It continues to be a busy time for the Careers office as we start to pack up to move into our new resource centre. In the meantime, we have been busy working with students on a range of Pathways activities. We are also contacted by many outside providers at this time of the year, and are able to provide news about programs that can benefit students and their families which we will also attach to this newsletter.

Course Allocations

By now all students in Year 10 and VCE have been alerted to their courses for 2020. There have been a number of students who have required or requested changes to their programs, and they have been working with Mrs Brennan to make these things possible. We know that unfortunately not everybody is able to get their first choice of subjects or electives, but we are committed to trying to ensure that necessary changes are made wherever possible. Senior and Intermediate VCAL students have not yet received notification of their courses for next year but for the most part these will be the same as what was chosen at course counselling, since everybody does the four core units plus a VET subject. Mrs Lynlee Coutts, our VET coordinator, is currently working through the VET requests and enrolling students in their TAFE courses. If there are any problems in this area, she will contact you to resolve the matter. If you wish to check on a course at Year 10, VCE or VCAL, you can contact me on brennan.carren.a@edumail.vic.gov.au . Please note that all course changes need to be finalised by Thursday October 24.

Monash Mentors Program

On Thursday 10 October, I attended the graduation ceremony for the students who have been involved in the Monash Mentors program over the past two years. In this program, Year 10 and 11 students who are interested in attending university at the end of Year 12 are matched up with a current University student mentor. Together the student and their mentor work on developing study skills, preparing for exams and gaining a general awareness about University life. The program has had great results over the years, with past students saying that they are more prepared to handle University life when they get there, as well as benefitting from the real life experiences and support from their mentor. Mentee applications for the Access Monash Mentoring program is now open, closing on Friday 29 November. This program is open to students studying VCE in 2020. If you are interested in becoming a mentee in 2020, please click on this link to register your interest.

Headstart Apprenticeships

You may have heard reports in the media over the past few months about the need for Australia to increase the number of apprenticeships. Additionally, there has been discussion about how to support young people in apprenticeships. The Headstart Apprenticeship program matches up employers with students who wish to undertake an apprenticeship as well as to complete their Year 12. Cranbourne SC are part of the Outer South East Headstart Cluster. We have had a number of students express interest in this program, and have recently been successful with our first sign up, Geordyn Balcombe (currently in Intermediate VCAL). Geordyn has been signed up as an apprentice in the field of Commercial Cookery, and next year will be both working as a paid apprentice, as well as undertaking Senior VCAL. If you are interested in the Headstart Apprenticeship program, please come and see me in the Careers office for an expression of interest form.

Interview2Impress

A group of Year 10 students spent the day on Wednesday 16 October at the offices of the NBN in Collins Street for a workshop called Interview2Impress, run in conjunction with our partner the ABCN. The students were matched with a mentor from the company, and had the opportunity to practise their “behaviour based” interview skills. They learnt how to reflect on their own strengths and experiences and to show an employer how they could use these in a new role. Everybody had the opportunity to have at least one interview and to receive feedback from their mentor. One student commented “It was actually quite interesting – I feel really confident about having an interview now”.

Deakin Future Me

In this past week, Year 9 students have worked with ambassadors from Deakin to learn about employability and enterprise skills, and about how to make themselves ready for the future world of work. Deakin host Nathan Coffey expressed his appreciation for the work undertaken by our students – “your groups have stepped it up and made the school proud!” We look forward to continuing our involvement with Deakin programs into next year and beyond.

Carren Brennan

Career Practitioner