Year 10 students at Mary MacKillop Catholic College recently participated in a Careers Retreat and Pathway Showcase over a two-day event at the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Office.  

This is the third year the College has held this event.  The aim is to support students in seeing their schooling journey as a pathway to a vocation.   

Principal Chris Gabbett said, ‘We invest heavily as a College in career guidance and planning.  It is important to me that our students develop the skills, learning and attitudes that enable them to discern a meaningful career pathway’.   

This event will assist students and their parents in the upcoming nation wide SET Planning process, a program design to assist in selecting Year 11 and 12 electives and discern their future pathway opportunities. A jam-packed two-day program has been created by the College’s Careers team, including presentations on School Based Apprenticeship options, the QCE and ATAR process, guest presenter, Cr Tim McMahon and Mary MacKillop’s foundation graduates talking on ‘Life after School’. Back by popular demand from the 2020 event, students will hear from local guest speakers on their career journey to where they are today. College Career Support Officer, Christie Richardson says “It’s about ceasing opportunities and knowing that just because you start out on one career pathway when you leave school, doesn’t mean it defines the rest of your life”. 

Students will participate in a group workshop with our resident College Psychologist and Guidance Counsellor to discover their strengths and gifts and use career research tools provided by the Your Pathway Team to determine what pathway their skills could be best suited to. 

Traditionally, these career days are geared towards QCE and ATAR and University course selections. “Now, we look at the whole child, explore pathways for all students from those who are job ready from the time they graduate year 12, to those who want to start an apprenticeship in Year 10, those keen to join the ADF and those securing their entry into university” says College Career Development Practitioner, Jennifer Stevenson.  Careers week has been celebrated across the P-12 College with students in other year levels participating in in-class activities, learning about their skill sets, discovering their parents’ career journey and engaging in a life skills program!  

The two-day event wraps up with a Pathway Showcase, giving students the opportunity to meet and speak to industry professionals. The line-up includes the University of Southern Queensland, Griffith University, Aurora Training, Downs Training Group (DGT), the St Saviour’s College Health Hub, Australian Performing Arts Conservatory and SAE Creative Media Institute Australia.