Middle School

Year Nine Career Taster Excursion Days

Year Nine students recently had the opportunity to take part in this wonderful new programme funded by the government, which is aimed at exposing students to a range of industries and careers through exploration and hands-on experiences. This year, our students had the opportunity to choose from one of three ‘taster’ programmes. Please enjoy the student reflections below.

City of Albany Tour – Mischa Collin

I found the careers taster trip to the City of Albany very interesting and rather fun and enjoyable. First, we went to the City of Albany building, and we were spoken to about what a few of the roles were by people who are head of their departments. Our next location was the City of Albany depot. In this part of the taster, we went walking around the depot and learnt that the City of Albany is also in charge of things like the pound and trees that are near the road. We then went to the tourist information centre and looked around the reception area and then looked at some of the new informative technology in the centre. After this, we went to the Town Hall to look at the art gallery, the upstairs stage/ theatre room, and the bell tower. I learnt that everyone who has worked in the bell tower had written their name on the wall. There are roughly 100 years of names inside the bell tower. The people that spoke to us on the taster were all friendly and keen to tell us about their work and how they came to that career. Almost all of them had been in a couple of very different careers before landing in their current position. This offered me some comfort in knowing that I can figure out what I want to do later in life and go through different careers to find what it is I want to do. I found the excursion fun and I learnt a few things that I didn’t know about the Albany area.  

Bathgate Farm – Austin Brown

Nineteen of us Year Nines hopped on the bus on Wednesday morning at about 8.45am for a 20-minute bus ride out to Bathgate Farm on Lower Denmark Road. When we arrived at the farm, we were greeted by Andrew Bathgate, the owner of the farm. Andrew started off by laying down some rules about safety and around the farm in general. The first thing that we were shown was Andrew's spud harvester. It was operated by a little Massey Fergusson tractor and had a conveyer belt that picked up the dirt and sifted out the potatoes from the dirt before they dropped off onto the ground. He then took us to look at his neighbour’s potato harvester which was a lot bigger than Andrew’s but with basically the same mechanics. After our tour of his sheds, Andrew put us to work picking the spuds. He drove the tractor and we followed along picking up the potatoes and putting them in buckets - we did this for around half an hour. Once we had finished the section Andrew had us working in, we walked down the track to his main paddock, which was mainly underwater and inaccessible to machinery. He then showed us his pride crop of potatoes and didn’t warn us that the sprinklers were about to come on, wetting us all! After a few more questions, it was time to leave Bathgate Farm and head back to school. Overall, it was an interesting day on the farm, giving us a great insight into what it’s like working in an agricultural job.

AEC / Hilton Garden Inn – Evie Roxburgh and Iris Miller

As part of the Year Nine Career Tasting experience, our small group of around 25 students made our way to the AEC (Albany Entertainment Centre) and the Hilton Garden Inn for the day. The experience was very eye-opening and showed us all the challenging work and effort that goes into producing a superior-quality show and running a hotel effectively. After listening to the Executive Manager, Head Chef and Stage Manager talk about the paths they took to get where they are today, we got to see firsthand all the effort that goes into making a great show backstage. It was interesting to note that there are other fabulous places to study theatre other than WAAPA, such as the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney. Next, we were lead 15 metres up the massive sides of the main theatre to platforms that were suspended over the auditorium. There, we got to see all the stations where light filaments and suspension wires were kept and organised. The number of wires snaking all over the place was astounding. 

Once we had finished at the Entertainment Centre, we made our way over to the Hilton Garden Inn. It was quite fascinating to hear about all the benefits you get working for the Hilton chain, and we got to meet some of the higher-ranking staff from different departments. The highlight was going on the lifts to the rooms, where we got a quick view of the harbour and surrounds. It is a career pathway to consider if you are looking to improve your people skills and hotel management.  

Overall, it was a successful trip, and it is safe to say everyone learned something new about life in the industry of hospitality and theatre. 

Mrs Renae O'Donnell | VET & Careers Coordinator