News For Parents
Message from Assistant Principal | Senior School
As we take time to reflect upon the year that has been, we can stand tall and be proud of how we have approached and worked through the many challenges we have confronted during 2020. The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted every member of our school community and required us to operate in ways that we had never imagined.
Remote teaching and learning became the norm very early in the year, and we all had to quickly become familiar with working from the confines of our homes, whilst parents juggled the demands of work and home schooling. Teachers too, had to re- engineer the way they taught and had to learn a range of fast developing technologies to support students with their learning. Was it challenging at times? Yes, absolutely! However, as a community we have relentlessly supported each other and have made it through the academic year.
I am so proud of all our students and how they demonstrated a high level of resilience, adapted and remained engaged with their learning. I would also thank all the families who supported not only their children through remote learning, but also the college in general. Your understanding and unwavering support has been truly appreciated as we navigated these unfamiliar waters. This only reaffirms the wonderful community we have at WHSC.
I would also like to thank each and every staff member! As a team you all pulled together to ensure that our students continued to be supported despite the challenges we all faced both personally and professionally.
Finally, my very best wishes go to all the Year 12’s who have now moved beyond the confines of WHSC into the big wide world! In the words of Dr. Seuss: “You’re off to great places. Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way.”
Enjoy the holiday break, recharge those batteries and stay safe. See you again in 2021!
Ms. Judy Anderson | Assistant Principal
Year 12 Course Counselling Sessions
Please be reminded that Year 12 Course Counselling sessions will be offered to any student who wishes to seek further advice regarding their preferences. Counselling will take place on Wednesday, December 30th, in the VCE Centre with Ms. Riddoch and Ms. Jakubicki from 9:00am to 3.00pm.
Counselling will also be offered remotely via Teams on Thursday, December 31st with Ms. Jakubicki from 8.30am to 1.10pm. All interview are for 20 minute.
Students wishing to book an interview time need to click this link and enter their name in a time slot. To make sure the days run efficiently, we would appreciate it if students could enter their name in the first time slot available.
Careers Update | The Impact of COVID-19 on National & State Labour Markets (Part 2)
Following on from Part 1 on the ‘Impact of COVID-19 on the Labour Market’, the second part of the webinar delivered by Ivan Neville, Labour Market Analysis Branch, National Skills Institute, spoke about the impacts that COVID-19 has had on young people.
According to the ABS June 2020, in Victoria between March-June there were 75,000 fewer young people (ages 15-24) employed in the State. There were also 13,500 young people looking for work but more young people have left the labour market (61,000 in Victoria)-that is, either don’t have a job or not looking for work. These are significant changes which have occurred over a short period of time. The youth unemployment rate has increased from 11.6% to 16.5%, and as a result Neville pointed out that young people are challenged.
Ivan Neville stated that if you’re young and out there looking for a job and don’t have much education/experience behind you then this will significantly determine your labour market success especially given what is happening in our economy and jobs market. He continued by stating that young people who fall into this category today are struggling to get a job and will struggle to transfer from education to work in the period ahead. This, he stated, was not new as whenever there is a slowdown in our economy, youth unemployment goes up. His message was clear – disengaged youth not working or in education (ages 18-24) need to stop this flow because once a person is in this category it becomes very difficult for them to attach to any work or training. The outcome is even tougher for young people who haven’t completed Year 12. Below is a graph that shows how just completing Year 12 can increase a young person’s employability.
Things to note in above graph:
- People with no Year 12 face significant challenges.
- When comparing below Year 12 to completing year 12 or equivalent there is not much difference in 18-21, however 10 years later, just by having completed Year 12 or equivalent 86% were employed compared to 75% so…..completing Year 12 is very significant in terms of long term job outcomes for people.
So what do employers want? Who gets a job and who doesn’t? As a jobseeker regardless of your age you need to satisfy what the employer is looking for. Employers are picky and now we are in an environment where they can really pick and choose who they hire. However according to the National Skills Commission, in general, employers want three things:
- Appropriate levels of education & training. Post school education has become increasingly important because 90% of jobs being created in the market place require post school education.
- Experience is necessary (remember: 100s of people have lost their jobs and they have experience).
- Employability Skills are vital!
As jobs in the market place become more competitive as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, knowing what employers want is more important than ever. Young people need to be able to demonstrate to the employer that they have all the requirements.
The following is a very compelling argument of why education and training is so important:
Things to note from graph:
- The higher the column the greater difficulty of getting a job.
- Unemployment rate without completing school is 14% but drops significantly to 7.7% if a young person completes school.
The reality is that not all young people complete qualifications or Year 12 for all sorts of reasons, but according to Neville, what is important is that if a young person leaves school before completing they need to look at completing Year 12 at a later date or go on and do some further education & training. He stated that students need to aim for the green area in the graph and by doing so the unemployment levels drop even further.
And finally, another important aspect to note with this graph is that there is very little difference in the unemployment rate between going to university and undertaking a Certificate III/Apprenticeship so young people are strongly encouraged to aim at least at a Certificate III level of training or above.
I hope this provides families with lots to think about and creates healthy career discussions that lead to sustainable and secure future employment outcomes for their young person.
Ms. Voula Jakubicki | Careers Coodinator
Wellbeing Over The Holidays | Information
The Department of Education has provided the attached resources for students and families seeking support during the holiday period. Please be advised that Ms. Charalambous will not be available during the holiday period.
We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday period.
The Wellbeing Team
College & DET Privacy Policy
Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy. Please take time to remind yourself of the school’s collection statement, found on our website.
For more information about privacy, see: Schools’ Privacy Policy – information for parents. This information also available in nine community languages.