Careers and Gateway
After working as HOD Careers at Massey High School for the last 22 years, I was delighted to be offered the role of Career Development Specialist at Kaipara College. The students here are amazing – polite, enthusiastic, motivated, confident and keen to get information to make the best possible decisions for their future careers. It’s the time of the year where senior students are signing out and beginning the next phase in their career journey. Offers from tertiary providers are being received, as well as accommodation and monetary scholarship offers. Students are making decisions about where they will go next year, what they will do, where they will live and how they will fund their education. Some are off to participate in a Camp America or other provider overseas placements. Others plan to work or take a gap year, while some students are heading on to further study, full-time work or apprenticeships.
A range of students have attended career seminars in lunchtimes, visited the Careers Expo, attended tertiary provider Open Days. Other skills they have participated in were putting together CVs or learning about tertiary options, apprenticeships and funding. Advice was given about subject choices for next year and how to apply for accommodation or scholarships. One and one careers interviews with the careers adviser were an important aspect of this year. I have also enjoyed my interactions with the Gateway students. It has been my pleasure to take these students out to their Gateway interviews, to meet employers and meet people in our community. I have had the privilege to watch these students flourish in their chosen career areas or on the other side of the coin, decide that this was not the career option for them. The employers have been awesome and without their support we would not be able to offer this valuable work experience opportunity. I wish you all well in your future endeavours whatever they may be. Rapua te ara tika mou ake – seek the path that is right for you
Robyn Bear
Careers Adviser/Career Development Specialist
Gateway 2019
Your goals are the road maps that guide you and show you what is possible for your life.
It has been a fantastic year with 51 students for the Gateway programme. The Gateway programme has given many students the opportunity of work placement experience in the area they think they would like to pursue when they leave school. It is interesting hearing feedback from the students after their placement, some say this is what I want to do and some realise this is not what they want to do when they leave school. A huge thank you to the business community for your time and support of the Gateway programme in offering the real life work experience for our students. To the Parents and Caregivers for transporting your children to their work placement, thank you.
A Prime Ministers Vocational Excellence Award worth $2000 was open to students who had been involved in Gateway or Trades Academy. With three possible candidates identified for this, Robyn, our Careers Advisor and I worked through the criteria required for nomination. The criteria was that students are required to pass Level 2, participate in Gateway or Trades Academy, be on track to receive a Vocational Pathways Award, participate in vocationally orientated subjects at school and courses that contribute to success in a chosen pathway, such as first aid and health and safety. Kian Mayes is the recipient of this award. Congratulations Kian!
Congratulations also goes to Francisco de Coito who received the Neil Notley Scholarship Award of $2000. This scholarship was open to students in Design Visual Communication, Mechanical Technology or Timber Technology either continuing on to an apprenticeship or Tertiary study. Francisco completed his Gateway placement in Engineering.
It has once again been a privilege working with the Gateway students of 2019. I wish you all the very best for your future.
Marie Paulsen
Gateway Co-ordinator
