PENINSULA SCHOOLS GUIDE
No crystal ball, but Knowing your strengths and interests is important when deciding what to be ‘when you grow up’, writes CHERYL CRITCHLEY ccounting or art? Medicine or media? French or food tech? Deciding what to study in the senior high school years has never been trickier. Today’s graduates face an increasingly fluid job market, with many adults still unsure what they want to be “when they grow up”. Yet we expect year 9 and 10 students to have a career crystal ball when choosing VCE subjects. With countless subjects on offer and
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Bright future: Schools can guide students through often complex career choices. Picture: Getty Image
industries expanding or contracting by the minute, choosing subjects can be a confusing and stressful time. Some students also tackle year 12 subjects in year 11, forcing them to consider potential career paths even sooner. Good schools have expert career counsellors to help, but they can only stretch themselves so far. As a result, more students are seeing private practitioners to identify jobs they might enjoy and be good at. Considering possible careers while keeping your subject choices as broad as possible is a must from about years 9 or 10 to boost your chances of taking the right VCE subjects. While there’s some room to move later, nailing it early makes life much easier. Fees for career counselling can range from $88-$200 an individual consultation. Some career counsellors also offer group programs or discounts for predetermined packages. Annette Davie-Smythe is career
counsellor at Firbank Grammar and a private career practitioner with 20 years’ experience. She says by year 9 only one in five students knows what he or she wants to be. Some have particular skills and interests, such as creativity or a mathematical mind, but have not considered how to use them. Davie-Smythe helps students pinpoint their strengths and drafts several possible pathways. After providing students with career and personality testing she devises an individualised career action plan. She says it is important to reach for the stars, but there must also be a plan B. For example, a would-be doctor had missed out on medicine so he studied science and joined medicine later. Another girl who missed physiotherapy activated plan B, radiography, and loved it. “She topped her year, every year for three years,” Davie-Smythe says. “She’s so happy.” Most schools do have good career
Padua college Catholic Co-educational Secondary College
Year 7 Enrolments Year 7 2014 Limited vacancies exist at Mornington and Rosebud Campuses. The Tyabb Campus, opening in 2014, has reached capacity.
enquiry@padua.catholic.edu.au www.padua.catholic.edu.au Mornington 5976 0100 Year 7-10 Campus Year 11-12 Campus Oakbank Road, Mornington [ 28 ] FRANKSTON WEEKLY – YOUR COMMUNITY VOICE
Rosebud 5982 9500 Year 7-10 Campus Inglewood Crescent, Rosebud
March 5, 2013
Tyabb 5976 0100 Opening with Year 7 & 8 in 2014 1585 Frankston-Flinders Road,Tyabb
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Year 7 2015
Enrolments open on Tuesday 12 March and close on Friday 17 May 2013. To find out more, visit the Enrolment page on our website or call to book in for a school tour.