At the beginning of this term, our Year 11 students had the exciting opportunity to attend a camp in Melbourne – an integral part of our Career Education program. The fourday trip was designed to help students explore post-secondary pathways and broaden their horizons as they begin to think seriously about life beyond school

Staying at The Village on Franklin Street, students immersed themselves in a packed itinerary that included visits to several university and TAFE campuses. These tours and presentations provided valuable insight into a wide range of tertiary education options, helping students understand the diversity of courses, facilities, and pathways available to them

A highlight of the camp was attending the 2025 VCE and Careers Expo, where students explored a wide range of opportunities through exhibitors offering information on the VCE, tertiary study options, career and employment advice, study strategies, apprenticeships and traineeships, international exchange and gap year programs, and university housing options.

For our VCE Vocational Major (VM) students, the camp included tailored activities aligned with their Personal Development Skills class These sessions focused on self-growth, decision-making, and future planning, adding a personal development lens to their career exploration experience.

The camp presented a valuable opportunity for students to build familiarity Melbourne using public transport, gaining not only independence but also a sense of what student life might be like in a big city.

The Student Perspective

"The camp prompted me to reassess different career paths. The Careers Expo showed me various options that I didn’t consider which I am now interested in.” - Heidi Franklin

“The most helpful and instructive thing I took from the Year 11 camp was to explore the universities and how each Uni had their own unique atmosphere to tailor to my career ambitions and personal attributes. This was beneficial to experience ‘Uni Life’ before applying and making decisions for my future.” - Savannah Kernaghan

“I now know I feel university is not the pathway for me and prefer the TAFE pathway option instead ” - Kasey Caldow

“The camp reinforced that my preferred career path is open, but also demonstrated to me my other career options ” - Owen Woolley

“The most helpful thing I took away from this camp in terms of a career pathway is the option to be able to not get an ATAR and come back to uni later in life as a ‘mature-age’ student This information is very useful to me as I'd like to do tertiary dance and maybe come back to university later in life for a bachelor of creative arts ” - Lacey Eddyy.