Careers @MMCRC

Year 10 Work Experience Week at Mary MacKillop Catholic Regional College

A Week of Exploration into Potential Career Options

Each year, our Year 10 students are provided with the opportunity to complete a week of Work Experience at an organisation of their choice. This year, the 2025 Year 10 Work Experience program took place from Monday 2 to Friday 6 June.  While undertaking work experience, our students observed different aspects of work within their chosen industry and assisted with tasks allocated by their supervisor. Students benefited from new challenges in unfamiliar environments. 

What is Work Experience?

Work experience is the short-term placement of secondary school students, generally from Years 9 and 10, with employers to provide insights into the industry and the workplace in which they are located. It provides students with the valuable opportunity to:

• develop employability skills
• understand employer expectations, and
• increase self-understanding, maturity, independence and self-confidence.

Benefits of work experience

Work experience contributes to better-informed career, course, and pathway options for young people, as well as course and subject selection. The world of work is constantly and rapidly changing. Work experience provides students with the opportunity to enhance their awareness and understanding, and to build their portfolio of skills, including:

• An introduction to workplace recruitment practices.
• Enhanced opportunities for part-time and casual employment.
• Opportunity to include the employer’s work experience evaluation in future job and course applications.
• Opportunity to develop work-related competencies and acquire skills, and
• The chance to ‘try out’ a workplace before undertaking VCE, VCE VM, VPC, VET Delivered to School Students (VDSS), a Head Start apprenticeship or traineeship or a school-based apprenticeship or traineeship (SBAT) in Years 10 to 12.

Benefits for parents/carers

• Opportunity to discuss work with their child, including their own previous and current experiences.
• Networking opportunities for their child when they commence organising their placement.
• Opportunity to positively contribute to their child’s secondary education.
• Positive interaction between the parent and the school staff.
• Opportunity for families to be involved in discussions about flexible pathways for their child, to enable informed choices from a range of post-compulsory education and training options as part of the transition from school to further education, training and employment.

Feedback from students was overwhelmingly positive, with many noting how much they enjoyed the chance to gain a deeper understanding of the wide range of career opportunities available in the local area, especially in areas they had not previously considered. Having hands-on, day-to-day real experience in the workplace has been invaluable and has opened their eyes to what can be achieved with dedication and hard work. 

Thank you

Thank you to our students for representing Mary MacKillop College so well during your placements. You should be very proud of your success! 

We would also like to extend our sincere thanks to the employers, supervisors and everyone involved in making this week a success.