Inspiring Career Pathways
The Inspiring Career Pathways series is designed to celebrate schools’ stories, perspectives, and share resources that support future pathways for rangatahi in our rohe/region.
This could be useful for Career Advisors, kaiako, and school leaders to kōrero/talanoa/have a discussion. We hope this series might:
- resonate with you
- help you solve a problem
- inspire you to try something different.
A Careers Department with visibility at Avonside Girls’ High School
The Careers Department at Avonside Girls’ High School shows us how the National Education and Learning Priorities (NELP) are being implemented to keep ākonga at the centre of making decisions about their future pathways.
Natalie Guinness is the specialist Careers Advisor at Avonside Girls’ High School. She is passionate about supporting ākonga to navigate their future pathways.
The Police Pathways programme recently engaged ākonga interested in careers in the New Zealand Police. Police visited ākonga at school to share personal stories and talk about their work. Ākonga engaged with fitness programmes and community service projects as part of this programme.
“Students need as much choice as possible; they don’t want their area of passion or interest overlooked. Every student should have the opportunity to open up about their passions or interests too and not be afraid to change their mind – because that’s the good part about life, nothing is permanent.”
Natalie Guinness, specialist Careers Advisor, Avonside Girls’ High School
Natalie ensures the Careers Department is visible to ākonga, emphasising what the career advisors can offer them. Engagement with whānau and the community is also a key criterion of the department.
“Surround and empower your careers department with mana. If the school values it, students and staff will value it.”
Natalie Guinness, specialist Careers Advisor, Avonside Girls’ High School
Current initiatives in the Careers Department:
- Connecting with YouthTown
- Offering dual enrolment
- Providing an in-house Careers Expo
- Diving into the ‘My Mahi’ digital platform
- Connecting with outside providers
Soon Natalie and her team plan to:
- Offer year 9–10 ākonga tasters of future careers, employment, study
- Provide an alumni site for past ākonga, to see where they are now and how they got there
- Provide a Māori and Pacific Learners Career Expo
- Hold a community connect whānau evening
A flexible timetable at St Kevin’s College Ōamaru
A flexible timetable at St Kevin’s College Ōamaru has helped keep ākonga at the centre when making decisions for their future pathways.
A key aspect of supporting ākonga with pathways is developing flexible systems. In 2020, St Kevin’s College, a coeducational, Catholic, secondary school in Ōamaru, changed its Friday timetable to offer year 12 and 13 ākonga more flexibility.
To prepare for this change, kaiako and leadership went on a hīkoi to understand how timetabling was done differently. This took them to Balclutha, Gore, Timaru, and Christchurch, visiting around eight different schools.
“Supporting staff with change is key, and consistency in the approach. We had confident staff that understood the why and shared in the vision - that is the way we did it.”
Kerry Ryan, former Deputy Principal, St Kevin’s College.
The flexible timetable aimed to put ākonga at the centre of their learning and pathways.
Every Friday, a vertical timetable was run in three blocks for senior students. This gave ākonga the option to engage more fully with a subject they were passionate about, undertake work experience, and work on scholarship subjects, art portfolios, or polytechnic courses.
The flexible timetable also offered ākonga time for goal setting and to consider their future careers with the support of a variety of teaching staff. According to Kerry, the flexible timetable increased student engagement and there were no obvious signs of absenteeism.
Since 2020 the timetable structure has morphed into a different structure under the leadership of Craig Smith, currently Deputy principal of St Kevin’s College.
Ākonga who are completing Gateway, work experience, Trade Academy, and vocational pathways are given time to take part in these. Around one-third of year 12 and 13 students take part in these opportunities. Many transition into apprenticeships through the businesses they have connected with.
“Rather than having a completely separate timetable, as it was when we first started, we have decided to run tutorial-style classes for Year 12 and 13 students on Fridays for those classes that have students out on a Friday. No new learning takes place, but those that are on-site still get opportunities to extend themselves in front of a specialist teacher. We surveyed the students last year and that was an overwhelming theme for students who remained onsite, that they wanted to be using the time to extend themselves in the subjects they had chosen, rather than use study time, or being part of a new course.”
Craig Smith, Deputy Principal St Kevin’s College.
Workplace learning experiences help ākonga to see how skills are valued in the real world. Ākonga experience what work is like and what kinds of jobs are possible. The experiences help their decision-making about whether to pursue that pathway or not.
Many ākonga flourish, making them more motivated to pursue a pathway, particularly those who have not previously experienced ‘success’ in traditional classroom settings. It has been fantastic to see the success that these young people have had.
To find out more about how to restructure your timetable to meet the diverse aspirations of students, explore the additional resources.
Careers departments partner with My Next Move Youth initiative
In Timaru, South Canterbury, Nigel Devonport and Liam Brown run the My Next Move Youth initiative to inspire young people about future employment and connect them with the right people.
My Next Move Youth Initiative partners with careers departments to bring pathways to life. The initiative’s goal is to expose, educate, and excite rangatahi to take an interest in their future from early on in their secondary schooling.
The types of activities offered to year 9 and 10 ākonga are sector days, guest speakers in schools, past student engagement, and integrated learning. The aim is for ākonga to be informed and clear about how to navigate their future pathways.
“Our purpose is to put students at the centre of their decision-making, as fully informed as possible about their next steps. Our aim is to help address the skills shortage in the area by finding new and innovative ways for businesses and school students to interact with each other.”
Nigel Devonport, CEO Venture Timaru.
Two exciting aspects of the initiative are mentorship and an ‘inspiring futures’ forum event.
Mentorship connects ākonga with a mentor who works in their field of interest. The mentor and student then meet to chat about what a possible pathway looks like. Mentors can also discuss with ākonga how they can get the most out of school to get them where they want to be.
Personal development and work experience opportunities with Youthtown
Youthtown is an organisation that has been developing programmes to support ākonga for over 90 years. The primary aim is to enable youth to be the best they can be, especially in preparation for leaving school.
“The key thing for schools is to set up a safe place to help students continue to explore what they can do after school, where they can go, and what they can do. We can help them to see what their pathway may look like.”
Nathan Mitchell, Team Leader, Youthtown
Two programmes available in Waitaha/Canterbury are the Youth Employability Programme and Learner Licencing. These programmes can be engaged inside or outside of the classroom.
The Youth Employability Programme (YEP) offers skill-building workshops, community service, and work experience with a local business across Aotearoa. In Christchurch, Youthtown has also delivered the programme alongside the Canterbury Regional Basketball Foundation’s Academy programme.
The purpose of YEP is to “empower rangatahi to gain the insight, confidence and skills to get work, keep work and create careers”. It is an evidence-based programme developed alongside employers.
Ākonga work through modules that cover the following aspects of being in the workforce:
- having a positive attitude
- having the willingness to learn and take initiative
- communication
- critical thinking
- teamwork
- self-management
- resilience.
Nathan Mitchell, a team leader at Youthtown, stresses that these are the soft skills that don’t always get taught in subject areas in a secondary school. However, they are essential to experiencing success in the workplace.
YEP also provides ākonga with an experience of a workplace. The programme helps young people understand and navigate the workplace; it can be quite daunting for rangatahi who haven’t yet experienced the world of work.
“Supporting students with pathways and their choices after they leave school is still a grey area. Whose responsibility is it? Whānau? School? Teachers? Community? The student? My argument is that they all play a role in supporting the young person to navigate this part of their life.”
Nathan Mitchell, Team Leader, Youthtown
When working with kura, the goal of YEP is to help lighten the load by navigating pathways with young people. YEP is designed for all young people, particularly those transitioning directly to the workforce from school or training. Resources and support are needed. Therefore, the Youthtown team can provide that support to put a programme in place.
The impact of this programme can also be evaluated in financial terms. A ‘GoodMeasure’ report by Impact Lab found that for every $1 invested in the programme, the social return on investment was $4.20. This shows how effective the programme can be and the potential development of our young people who will lead our society in the future.
The Role of the Careers Department
The Ministry of Education’s guide to preparing students to leave school identifies six key strategies for schools to prepare students for their future outside of school:
- Access research and recommendations
- Support effective transitions
- Develop flexible systems to support all students
- Help students identify aspirations and implement plans
- Prepare students with future-focused skills
- Explore work and study options
“Career education and guidance is an inherent element of every school’s provision of a rich and balanced education. It assists students to make decisions at key transition points and supports their successful transition from school to further education or work. It also aims to develop the career management competencies that will equip students to manage their career pathways and opportunities throughout their lives.“
Ministry of Education. Career Education and Guidance in New Zealand Schools, 2009
In 2020, The Statement of National Education and Learning Priorities (NELP) was released, setting out the Government’s priorities for education to ensure all learners' success and wellbeing.
Two objectives, objectives 1 and 4, prioritise Careers Education and guidance.
Objective 1: Learners at the centre
Priority 2: Have high aspirations for every learner/ākonga, and support these by partnering with their whānau and communities to design and deliver education that responds to their needs and sustains their identities, languages, and cultures.
And in particular:
Objective 4: Future of learning and work
Priority 7: Collaborate with industries and employers to ensure learners/ākonga have the skills, knowledge, and pathways to succeed in work.
This was again supported in the NELP Why are these priorities important? document which states that “New Zealand needs an education and training system that prepares learners/ākonga for a changing world and the future of work. It must be able to deliver the skills that learners/ākonga, employers, and communities need to thrive.”
Top tips for Careers Advisors
Natalie’s top tips for current, new, and future careers advisors:
- Authentically make connections and network. Leave the school site, visit people, have a coffee - do the mahi. This brings Career Education to life. You can’t bring careers to life if you haven’t experienced it.
- Read your emails, respond, and experience. Be there with ākonga, experience the open days, tasters and so on with them, so they feel supported.
- Experience careers and pathways opportunities for yourself; understand what it is like or will be like for ākonga.
- Continuously find ways to connect with ākonga and whānau to establish what they want their future pathways to look like. This could be regular 1:1 with senior ākonga or on an as-needed basis.
Top tips from St Kevin's:
- Start preparing staff well in advance. Build confidence in staff and get them to understand and share in the vision.
- Access/use outside experts and allow time for conversations.
- Pastoral and Curriculum go hand in hand. If you have a new vision for your curriculum, it will require a new vision for pastoral.
Additional resources
Resources
The Statement of National Education and Learning Priorities (NELP) & Tertiary Education Strategy (TES) (full NELP)
Why are these priorities important?
Curriculum And Timetable Development
It’s time: Transformational timetabling practices
Websites
Careers education and guidance: Good practice
The Grow Waitaha Flexibility in Secondary Learning Mosaic is a valuable resource for reflecting on and exploring flexibility in kura and supporting ākonga through secondary school.
Adopt flexible timetabling and flexible options to support all students | Inclusive Education
If you would like to find out more about how you and your school could get involved visit: https://mynextmovesouthcanterbury.careerwise.school/
Youthtown - Youth Employability
If you would like more information on what Youthtown could offer visit the website https://www.youthtown.org.nz/ or contact Alexandra Alatimu at alexandra.alatimu@youthtown.org.nz.