This qualification is designed to give you the specialist skills and knowledge to take personal responsibility and exercise autonomy in undertaking customer service and plant care in a commercial nursery or hardware store that has a horticulture component. On successful completion of this course, you’ll have the skills you need to work at a customer service representative or nursery worker within this niche industry.

The program is designed to be undertaken as a work-based traineeship for persons that are full-time and part-time employed. Participants will combine self-paced study and individual assessment task completion with on-the-job mentoring from their workplace supervisor and ARO College trainers and Study Coach’s. Participants are provided with printed and electronic copies of learning and assessment tasks – Trainers/Assessors conduct 1:1 on-site training and assessment sessions every 4-6 weeks in the workplace, at a time that is most convenient for the participant and employer.

There are no classrooms to attend however some units, such as the chemical spraying skill set, are offered in a classroom/simulated environment at ARO’s Hahndorf training facility.

This Course is identified as a priority occupation and is included on the Australian Apprenticeship Priority List.

The Course is designed primarily for Participants that are eligible for an Apprenticeship Training Contract and currently employed in horticulture, retail or wholesale nursery or hardware store, specifically:

• Persons pursuing a career as a designer in a plant nursery based enterprise or organisation, and/or
• Persons working in the AHC industry who are seeking a formal qualification, and/or
• Graduates of AHC-related qualifications at the Certificate II level who are upskilling or articulating from previous studies.

The onus is on the Applicant to arrange their own access to an actual retail nursery workplace or enterprise to undertake learning and assessment tasks and activities, if they wish to enrol in the Course where they are not currently employed in a retail nursery-type enterprise.

Fee-For-Service

Where Participants are not eligible for an Apprenticeship Training Contract or a Skills SA Training Account they may seek enrolment into the Course under a fee-for-service basis if they are employed in a suitable horticulture workplace or enterprise and only if they and their employer enter into a Workplace Training Agreement (WTA) with ARO College.

Duration

The nominal study load to complete this course is 835 hours over approximately 96 weeks duration. This nominal duration may vary considerably for each participant depending on their existing knowledge and skills and the level of support the participant receives from their workplace, and/or if they successfully obtain recognition for previous learning or study.

Intakes

There are no scheduled intake dates, cohorts or classes for this qualification. Participants may commence the Course at any time provided there is an Apprenticeship Training Contract or Workplace Training Agreement in place with the participants employer.

AHC31124 – Certificate III in Nursery Operations (Release 1)

This version released with AHC Agriculture, Horticulture and Conservation and Land Management Training Package Version 10.0.

16 units of competency must be satisfactorily completed by participants to achieve a AHC31124 – Certificate III in Nursery Operations. The 16 units of competency are comprised of: 9 core units, plus 7 elective units. The 7 elective units selected by ARO College are guided by advice provided by consultation with industry and on the qualifications and expertise of ARO training and assessment staff.

Delivery Schedule

Awards

Participants that complete all 16 units of competency satisfactorily will be awarded a Testamur certificate and a statement of results for the Course.

Academic Pathways

Graduates of this Course may articulate to a range of qualifications in the AHC Training Package at the Certificate IV and Diploma levels, such as:

• AHC40422 Certificate IV in Horticulture
• AHC50422 Diploma of Horticulture

Occupational pathways

Graduates of this Course are ideally placed to maintain or seek employment in the AHC sector in roles such as:

• Retail nursery team member

Exit Opportunities

Participants have the opportunity to exit the Course prior to completion at any stage. Participants will be issued a Statement of Attainment certificate for any UOC completed.

Upfront Assessment of Need (UAN)

To ensure Participants receive the support they need to successfully complete the Course, an upfront assessment of need (UAN) process is undertaken before enrolment is confirmed. All individuals who are seeking access to a fee-for-service or subsidised training place, regardless of prior educational attainment, employment experience or employment status, are required to participate in the UAN process. The UAN process includes an assessment of the participant’s suitability, support needs and literacy and numeracy capabilities via a Language Literacy and Numeracy assessment (LLN).

Employment

All applicants into this Course must arrange and provide their own access to an actual horticulture workplace or enterprise to enable the attempting of practical/performance-based training and assessment activities. Applicants will require a Training Contract or a Workplace Training Agreement (WTA) to be executed prior to an application for enrolment will be offered.

Workplace Training Agreement

Where a Training Contract does not exist, for example under a fee-for-service enrolment, Participants should nominate their current place of employment, if it is an appropriate facility.  ARO will engage with the nominated workplace, prior to enrolment being confirmed, to ensure that the workplace can provide a suitable environment to gather practical experience across all tasks outlined in all UOC’s. If approved, ARO will offer a WTA to the employer and the Participant to sign and execute.

Personal

All applicants into this course will need:

• A Unique Student Identifier #
• A mobile phone or other hand-held device that is: web-browser-enabled; can access the Participants personal email account (eg: Gmail); and has a calendar App or functionality (eg: Google Calendar) and has photo and video recording capabilities
• An active personal email address
• Government-issued photo identification inclusive of Date of Birth
• Evidence of personal place of residence address such as a Driver Licence or Utilities/Bank Statement

Provision of learning and assessment resources:

• Participants attempting the Course are provided with printed Workbooks for each Unit of Competency as they progress through their Training plan and as they are assessed in the Workplace
• Trainers/assessors will print their own copies of any practical demonstration/observation and assessment resources to each workplace Workshop assessment

The default release of learning and assessment resources online or at a Workplace Workshop coincides with the participants delivery schedule of one Unit commencing and one Unit being assessed, every 4-6 weeks, where possible noting that some UOC’s will require observation assessments to be conducted over a period of time in excess of the regular cycle.

There are 3 assessment Tasks that Participants must achieve a satisfactory result for, to be deemed competent in each unit of competency:

Knowledge questions – 20-40 questions which assess the Performance Criteria and Knowledge Evidence requirements of each Unit.

Workplace Practical Tasks – which are on-the-job project activities using actual equipment and tools, that the Participants undertake in their workplace or simulated workplace or role-play.

Case study and/or project – requiring self-directed research and medium-long-answer written responses which requires the participant to apply theory and practice such as action research, experiment, impact studies, planning for a complex professional task, field work etc.

Third Party Report (Supplementary) – allows for a Workplace Supervisor to provide feedback on the skills and knowledge of the Participant to capably complete the specific tasks in the workplace on multiple occasions consistently.