SBAT: What Is SBAT? Powerful School-Based Traineeship Pathway

Most Year 11 and 12 students hear the word “traineeship” from a Careers Adviser and picture something abstract, a form to fill in, a box to tick on a subject selection sheet. For our trainees, it looks different. It looks like walking into a primary school on a Tuesday morning, gaining real coaching experience, and watching a nine-year-old’s face light up because someone finally explained the game in a way that made sense to them. . That’s what a SBAT with Creating Chances actually is. Here’s how it works.

What is SBAT?

SBAT stands for school-based apprenticeships and traineeships, a NSW Department of Education pathway that lets senior students train, work and earn HSC credit at the same time. It’s a formal system, not an internship or work experience. Students sign a training contract, attend paid work each week, and complete a recognised qualification alongside their HSC. Creating Chances runs a SBAT NSW traineeship built specifically for Year 11 and 12 students who want to move from our Youth Development Pathway into real coaching and facilitation work with our team.

School-based Trainees

To bridge the gap between the Creating Chances Youth Development Pathway and employment, we offer Year 11 & 12 students next step into employment  opportunities to join our facilitation and coaching team as School-Based Trainees, building on taking initiative and building confidence along the way. 

SBAT Program

We developed the SBAT program, which provides a two-year school-based traineeship for students. Key features of the program include:

• Paid work: One day of paid work per week.
• Skill development: Training in coaching and facilitation that helps students build skills for future careers.
• Support: Guidance from a dedicated Employment Pathways Coordinator throughout their journey.

“It’s a really good experience. The vibe of everybody, the whole crew, you don’t feel like an outsider. You feel included right away. All the activities we do, the catch-ups, are always fun and exciting.
Going to schools and working with the kids and seeing the smiles of their faces because you’re giving them something for their life, it puts a smile on my face just to see that”

Courtney, School-based Trainee

89%

of Trainees move into employment, education & training

Including 13 of our current staff who transitioned to employment with Creating Chances

45%

of trainees from non-English speaking backgrounds

School-based Trainees representative of the diverse communities we work with is fundamental to achieving outcomes 

Key Information

We encourage students interested in applying to meet the following criteria:

• Enrolled in Certificate III Sports Coaching or Certificate III in Fitness as a VET subject, or willing to study Certificate III Sport & Recreation online.
• Planning to complete Year 12.
• Have completed a program within the Creating Chances Youth Development Pathway.

Students must be enrolled in Certificate III Sports Coaching or Fitness as a VET subject or willing to study Certificate III Sport & Recreation online.

SBAT Program Manager and former teacher Margie Andréason is a dedicated resource to facilitate the School-based Trainee process. We request that students, careers advisors and parents work collaboratively through the application process. 

• Expressions of Interest: Term 3, Week 9 & 10
• Interviews: scheduled for early Term 4
• Notifications: successful applicants will be informed by the end of Term 4, Week 6

Expression of Interest

Ruby
Fanoosh

Facilitator

Click here

Samar
Yousef

Head Facilitator

Click here

Callum Hutchinson

Trainee

Click here

Harry
Jessep

Former Trainee

Click here

Downloads

Learn more about the School-based Trainee program

Download PDF

Traineeship or Apprenticeship: What’s The Difference?

The SBAT system actually covers two separate tracks, and it’s worth knowing which one you’re looking at. A school-based apprenticeship trains a student toward a trade qualification, and usually continues for another two to three years of full-time work after school finishes. 

A school based traineeship, the track Creating Chances runs, builds vocational skills in a non-trade field and is designed to be completed inside the two-year program itself. So if you’ve searched for school based apprenticeships NSW and landed here, this page is specifically about the traineeship side of that system, the coaching and facilitation pathway rather than a trade.

What SBAT course do you need?

Every Creating Chances trainee studies toward Certificate III Sports Coaching, or Certificate III Sport & Recreation if they take it online. That certificate is the SBAT course sitting behind the qualification, and it’s what the paid work each week actually counts toward.

Is this SBAT available across NSW?

Creating Chances is a NSW based organisation, and our traineeship runs at the schools and communities we already partner with across the state. Availability depends on your school’s relationship with us, so the fastest way to find out is to ask your Careers Adviser directly, or reach out once Expressions of Interest open in Term 3.

For a student weighing up a trade apprenticeship against a role that puts them in front of a classroom every week, that’s really the choice at the centre of this page. One builds toward a trade. The other, this one, builds toward coaching, mentoring, and the kind of confidence that Courtney describes: not feeling like an outsider, and feeling included right away.