Pathways
Renewable Energies Industries Immersion Day
On Thursday 2nd November, the year 10 Environmental Science class attended the Renewable Energies Industries Immersion Day at Holmesglen Institute in Moorabbin.
This was a unique opportunity for Monash Tech School partner school students interested in careers & pathways in the renewable energies industry sectors to explore and widen our options. Throughout the day, Holmesglen Institute expert educators ran us through rotations exploring a variety of pathways in the sector, with a focus on solar and wind. The activities we did, co-designed by MTS industry partners and stakeholders were all innovative, hands-on and deeply informative. Our first rotation was solar energy, in which we were provided with a brief lesson on how solar energy works as well as its numerous benefits and then paired up, and were given the opportunity to install solar panels on a rooftop replicate.
After a brief morning tea, our class moved onto the welding sector, where we learnt about engineering and got to experience a virtual welding machine. Our high score winner from our class was Gia with a score of 90/100 for accuracy!
We then got to assist with operating a press brake, a machine designed to bend metal, and with this, created our very own phone stands. Then with our newly "self-made" phone stands in hand, we moved onto the wiring sector, where we received an in depth explanation of electrical circuits and got to create our own low-voltage circuits using wires and light switches.
After a lunch break in the cafeteria, all schools were gathered together for an information Q&A session with three professionals currently working in the field of renewable energy, one of them being the CEO of the State Electricity Commission (SEC), Chris Miller. They first gave us some information about themselves, their personal lives and their career journeys. Then we were all given the opportunity to send through questions that we wanted them to answer, and they took it in turns answering, including the highlights of their careers, what they wanted to do when they were our age, tips for what we can do as individuals to help out and specific queries about areas of renewable energy.
We all feel so grateful that we were able to be there to listen to their valuable insight and first-hand experience in the field and truly learnt so much. What stuck with me from this was when they told us that each generation has tried and failed to heal the planet from the harm us humans have caused, and now it's up to us, our generation, to make our change. We then were put to the test with a pop quiz of everything that could've been mentioned to us throughout the day's activities. Out of 3 schools in attendance, we were absolutely delighted when two of the podium winners belonged to our school, with Ian finishing in 3rd place and Varshan in 1st place!
Overall, this experience was a great way to investigate growth employment sectors, and just see what vocational pathway options are available to us in the renewables sectors. It was also a great chance to practice employability skills, build on our resumes, demonstrate an understanding of industry expectations and foster early employer networks.
Coming into this excursion, many of us were unsure of what we want to do after leaving high school, a time which is growing closer and closer by the day and were able to come out of this with a newfound confidence in ourselves and an idea of what direction we want to be headed in, even if it meant crossing certain areas of our lists.
Thank you so much to Ms Saathoff and Mr Kalva for organising this and accompanying our class.
Michiko Versluis Yr 10 Environmental Science
Brentwood Pathways Team
The Brentwood Pathways team aims to empower students and their families with all the latest information to explore a broad range of career opportunities, build skills and prepare them for the global marketplace, equipped with competitive 21st-century skills to pursue productive, sustainable careers.
The Brentwood Pathways team is located in the SLC building. We are open from 9 am to 3 pm on all working days. We appreciate students checking the availability of our team members via Teams and booking an appointment before seeing us in the Pathways Office.
Our team members:
Director of Pathways & VCE: Ms. Nicole Green
Pathways Managers: Mr. Venkata Kalva & Mr. Timothy Li
Pathways Counsellor: Ms. Bridget Dowling
VASS, VET & VM Administrator: Ms. Jennifer Chanter
VASS Administrator (VCE) and Attendance: Ms. Janelle Pentreath
Brentwood Pathways Website
Our team has launched a brand-new website: www.brentwoodpathways.com. This will be a one-stop shop for all year-levels for subject selections and future pathways queries, including Morrisby, Work Experience, VTAC etc.
Please email your feedback and suggestions to improve the website further to pathways@ms.brentwood.vic.edu.au
Brentwood Pathways Newsletter
Don't forget to check out our weekly Brentwood Pathways Newsletter. Click here to access the latest issue: https://www.brentwoodpathways.com/news-jobs/pathways-newsletter
It is a great way for parents and students to keep up to date with Pathways-related programs, including subject selections, work experience and many more.