Students get out the classroom and into the workplace

By Chilli Cabello and Patrick Spicer

This week, Year 10 students from across Bass Coast participated in Work Experience at different businesses across the community.

We took the chance to interview some Bass Coast College students about the experience and find out if it has changed their minds on their profession or their future careers.

The students we interviewed had all chosen occupations that involved working with children, so we chatted to them all about the ups and downs of childcare.

We took a trip down memory lane, visiting Cowes Primary School where we sat down with Lorenzo Lepiten, Georgia Mayer and Madeline Bailey.

Georgia and Madeline observed what they described as the “perilous role” of teaching preps.

Experiencing her old primary school in an authoritative role made Georgia re-evaluate her attitude towards teaching.

“It made me realise how patient teachers have to be,” she said.

Georgia and Madi said working with children through the week showed how unpredictable kids can be and the skillset teachers use to manage erratic behaviour.

With children’s short attention spans, all three touched upon how hard it is to keep children listening and under control.

Lorenzo decided to try his hand helping out in the STEM class as a teacher’s aide, due to his interest in the subject.

As a keen STEM student himself, Lorenzo wanted to encourage younger students to get involved.

All the work experience students finished the week with a newfound appreciation for teaching and a lot more patience.

While they all have multiple career options in mind, Georgia and Madi may consider a job in education.

Lorenzo said even though Cowes Primary wasn’t his first choice for work experience placement, he got a lot out of the experience.

“I learned to approach difficult kids with kindness and relatability,” he said, a skill he believes will be important in future careers.

Early learning

Charlotte Dullewe spent her time at the new Island Kids Early Learning centre where she was able to work with young children rotating through toddlers to four-year-old kinder.

“I like the idea of working with kids, and wanted to see if I’d enjoy it,” she said.

“It was easier than I imagined … more like play than work.”

Although the job did come with its obstacles.

“The challenging part is when multiple kids fight at once … and you have to attend to all of them.”

Charlotte is still keeping her options open for after school, however she now knows she may follow a career in childcare in the future.

Lana Brusamarello spent her week working with an occupational therapist (paediatrics), as she is interested in science and paediatrics.

She spent her time travelling to different places and observing children and their mannerisms.

She enjoyed the freedom of the role and getting to work with children of all ages.

“You can work and teach as much as you want as long as you have the research and studies to back it up,” she explained.

However she did find maintaining a professional outlook at all times challenging.

“You can’t ever just play a game with them; you must analyse all the little things.”

She said the week taught her a lot about her chosen profession and everything that goes into it.