call → Woorabinda
"We looked at the community and what we needed in community," school principal Cherie Blinco said.
asserted
Blinco → look → community
Filling a gap in local services
The Aboriginal community, 170 kilometres south-west of Rockhampton, only has a handful of shops, with the nearest place to order a coffee about 40 kilometres away.
asserted
community → fill → coffee
The new facilities allow the senior students at the school to study vocational certificates that also go towards their year 12 graduation.
asserted
that → allow → graduation
"These spaces are about much more than training; they are about creating opportunities for our young people here in Woorabinda, building confidence and employment skills," Ms Blinco said.
asserted
Blinco → create → confidence
The idea to offer vocational education and training (VET) subjects at the school was the brainchild of retired principal Hector Costello, who did advisory work at the school in 2019.
asserted
who → offer → 2019
"What I discovered was the standard curriculum they were delivering just wasn't working for the kids here," he said.
asserted
he → discover → kids
"In VET you can achieve much more tangible things and it's got much greater real-life applicability for students here.
asserted
it → achieve → students
"A lot of schools are doing it but for this community it has worked perfectly.
asserted
it → do → community
"
Attendance rates at the school have "skyrocketed" over the last few months since the VET programs were introduced, principal Cherie Blinco said.
asserted
Blinco → skyrocket → months
"It gives them a purpose to come to school … learning something that they can use within their community and it means that they don't have to leave to get that education," she said.
Kuku Yalanji woman and year 10 student Jahlaila Beckett plans to study a certificate in salon services next year.
asserted
woman → give → services
The commitment we want to put into doing hairs and stuff.
asserted
we → want → hairs
I think it's a big opportunity to go out there and explore more," Jahlaila said.
asserted
Jahlaila → think → more
Wadja Wadja woman and year 11 student Juu'garr Bamboo is also enrolled next year and said she had already learnt some things that might help her to become a hairdresser in the future.
uncertain
her → enrol → future
"We've just been practising hairstyles and how to start a conversation with some of the locals here in Woorabinda," Juu'garr said.
asserted
Juu'garr → practise → Woorabinda
An official grand opening of the space was held this week.
asserted
opening → hold → space
Students opened the cafe for trial runs over term three, before an official grand opening of the space this week, which welcome community members.
asserted
which → open → members
"Now that we've got it in Woorabinda, it's going to be so great," local Woorabinda resident Renee Hill said.
"It's so wonderful seeing the kids having a go at everything.
"
asserted
kids → get → everything
We don't put the kids down, we encourage them so it's really good to come and pop in and have a coffee and just see their smiling faces."
asserted
it → put → faces
The Aporia