School and beyond

As part of the Australian Government’s Career Advice Australia initiative, Community Active Careers is the National Industry Careers Specialist for the Community Services and Health industries.

Community Active Careers is “committed to providing quality career education and helping all young Australians make a smooth transition through school and on to further study, training or work” and has a terrific e-newsletter that you can subscribe to.

Thanks for your email responses to the SkillsOne post from last week - it is an amazing resource, that last month won a global Webby Award for “Best Association Website 2008.” These awards were presented at a ceremony in New York last week.

SkillsOne is an initiative of The Institute for Trade Skills Excellence aimed at raising the profile and status of trades. SkillsOne TV airs nationally on Foxtel/Austar (Aurora Channel 183) each week in a block of programs presented as a branded channel as well as the website featuring videos, rich content and resources. It is a terrific, very professional resource for students, their families and schools.

With the skills shortage being a major issue for Australia, most agree on the importance of highlighting the benefits and opportunities of doing a trade to young people – many of whom have been raised to believe that University is the only option. SkillsOne shows that trade skills today present new and different career options and many traditional industries are now highly technologised, innovative and exciting.

SkillsOne tells real stories about real people who are passionate about what they do, the exciting career opportunities available across many industries and the skills in high-demand in the 21st century. I especially love the video about music students at Nirimba TAFE (Nirimba TAFE is close to our hearts as the Lighthouse office was based there for many years.)

A website aimed at NSW students and their parents, teachers and employers has been launched by the NSW Teachers Federation. It is called Students @ Work and is full of information about work/study balance, how many hours at work is optimum (especially in the senior years) and a host of links to other work-related services for students.

It also contains recent (2007) local research reports on full time students who also work part time. Interesting reading!

If you are just starting out in exploring the online world and how it relates to education, Judy O’Connell set out some simple explanations on an easy-to-navigate website last year (in support of in-school workshops she was delivering.) Visit this site, and start with just one topic – it will amaze you how easy some of the tools are to use today, both for your own work outside the classroom, and to support student learning.

One of my favourite tools is del.icio.us. You can use it as you do your “favourites” in Internet Explorer, but the advantages are you can access them from any computer, and you can share them too – with colleagues, students and across schools. My del.icio.us account is here – you can see what my interests are – VET, mentoring, careers, special education and early childhood topics. You can follow my bookmarks, or others too. It’s a great tool!

A range of great online safety resources for students can be found at SafeWork SA. These tests and activities target different age groups and cover a range of industries (including hospitality, office environments, retail, supermarkets) as well as generic activities, and many provide a certificate on completion.

We have used the Hunt the Hazards activity – a highly visual, interactive approach to hazards across many workplaces. Hunt the Hazards is suitable for students in Year 8 and 9, but all the activities would be a terrific addition to any work-placement preparation, allowing students to consolidate their learning.

IGNITE is a free, monthly e-newsletter for enterprising young people that you can subscribe to via email. It’s packed with opportunities, contacts and inspiration to help young people build their business and career, and may be worth the subscription for their regular ideas, links and interviews with young entrepreneurs.

IGNITE is created and published by the FRANK Team. The FRANK Team is based in Sydney and describes their business on their website as “providing authentic, fun and innovative skills training, guest speakers and resources in entrepreneurship and career passion for young people and corporates.”