Stallholders at the 2016 Market Day
Run by the Learning Support department, the Years 9 and 10 Work Education elective is designed to give students a better idea of what it means to be in the work place. The students learn, from a practical point of view, how important their numeracy and literacy skills will be once they leave school, as well as gaining new skills that give them insight into various working environments. They also get the opportunity to explore different types of careers through real-life work experience.
Stallholders at the 2016 Market Day
Work Education is designed to help the students learn skills that will be very valuable for them when they have left school. That includes personal communication skills, managing finances, and work preparation such as writing letters, sitting for job interviews and so forth. It brings together all the skills that we are teaching from Year 5 right through to Year 12, which are transferrable to the work setting, as well as helping the students appreciate that these skills can help in everything they want to pursue in life.
Market Day in the Centenary Quad
Yeah exactly. So at the moment we get some experience through theory work, but we also get involved in practical work. We did a thing called ‘Market Day’, which got us involved in selling food. But we also had to learn about making profits and the best strategies to do that. So we started building on from there to learn about jobs and careers, and what they contain. Near the end of the year, we get to do actual work experience. Actually trying out whatever job we think we are interested in.
I did work experience last year, and it definitely taught you about the outside world. It’s very different compared to school. I actually did a week in the fire brigade. So it’s pretty different to some other people’s jobs, like carpenters or electricians. One person also did kitchen making. So we met all the people in their real jobs and you can see it’s just such a different lifestyle compared to school.
Stallholders at the annual Market Day
When you are in Year 10, most people think they know what they want to do when they finish school. But until you actually do this, you never know. Work experience helps you work out if you want to go down that pathway. I did the fire brigade placement because that’s what I thought I wanted. But now I’ve stepped back and I’ve decided I’m not going to join the fire brigade. So yeah, you can cross something out instead of going straight out of school into a job that you might not like. But in terms of the experience I spent a week there and I really enjoyed it.
Either myself or another teacher will go out and see the students in their placements to see how they are doing. Even take some photographs. It’s a really great part of my job.
We would like to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora nation who are the traditional Custodians of the land on which Waverley College is located. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We are committed to honouring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ unique cultural and spiritual connections to the land, waters, seas and sky and their rich contribution to society.
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