Careers

The Loreto careers program seeks to empower student to have ownership of their career decision making process and to provide access to a wide range of career resources and activities at strategic times in their career decision making process. It acknowledges and builds on the extensive curriculum options and extra curricular activities offered at Loreto that actively promote the development of initiative, self confidence, positive self-image and resilience that assist students with their long term career management.

Student access to careers counsellors is of paramount importance. This is achieved by planned careers interviews with specified teachers at key decision making times and also at student initiated times when they feel they need assistance with important decisions.

Career development is a significant contributor to the development of human capital. Most people need support to help them take advantage of opportunities that present throughout their career. Internationally too there has been a growing recognition that career development is critical if we are to equip people with the skills, knowledge and understandings and attributes that are needed to manage life, learning and the work environment today. Career development is about building the skills to manage learning, work and life. It is a broad agenda, spanning kindergarten to adulthood.

The current generation of students have largely abandoned a straight-line approach to work. They do not expect that they will get a job and keep that job for life. They expect that their working lives will be a kind of patchwork; a jig-saw puzzle; a series of jobs which will, over time, fit together to create their world of work. We as teachers, parents and workers from a different generation have to come to terms with this different approach to the working life. As a parent you have a key role to play in helping your daughter make career choices. To provide the best possible support and guidance parents need current information on the many pathways available to young people. It is important to talk through the options available at school and those for further study and employment after school. Parents can help their daughter by being positive about her ideas and her chances of finding a satisfying career path. Consider together her suitability for different jobs and help her identify her attributes, interests, like and experiences. Talk about her hopes and visions for the future and where she wants to work or study. Talk about the world of work and share some of your own work and life experiences.

In Year 8 and 9 Health students cover important facets of career education when important health and personal development units are covered. The focus of these units is to provide students with the opportunity to recognise and develop skills and knowledge that will assist her to meet personal, social and work related challenges as they arise now and in the future.

All Year 10 students and their parent’s have an individual interview with a subject counsellor regarding subject selection. Students are also given a session on the value of Vocational Education Training. In Year 10 students undertake VIQ testing and after this students are encouraged to develop career goals and an action plan in relation to anticipated future tertiary course pathways and subject prerequisites young people in the workforce.