The former All Saints’ College student, now employee at Hines Constructions in Bathurst, claimed the prestigious award on Wednesday afternoon at a ceremony in Orange. 

Mr Van Uum was delighted after winning the war.

“I’m pretty happy. It was a big surprise and I didn’t expect to win it,” he said.  

“I’ve always been interested in carpentry and building and I always wanted to pursue a career path towards it.”

Mr Van Uum graduated from the TAFE Western Bathurst campus at the beginning of the year, with a Certificate III Carpentry and Certificate IV Building. 

TAFE Western regional general manager Kate Baxter said the awards are by TAFE teachers and recognise the most passionate, industrious and skillful students.

“Shaun is an inspiring student who demonstrated great leadership qualities during his time at TAFE,” Ms Baxter said. 

“He has a burning desire to achieve that is infectious, was a great role model for his classmates and is very deserving of this recognition.”

Mr Van Uum was nominated for the award by TAFE NSW construction teacher Peter Schupfer, who said “Shaun understands the value of training and learning and has a very bright future in front of him”. 

Orange Certificate III Commercial Cookery student Donna Fitzgerald was crowned the Outstanding Graduating Student of the Year, Dubbo Certificate III in Accounts Administration student Rowan Jayasuriya finished as runner-up and it was Diploma of Enrolled Nursing student Angie Brown, from Dubbo, taking home the Aboriginal Student of the Year Award.