Case Studies

Marielle Rodrigues, Lyndale SC - Studying Building Design and Construction

Marielle Rodrigues is studying building design and construction at TAFE and might go on to study architecture.

While studying year 12 at Lyndale Secondary College last year, Marielle Rodrigues was thinking of doing sports management or administration when she left school.

But the school's careers and vocational coordinator Joe Palatsides encouraged her to have another option up her sleeve.

Marielle says she is glad she listened to Mr Palatsides' advice.

"He said if you don't get into sports, have something else in mind - you've always got to have something to fall back on," she said.

Her second option - the one she is now pursuing - was building design and construction.

Now in the midst of her first year of the two-year course at Holmesglen Institute of TAFE, Marielle is studying construction, materials, residential design, site surveying, working drawings, computer-aided design and sketch presentation.

She's happy with her course, though she has found the workload to be challenging.

Undeterred, Marielle is considering going on to study architecture once she has completed her diploma. Or she may look for a job in the drafting field - she'll be qualified for that in two years.

Her favourite subject is construction - how a building is put together and how it is held up.

Marielle praises the help she received at school from Mr Palatsides. He keeps in touch with what his ex-students are doing and was pleased to hear that she was studying the building design and drafting course.

"I tell them 'you're part of the family so contact me if you need help on careers'. I've got kids I counsel who have already left school," he said.

Ben Oakes, Ringwood SC - Apprentice Electrician

Ben Oakes, 18, who left Ringwood Secondary College last year, has no doubts about his career choice and is thoroughly enjoying his first year as a budding electrician.

Everything has been going right since he left school at the end of Year 11 to study a pre-apprenticeship electrical course at Box Hill TAFE.

Ben has started his apprenticeship at Butler Electric Pty Ltd in Moorabbin and says he is sure he has made the right choice.

"I wasn't doing too badly at school, but this is something I really wanted to do. Both my uncles are electricians and I got the interest off them," he said.

While still at school, Ben did Vocational Education and Training (VET) one day a week in engineering, but set his sights on becoming an electrician.

He said Ringwood Secondary College staff were excellent at encouraging students to pursue whatever career paths they wanted.

They advised him that if he did not want to continue at school, a pre-apprentice course would be a good idea and that it would make it a lot easier for him to get a job - they were right.

So far everything is going according to plan and he is excited about the possibilities open to him.

"There are so many ways different ways I can go. I could go on and do data and computer electrics or perhaps refrigeration," he said.

"I could even do further schooling and then go on to electrical engineering."

Although he secured his apprenticeship through his own efforts, Ben praises Ringwood Secondary for the support the staff gave him.

"They're pretty stoked that I got into the pre-apprenticeship course - they were full of encouragement and they're pretty rapt about how things are going for me."

Corey Hunter, Colac SC - Apprentice Plasterer

When Corey Hunter was studying at Colac College he knew he wanted to take up a skilled trade when he left school, but he wasn't sure which one.

However he did know he wanted to keep his options open, so stayed on at school until he had finished Year 12.

Corey completed the VCE last year - his studies included English, physical education, outdoor and environmental studies, maths and information technology.

Then he spotted a newspaper advertisement for two apprenticeships with a Colac plastering firm, was successful in his interview, and began the four-year apprenticeship at the end of last year.

Corey spends a day a month at a trade school in Geelong, and is on the job for the rest of the time.

He says he particularly enjoys the work because it there is a wide variety of tasks he must perform and he gets to travel to many different work sites.

"You're doing something different all the time and I am always travelling to different towns in the region, such as Lorne and Apollo Bay," he said.

Jade Cross, Box Hill Senior SC - Studying an Advanced Diploma of Justice

Think of a door opening on to a large hallway lined with doors.

It's a fitting metaphor for Jade Cross's journey from school to further study and eventually to a job.

Jade, 19, says her career counselling sessions as a Year 12 student at Box Hill Senior Secondary College last year opened the right door for her.

Without the counselling Jade is sure she would have entered a door with the wrong fit for her, and subsequently found herself inside a hallway fall of more wrong doors.

She guesses she then might have wondered from job to job - not quite content, but not knowing why. Study probably wouldn't have been a direction.

Now through the right door - her first year into a two-year Advanced Diploma of Justice at RMIT - Jade says the qualification will open more doors to more career options.

"I had no idea what I wanted to do," Jade recalls.

"I didn't even know where to begin. But the careers counsellor at school sat down with me over a few sessions and showed me what was available, what might suit me and how to go about it."

Jade says she used her qualification as a stepping-stone to study a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice Administration at RMIT, or even a law degree.

As far as future jobs, at the moment Jade can see herself working as a juvenile support worker in the courts or as a prison officer.

But that could all change as more doors open.

"This course is showing me there are a huge amount of options," she said.

Ebony Agtof, Norwood SC - Becoming a Police Recruit

Ebony Agtof says the On Track Connect program motivated her to aim for her first love - policing.

"I didn't get the best of ENTER scores and I had no self esteem when I left school so I sat down for three months and didn't do anything," the former Norwood Secondary College student says.

"Marie, an On Track project worker with the Outer Eastern Local Learning and Employment Network (LLEN), motivated me so much.

"She got me calling up universities and TAFEs and told me all about TAFE courses and how I could better qualify for a course."

Ebony did the research and decided that nursing was the go, but after weighing up the options, she decided it was worth pursuing policing.

"If it wasn't for Marie, I would still be working two jobs and not knowing what to do for the rest of my life," Ebony said.

Ebony is now looking forward to completing the TAFE approved Victoria Police education exam prior to applying to become a police recruit, something she says she would not have been able to achieve without the help of On Track Connect.

David Cusack, Sunbury Downs SC - Pre-Apprenticehip Course in Cabinet Making

Careers teacher Andrew Smith says his role at Sunbury Downs Secondary College is as diverse as the students who attend it.

Although a large percentage of Sunbury Downs students have gone on to university and TAFE courses, Mr Smith says many students are going into a trade.

"We want to make sure that we accommodate every student who comes here - and for a lot of them - they don't want to go to university," Mr Smith says.

He says the school has established a good network with local industry, which provided the students with career guidance, mentoring and ultimately with job opportunities.

"There have been shortages in local industries recently, such as the metal industry, for jobs like boiler making or fitter and turner, which some students have seen as less desirable jobs," he says.

"We encourage our students to go into engineering and other industries if that's what they're really interested in. We also provide opportunities for students to see these jobs in a new light by attending manufacturing expos and conducting industry visits."

The school also provides a range of VET courses, which set up work placement for students interested in a trade and has employed a full-time support worker funded through the school's Managed Individual Pathways (MIP) program, to provide weekly career support to students who had difficulty with traditional schooling.

Some of these students have been able to continue with their schooling, and others have moved onto other pathways.

Mr Smith says a number of students had since scored apprenticeships as a chef, landscaper, plumber and fitter and turner, while others were now at TAFE doing drafting, civil engineering, naturopathy and criminal justice.

Former Sunbury Downs Secondary College student David Cusack wasn't keen on finishing VCE.

"I would have just dropped out if I didn't get the support from my teachers," David says. "They helped me get to where I wanted to go."

David went onto complete Year 11 while the school helped tee up a pre-apprenticeship course in cabinet making at Kangan TAFE in Broadmeadows.

"I was really keen to get an apprenticeship but I stayed in the course for three months until I was offered a job."

He has since landed a full-time job as an apprentice cabinet-maker in a furniture store in Moonee Ponds, Schembri Fine Furniture.

Chris Gates, Doveton SC - Apprentice Mechanic

Doveton Secondary College is a school determined to help its students overcome the challenges they face and to give them a realistic opportunity to succeed.

A significant number of Doveton's students (35 per cent) have transferred into the school from other schools across a wide geographical area.

A large proportion of these students have special educational and welfare needs and have experienced difficulties in their previous school setting.

The school strives to provide highly specialised and relevant programs for each student.

One of Doveton's most successful and popular programs is Certificate II in Automotive (Technology Studies), a pre-employment program that introduces students to automotive theory and culture as well as a broad range of industry skills. Chris Gates commenced the school's automotive course last year and has gone on to an automotive mechanic apprenticeship at David Nutter Ford in Berwick.

Chris never seriously considered going on to university because it was his ambition to pursue a trade.

Now, as part of his apprenticeship, he is studying for his Certificate III at Chisholm Institute of TAFE.

Chris says the course gave him a distinct advantage when applying for mechanic apprenticeships.

"Through my studies I developed the skills I needed to gain an apprenticeship," he said.

"I think it would have been much harder for me to get to where I am now if I hadn't had the opportunity that Doveton gave me."

Doveton's principal, Nigel Hutchison says many of the school's success stories do not translate easily into statistics but that the school's follow-up to the On Track survey had highlighted the positive outcomes being generated by the school.

"The data was very encouraging and demonstrated that of the Year 12 students who left the school last year four percent are at university, 35 percent are studying at TAFE or with other Vocational Education and Training providers, 31 percent are employed and 19 percent are currently looking for work," he said.

"The 19 percent looking for work (five students) are all undertaking structured workplace learning through a local employment agency."

Paul Tyas, Frankston High School - Apprentice Chef

Paul Tyas always wanted to be a chef, but says Frankston High School's Pathways Program put him six months ahead of others in his position.

"I went from working at a pub, to a decent café, to a fine dining restaurant, to a better restaurant and now I'm at one of Australia's best," he says.

Paul says he was able to do a part time apprenticeship as part of the Pathways Program and, combined with a basic study timetable, received six months training as a chef by the time he was finished.

"I was ahead of everyone else who wanted an apprenticeship," he says. "While I was doing the Pathways Program, I was training as a chef."

Paul left before completing Year 10 to undertake an apprenticeship. He has now won a position at Jacques Reymond - a five star fine dining restaurant in Prahran.