At Cranbourne East Secondary College, Work Experience is compulsory for all Year 10 students, please download the handbook for more detailed information.
Students are given the opportunity to visit and observe a workplace, in order to learn job-related skills in a field of interest. The school runs a one-week block of Work Experience, during which all Year 10 classes are cancelled. Students are given time in their Pathways to Success Classes during Term 4 of Year 9 to begin organising their Work Experience for Year 10. This is because some workplaces are very popular and placements fill up quickly, whilst other workplaces require students to submit applications. Ultimately it is the students’ responsibility to organise their own work experience or risk being placed in whatever is left-over.
In Term 1 of Year 10, final preparation is completed. Teachers are very supportive of the program and assist students during the planning process. While on placement, students are also visited, or called, by a teacher at their Work Experience workplace. Students complete a Work Experience Journal to record important information relating to the job requirements and in order to reflect on the actual experience.
Through Work Experience placements, students have the opportunity to develop positive relationships with employers and other workers in a situation that is new to them and takes them out of their daily ‘comfort zone’. Many students go on to secure part time / casual positions from theses placements, often staying in these positions as they continue on with tertiary studies.
