Careers and Work Pathways: Update

Hello, and welcome back to the Mordialloc Experience blog: our Careers and Work Pathways unit is drawing to a close, and it has been a very busy fortnight for students and staff alike. First of all, here's some pictures from the girls' visit to Holmesglen TAFE on Tuesday:

On Wednesday, Mordialloc College was lucky enough to have a few bands come and play live in our hall, as part of our Rock the Schools Day, and even luckier to have some of them hold workshops with our students on how they, too, can become rock stars of the future:

An information evening for parents and students alike was held in the Mordialloc Experience room on Wednesday evening. The purpose was to inform them about what to expect from our outcoming City Experience and Community Placement programs:

Tomorrow is D-Day for students to have completed all of their Careers and Work Pathways work. Most students have been placed in their chosen Community Placements, and it won't be long now before the Local Experience commences. Stay tuned for the final details of Careers and Work Pathways!

Holmesglen TAFE visit!

In extension to what was covered on the RMIT visit, our students had the opportunity to see what life is like on a tradie's side of the fence with their visit to Holmesglen TAFE. Our guide, Daniel, was very knowledgeable about the campus and the courses on offer, as well as insightful when it came to what a student's life is like at Holmesglen - uncompromising, like in the real world!

One story that stuck with us was a group of students who decided that they liked the pub over the road just a bit too much and, as such, rocked up to class late after lunch. They had been learning about digging trenches to lay plumbing pipes, and were pleased to find that upon returning from the pub that their teachers had been kind enough to backfill their trenches for them. However, their joy turned to worry when they discovered that their tools were missing. That was when the students were told that their tools were, in fact, buried in the trench, and it was up to them to retrieve them and get on with what they were supposed to be doing. Moral of this story? Be accountable, and don't put drinking grog before your job!

You can see in the photo above that the boys were in attendance today; the girls will get their turn tomorrow.

When one group has been out at Holmesglen, the other is putting together their Community Placement applications. Positions have been advertised in class from this morning, and the task is ahead of the students to put together the best application (resume and cover letter) that they can for the positions they want. If we have more candidates apply for a position than positions available, the students will then have to prove themselves in an interview situation - show us, just like in real life, what sets them apart from the pack.

Stay tuned for more as our Careers and Work Pathways unit draws to a conclusion, and the Local Experience approaches . . .

RMIT Visit!

Hello again, and welcome to Week 3 of this term. Let's start by recapping the last few days of our Careers and Work Pathways unit: as you read in our last entry, the group were out at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) last Wednesday with Mrs Ip, Ms Coombs and Mr Shanahan. They caught the train from Mordialloc to Melbourne Central, and met out the front of the campus (near the State Library) for their tour.

First of all, the group was taken to one of the lecture theatres and were told about the many courses and opportunities that RMIT has to offer its students. Following this session, the students were then broken into groups and were given the Campus Challenge, whereby they had to follow a series of cryptic clues to negotiate their way around the campus and find a set of answers.

Hopefully, after that visit, some students who may have been thinking about furthering their education at RMIT are now better equipped to grasp those opportunities.

NATIONAL TREE PLANTING DAY

In addition to completing their normal Careers work, the group had the opportunity to participate in this year's National Tree Planting Day. They were lead down to the bank of Mordialloc Creek and, after some information was provided by local rangers on-site, the planting operation began in earnest (well, for some, anyway!).

Others were a little too earnest . . .

Overall, though, everyone had a lot of fun doing their bit for our local environment. Our thanks to Mr Palfrey for his work in setting up this opportunity, to Mr Palfrey's Year 8 students for their assistance, and to the City of Kingston rangers who were very helpful in showing the group what was expected.

Careers and Work Pathways Is Happening!

Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to the Mordialloc Experience blog. As I type this, the group is on an excursion to RMIT (the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology), so stand by for more information and photos from that experience.

For now, if you want to see for yourself the work we have done so far (or if you are a student who has been absent and needs to catch up), click on the hyperlink below:

Careers and Work Pathways: To Date

NOTE: As this is the first time we have attempted to hyperlink a Microsoft Word file to our blog, it may only be accessible from the Mordialloc College network. If this is the case, students can also access this file from our Student Subject folder here at school. Alternatively, you can request a copy of this file by emailing Mr Jason Ellul at:

Ellul.Jason.L@edumail.vic.gov.au

First Week of Term 3 Concludes

Hello again: not a photogenic day as such, but we can bring you up to speed on what we achieved today.

Our school nurse, Jenny, came in for her drug and alcohol education session with the group, which will take place regularly on Friday mornings. Students had the opportunity to voice their opinions over their knowledge of drugs, and how widespread a problem they believe it to be.

Our Careers and Work Pathways unit commenced, with all of our students gaining themselves a qualification right off the bat - a certificate in their knowledge of the Occupational Health and Safety General Module. Not only will this be added to their resumes and cover letters when they apply for their Community Placements later on this term, but will be a qualification that they can include on their resumes when they decide to join the workforce. The other major task today was creating a collage of their dream lifestyles - what sort of wheels/houses/holiday destinations/hobbies, etc would they like to see themselves experiencing when they are older.

Next week, these tasks will lead into the work booklet for this unit, where students will learn a lot about what life is really like outside the school fence. From planning a budget, to job applications, identifying future pathways and much, much more . . . it's all waiting for them on the other side of this weekend. Stay tuned for more details of our group's progress: until then, safe weekend to you all!

Day 4 Orientation - Tenpin Bowling!

Today saw the group making their way down to Mentone Bowl for a couple of games of tenpin action, as you can see below:

The overall winner on aggregrate for the day was Mr Ellul (309 pins), and Mrs Ip wasn't too bad herself with 216 pins, but the students weren't to be outdone by any stretch of the imagination. Tim (above, second from left) sent 244 pins packing, followed by Brad (above, second from right, 223) and Ben (camera shy, 197). Of the girls, Melissa (below, second from right) and Angel (below, second from left) lead the way with 193 pins each. Well done!

After that, we had a bite to eat over the road before jumping on the train and heading back to Mordi. A bit of "School of Rock" in the afternoon, and the day was done.

Tomorrow, the Careers and Work Pathways unit begins. We also have our weekly visit from Nurse Jenny, discussing drugs and alcohol.

This term's Orientation Week program appears to have been successful, in that the students have strengthened and/or forged strong working relationships with one another, and it hasn't hurt that we've managed to have a little fun along the way as well! Until tomorrow, we might just see you on the lanes at Mentone in the near future . . .

Day 3 Action - Orientation Week

Welcome to Day 3 of Mordi Experience Orientation Week, and this term's program is gathering further momentum. First up this morning, the teachers thought that they would see just how much the students thought they knew about them, in a photo quiz (below).

The students had to match the images shown on the PowerPoint with the correct teacher. Out of the 40 pictures shown, the best result was 24 correct answers. Even so, at least they now know what footy teams they go for . . .!

So far, the students have met Mrs Ip, Mr Ellul, Mr Shanahan and Ms Birch-Marston. During Periods 2 and 3 today, they met the fifth member of the team, Ms Heino. Below, you can see her directing the students through creating their own digital portfolios.

Period 4 saw the final team challenge for this week: the cryptic clue challenge. Given 10 clues, the students were sent into the yard to identify correct locations and correct answers to cryptic questions.

Tanya and Jessica (below), along with Jayden and Claire, had the best score (9 out of 11 points).

Tomorrow, the team takes on Mentone Bowling Centre, for some fast and furious tenpin bowling action. Stay tuned!