Good reasons to stay

A Youth Apprenticeships school provides students with opportunities to develop their own directions. WAYNE ERB reports

There's a mock road sign pinned up inside Anne Taylor's office: "Proceed with confidence. Careers."

It is a concise description of what staff at Porirua's Aotea College are aiming for in terms of student outcomes through the Youth Apprenticeships scheme.

HOD vocational studies and Gateway Sue Roberts and Anne, Gateway administrator, are working with colleagues to develop a scheme that lets students experience a breadth of opportunities over a number of years so they are suitably prepared for a career or further study.

The scheme should mean more students have the confidence of head boy Sam Henare who is in the school's YA group.

Sam aims to become an apprentice electrician and is using a Gateway work placement to learn more about the realities of the job. So when he's 'out of class', he's likely to be up a ladder installing cables on building sites. Paid employment is being organised for term holidays and he's also found relevant tertiary short courses to attend, gaining unit standards through STAR.

With all those opportunities, he sees good reason to stay in school where he gets teacher support, leadership experience as head boy, and importantly, time to judge for himself if he is on the right path.

"The reason I came back this year was to be sure I didn't get straight into an apprenticeship and decide that it wasn't the right thing to do. It's a kind of double-check," he says.

He also is aware of just what he gains by being under the wing of an experienced electrician.

"I'm learning workplace skills like how to work with different people, and I'm also learning about the electrical side."

That should stand him in good stead – Anne says employers look for more than technical know-how in Gateway students.

"An employer will tell me all the time that attitude is top of the list, along with time management and initiative."

Sue and Anne are developing Youth Apprenticeships so more students can have positive experiences like Sam and build on a strong foundation of career exploration.

They say by combining resources, students at Year 11 and 12 will be able to have a wider range of learning experiences before getting industry-specific through Gateway placements at Year 13.

"It's really exposure for the students; it's providing experiences for them to find a pathway," says Anne.

And Sue says students have control of what they do: "It offers them the opportunity to make some informed decisions about their career pathway."

That, the pair says, should be empowering for students and help them learn to make important choices.

Crucially, YA has allowed Sue and Anne to develop the programme with input from across Aotea College, as they float ideas on course structure between department heads, senior management and the school timetabling committee.

"It's a whole school approach in looking at how we can best meet the needs of students who are looking towards careers in trades and industry," says Sue.

The careers advice office has moved adjacent to them, which ensures more information is shared.

By drawing in colleagues, they are using all available school resources to support each student. It's an expansion of what already works, they say. Sue adds that the mix includes the kind of pastoral care that young people might not always find in a workplace.

The resulting process will be outlined for each student in an individual plan that shows the path from study to career, says Anne.

"It's an individual plan for an individual student and that's really important. They are all different."