9/12/2008 - Work Readiness

CTS Project - Blayney High School

Thanks to a Federal grant via Central West Youth Transition Services eight of our students had the opportunity to take part in a 'Work Readiness' excursion in Orange last Tuesday. The aim of the day was to familiarise students with some government departments and employment agencies that could help them when they leave school and are looking for work.

First we visited Centrelink where we had a tour of the facility and found out how Centrelink can help young people, not just with money but also with training. Next it was off to OCTEC here the staff entertained us with 'good interview' and 'bad interview' role plays which led into a very worthwhile discussion session on how to perform well at interviews, how to prepare for interviews and writing good resumes. Then as a couple of students were starting to yawn we had a wake-up walk down to Central West Group Apprentices where the students got a good sharp burst on Apprenticeships and Traineeships and how the Group could help them.

Now with tummies rumbling we got back on the bus to travel to the OCTEC Youth Services Drop-In Centre which is in a lovely old heritage-listed house that is currently being restored. As well as finding out about their services we all joined in and made pizzas for lunch which we shared while everybody bragged that theirs was the best. After stuffing ourselves there was time for playing a bit of pool and air hockey and then we headed off to TAFE. Unfortunately we were running out of time and did not see as much as we wanted to at TAFE but we did look at the Hospitality, Automotive and Hairdressing and Beauty sections and found out how different TAFE was to school.

Thanks to Mrs Johnston and Mrs Livermore for joining in and helping me on the excursion.

Ron Stinson