Year 10 Work Experience - Carmen Stehle, Year Level Leader

In an exciting and valuable initiative, our Year 10 students recently participated in a week-long Work Experience program, designed to provide them with first-hand exposure to the world of work and help them explore potential career paths. This experience not only allows students to develop important skills, but also gives them a deeper understanding of the day-to-day operations of various industries.

From budding politicians to aspiring teachers, our Year 10 students had the opportunity to choose placements in a wide variety of sectors. Whether working in local businesses, creative agencies, hospitals, or technology firms, each student gained insights that will prove beneficial in their future studies and career choices.

The Work Experience program is a key component of our school’s commitment to preparing students for life after school, offering them practical experience, building professional networks, and helping them develop essential soft skills such as communication, teamwork, and time management.

Work Experience is invaluable for students, as it allows them to explore careers they might not have considered and gain hands-on experience that will help them in their future studies. By stepping into a real-world environment, students are able to apply classroom knowledge in practical situations, making the learning experience more meaningful.  Additionally, the program helps to develop a strong work ethic, as students take on real responsibilities and tasks, giving them a taste of what life in the workplace is like. Many students also find that this exposure strengthens their sense of direction and purpose when it comes to choosing subjects for their senior years.

We are incredibly proud of the hard work and enthusiasm shown by our Year 10 students during their Work Experience placements. It’s clear that the skills and insights they’ve gained will help shape their future academic and career decisions.

A big thank you to all the businesses and organizations who welcomed our students and provided them with such valuable opportunities. We look forward to seeing the future successes of our Year 10 cohort as they continue to grow and prepare for the next chapter in their educational journey.

Students Reflect on their Work Experience

Melbourne Parliament – Mary-Anne Thomas, Minister for Health

I had the amazing opportunity to do my work experience with Mary-Anne Thomas, the Minister for Health, in Parliament. It was a really immersive experience that gave me a firsthand look at how government policies are made. Watching how decisions that affect the public are discussed and shaped was eye-opening.

One of the best parts was seeing debates and meetings in action, which helped me understand challenges in politics and how important teamwork and communication is. Mary-Anne Thomas and her team were very welcoming and always ready to explain things, which made me feel involved and eager to learn more. This experience has made me more interested in working in public service and has given me a much better understanding of how Parliament works. - Claudia Campbell

Mary-Anne Thomas wrote the following in her Facebook post regarding her time with Claudia

"Meet Claudia.  When she’s not busy starring in theatre productions, she’s a student at Sacred Heart College Kyneton. For Work Experience, she joined my team last week. From local school visits, to writing speeches, and Question Time in Parliament – no two days are the same. Claudia was a natural, and I know I wasn’t the only one impressed. I’d like to thank Minister for Youth, Natalie Suleyman MP, for making time to chat about some of the policies and ideas Claudia put together about being a young person living in regional Victoria. Best wishes for the rest of the school year Claudia, and thanks for all your hard work".

The Melbourne Museum

• Where: Melbourne Museum
• What: helped register a mineral into the museum database, put a paint x acetone mixture on a fossil to strengthen it and put barcodes on minerals and fossils to know what mineral or fossil it is on the ipod barcode scanner.
• When: 16 to 20 September 2024
• How did I feel about this? I was amazed by how many things I learned during my time at the Museum. One of the interesting things I learned was that amethyst is a type of quartz and that when a lightning bolt lands on sand, it creates a structure called a quartz lightning bolt.  William Chew

Trust For Nature (TFN or Trust) of Castlemaine

As part of Year 10 Work Experience, I spent a week with Trust For Nature (TFN or Trust) of Castlemaine. Although I found the process of organising a workplace quite stressful, it became a reality with the help of a family friend, and I was immensely happy with this selection.

My experience with Trust went above and beyond my initial expectations. They welcomed me with open arms. This more than made up for the less appealing early starts and late finishes. One thing that surprised me was the many different components of conservation.

Some of the components that truly surprised me:

1 How gosh darned complicated and intricate the paperwork is! I was expecting some paperwork, but blimey. I learnt so much about critically endangered species and the State-wide Conservation Plan. I was especially intrigued by the conservation covenants, which is the main service that TFN offers.

2 The very practical part of conservation; on one of my first field trips with Trust, I travelled to Long Swamp where we participated in weed killing and kangaroo counting. I learnt about a bunch of nasty weeds found in swamps and, learnt that quite a major part of TFN and Landcare efforts is the killing of weeds

3 The social part of conservation; on my second field trip, we went to Myrtle Creek and on the way the TFN members explained the connection they had with the landowner we were going to talk to, and why connections matter. The main component of covenants, of TFN, of the world we interact with, is people. If we don't connect with them, if we don't understand them, and let them understand us, we can't get anywhere.

4 The scientific part of conservation; though this was the component I was expecting, it was awesome to be able to see it happen first-hand and to be able to participate in it. After we had explored the property with the landowner, we set off to inspect it ourselves - I heard more plant names than I ever thought I would hear in my lifetime and we documented these to assist in recording the biodiversity of the property.

5 The agricultural component; my third and final field trip was to the Kinypanial native grassland reserve. We went there to set up a watering system for grazing animals.

Work Experience was incredible, and it truly changed my perspective on conservation and sustainability in general. I had an amazing and actually life-changing week. I learned a whole lot of new and important things about conservation, met a bunch of incredible people who are doing the planet's work, and I now have a wealth of ideas to help me in my role as one of the Sustainability Captains for 2025. Thank you Trust for Nature!  Kejsi Shultz