Careers & Pathways News
Careers and Pathways Expo 2016
Thank you to all students and parents who supported the Careers Expo this year and helped make it such a success.
The evening began with a range of talks given by Nossal Alumni, on topics of their choice. Many rooms were packed to overflowing and the information and advice given was invaluable. The talks covered topics such as being a student at University, successfully completing VCE, moving away from home to study, choosing the right course and many more. There were also presentations on applying to study in the USA and attending ANU in Canberra.
Following this, the tertiary stands, which were open from 5 – 7pm were very popular, with all universities represented as well as TAFE and private providers. Many animated discussions were held, and a huge amount of information shared. Together with the subject domain stands, students were presented with a wealth of information to assist them in researching their career ideas, and making decisions about their pathway in 2017.
The talks from Ms Harrap and Ms Warriner gave families who are new to the VCE a chance to understand the breadth of the opportunities at Nossal High for their child to succeed, by following their skills and interests and by active involvement in the school community.
The evening concluded with a series of panels consisting of Nossal High alumni and experts from a range of Universities, who responded to a set of questions aimed at helping students make informed decisions about the best pathway for them. Questions such as the following were posed.
- There has been a lot of negative media around the number of jobs available to Law graduates. Is it worth doing a Law degree?
- What are the characteristics you are looking for when you select students and how would you advise students to prepare for successful selection into Medicine?
- Some areas of Engineering have better employment outcomes than others. How do you advise students in this respect
- And a question to alumni - What advice would you give to students considering this pathway?
The evening would not have a been a success without the Alumni, the panel members, Nossal High students who acted as Careers Ambassadors, and all the staff at Nossal who helped with the Domain stands, setting up and pack up of rooms, creating publicity material and signs and the thousand small tasks that make for a successful event.
Julie Ryan
Careers and Pathways
The evening began with a number of the Nossal Alumni sharing their experiences.
It was almost a full house for the talks about Maximising your ATAR and VCE for Beginners
The Domain stands were packed with students looking for advise regarding their subject selections.
Not only are our staff and students committed to Nossal, so are our ex-students who volunteer their time to advise our current students on what is ahead for them.
Standing room only in the gym where the tertiary providers and the Domain stands were located.
We are incredibly fortunate that our PFA is such a dedicated team .... They took it in turns to provide refreshments between catching the talks and panels they also wanted to see.
Nossal students listening to a talk from an alumni member about pathway options.
The evening began with a number of the Nossal Alumni sharing their experiences.
It was almost a full house for the talks about Maximising your ATAR and VCE for Beginners
The Domain stands were packed with students looking for advise regarding their subject selections.
Not only are our staff and students committed to Nossal, so are our ex-students who volunteer their time to advise our current students on what is ahead for them.
Standing room only in the gym where the tertiary providers and the Domain stands were located.
We are incredibly fortunate that our PFA is such a dedicated team .... They took it in turns to provide refreshments between catching the talks and panels they also wanted to see.
Nossal students listening to a talk from an alumni member about pathway options.
Successful Expo Leads to Clearer Pathways
On Thursday July 21, we hosted our annual Nossal High School Careers and Pathways Expo. The event was very well attended, with hundreds of students and parents from Nossal and from many other local secondary schools taking advantage of the displays and information sessions provided.
The evening began with speeches from our alumni on a range of topics covering everything from advice about balancing study and extra-curricular activities, to moving away from home for study. Audiences gained insight into the experiences they might expect at university and the choices that could lead them there. These speeches were extremely popular and well received, with many audience members taking advantage of the opportunity to ask questions and clarify their understanding.
Our alumni are to be commended on the informative sessions they provided.
Over 20 different tertiary providers were in attendance on the night and were kept busy with questions from our enthusiastic students and parents. Feedback from the providers was very positive; many representatives were particularly impressed by the level of initiative and engagement our students displayed in seeking advice regarding their pathways and further study.
Later in the event there were a series of highly informative (and very well attended) panels, comprised of tertiary advisors and alumni. Parents and students clearly relished the opportunity to hear about pathways in medicine, law, commerce and business, engineering, and health sciences. The panel format proved to be a very useful way for students to get a sense of the ways in which different institutions differ in these popular fields of study.
Finally, and perhaps of most direct relevance to the immediate needs of our 2017 students, the Domain stands provided an opportunity for Year 9, 10 and 11 students to connect the information they had gathered from the different tertiary providers with the various subjects offered by the school. Nossal staff members were kept busy all night as students sought guidance about their subject choices for next year and into their final years of secondary education.
The commitment of our Year 9 and 10 students to completing a Course Planning Passport, which was designed to ensure that they move into their course planning period fully informed, bore fruit in the following week. Course Confirmation Day was held on Wednesday July 27. Over the course of the day, hundreds of students and their guardians sat with staff members to select their subjects for 2017. The efficiency with which most students were able to complete this process was a testament to their willingness to take the planning process seriously, and to the dedication of the teaching and careers staff to providing as many opportunities as possible for students to inform themselves of the options available to them and their future needs.
Emma Geyer
Director of Careers, Pathways and Transitions