Work Experience Program

Heatherwood School is continuing to strengthen our Work Experience Program, with a strong focus on supported workplace opportunities for our senior students.

Through many years of experience, we have found that supported workplaces provide an important stepping stone for young people as they leave school. They help students build confidence, learn workplace expectations, develop routines, and protect their mental health by setting them up for success. These placements are often a first step post-school — not the final destination — and can lead to open employment in the future when students are ready.

As part of this program, Senior School students participate in Industry Day every Thursday, studying a Certificate in Hospitality or Horticulture or working in supported industry settings, including:

• Trade Kitchen (Heatherwood)
• Wallara
• CAPE (formerly Nadrasca)
• Waverley Pack & Assemble (formerly Knoxbrooke)

Students rotate to a different workplace each term to build a broad range of skills and experiences.

In addition, our Year 10 students will participate in work experience during the last week of Term 1, Term 2 and Term 3. Students will attend three different workplaces from Monday to Wednesday, providing early exposure to a variety of industries and helping them begin developing key workplace skills.

We thank families for their ongoing support as we prepare our students for positive and successful post-school pathways.

Jo Larkin

Senior School Co-ordinator / Work Experience Co-ordinator