Preparing students for the future

Redcliffe State High School aims to get its students ‘Reddi for the Future’, whether that be via an academic or vocational pathway, with programs and opportunities to give them direction and a head start.

Deputy Principal, (Senior Schooling), Rachel Kelly says Year 10 is the ‘gateway to senior’, so they begin to tailor their approach at that point.

“Being ready for the future is going to look different for each of our students. Our job is to make sure we can support them in a broad range of pathways,” Mrs Kelly says.

“Our goal, moving forward to 2025, is to make sure all our students have the opportunity to have experience in vocational education.

“From next year, Year 10s will all get the opportunity to select a Certificate II from a range of courses.

“This allows all students to gain experience in a vocational education context, before they lock in their Year 11 and 12 subjects.

“Students can gain qualifications that may lead to employment to support them whilst they make their way through their university studies, or it may even ignite an interest for them that leads them in a completely new and exciting direction.”

Year 10 Deputy Principal, Pam Ormond, says the school will be offering most of the courses at no charge to students.

“They range from Skills for Work Vocational Pathways through to a Certificate in Hospitality ... we’re about to add the Certificate II in Applied Digital Technologies ... there’s also Creative Industries and Active Volunteering,” Ms Ormond says.

Ms Ormond says: “We’re also refining our career education program to encourage students to start thinking about, and being aware of, what those options really do look like for the future”.

Doing this will give students someone to talk to about their plans for the future, even if they don’t know what they are yet.

“Some of our young people don’t know what job opportunities are out there in the world, so if we can do a little more around career education, they can make a more informed choice about their chosen path,” Ms Ormond says.

Year 10 student Amber Kitson has started the Head Start program with UniSC, which will give her a jump on a psychology degree.

She says it has given her an insight into the pathways available and her recent work experience at a primary school, where she helped students with disabilities, has solidified her plans.

“I think that helped me narrow down my options, a lot, and now I know I want to do neuropsychology,” Amber says.

Fellow Year 10 student Benji Cake has not yet locked in his plans for the future but has a keen interest in politics and architecture.

“I just wanted to explore a lot of different subjects that would lead you to different sectors. I guess that’s one of the things that’s great about going to Redcliffe ... some schools have a rugby focus and others have a creative focus ... I’d say Redcliffe has an everything focus,” Benji says.

“If you are not really sure about what you want to do, Redcliffe can cater to that. You can explore a lot of different opportunities. Just having the support from school and my teachers in doing that has been absolutely amazing.”

He is also part of the Head Start program with UniSC, studying Design Methods.

Fellow Year 10 student Lina Brand is aiming to study chemical engineering at university – a decision she made with the support of the school guidance counsellor.

“The UniSC (Head Start) program has helped me a lot because it’s helped me interact with professors and I can get letters of recommendation from those professors,” Lina says.

“It’s given me access to that library and resources I didn’t have before. It’s also allowed me to interact with a bunch of other students and learn lessons and life stories from them.”

Kailyn Yardley, also in Year 10, has a passion for history which she aims to pursue at university.

Earlier this year she was offered the opportunity to do a Certificate III in Retail with her employer, McDonald’s at Clontarf, as a School-based Traineeship.

She says the course will not only give her a valuable insight into the retail business but also provide her with opportunities to help achieve her goal to study at university.