Careers Week at Saint Ignatius' College

Excursion to the Adelaide Careers Expo, Wayville Showgrounds.

This week we celebrated National Careers Week in fine form at Saint Ignatius’ College. The Stage 1 and 2 Workplace Practices classes pre-empted the celebrations by attending the Adelaide Careers Expo at the Wayville Showgrounds. This was an excellent way to view a variety of careers such as SAPOL, the Australian Defence Forces as well as many individual employers from a wide variety of industries such as PEER and the Motor Trades Association. Students got to engage with practical activities such as carpentry and panel beating as well as having informative conversations with many industry representatives and employers.

Saint Ignatius’ Careers Market 2023

On Tuesday night the Year Tens, Elevens and Twelves participated in the annual Careers Market. The Dennett Centre was transformed into a careers hub as students got to discover ‘a day in the life of’ with Old Ignatians and current and past parents, representing 60 different occupations! In addition, we were also fortunate to host the universities, industry groups, RTO’s, SAPOL, Border Force, The Metropolitan Fire Brigade, the Royal Flying Doctors Service (including a simulator training plane parked in the quadrangle!) SA Ambulance, TAFE, Born to Build and our very own politician, Olivia Savvas MP! Sincere thanks to all the Old Ignatians who generously attended, many of whom return year after year.

Superstars of STEM Associate Professor Caroline Tiddy and Dr Camelia Walker

On Wednesday the Year Nines listened to a presentation by Geoscientist Associate Professor Caroline Tiddy and Mathematician Dr Camelia Walker regarding the many and varied pathways that Maths and STEM can take you. Caroline broke down the stereotypes of a ‘scientist’ and discussed her role as a geoscientist, including the utilisation of AI and VR in the development of training videos and safety courses. Dr Walker’s work in epidemiology was fascinating to hear, especially their role in advising The federal government in modelling data and the development of COVID strategy and policy. Some of the other STEM research included studying sea ice patterns, climate change predictions, whale migration patterns and bushfire modelling. I really enjoyed Caroline’s discussion that to work in STEM you don’t necessarily need to attend University, nor do you need to be the “smartest person in the room”, but rather just need to have passion for an area and be curious and work hard.

Post school life…. which degree is for me?

Also, on Wednesday the Year Twelves heard a presentation from Jon Auccone from Finders University on how to discern the right degree or pathway for them, and how to manage their post school life. Jn explained how HECS HELP works, scholarships, accessing assistance, how to create a timetable and many other uni life hacks!

Allied Health and Medical Careers

We topped off Careers Week with a presentation from Dr Clara Pribaldi on the many exciting careers on offer in the area of Allied Health and Medicine. Clara outlined the courses available at The University of Adelaide, pathways and Plan B’s. Thank you, Clara, for helping our students plan their amazing careers in Health!

Parents as Career Transition Support Information night

PACTS is a workshop that provides an interactive, informal way to learn about career transition in a setting that has been developed for parents, with parents. Participants will leave with the knowledge and confidence that they can help their children make informed career choices plus a comprehensive resource booklet containing the workshop content.

Chris Mesecke of Career Designs SA has extensive experience in the education, training and employment sectors and brings this together as a qualified career coach and accredited PACTS facilitator. A presentation will be held at Saint Ignatius’ College on the following evening:

DATE: Monday 5 June, 6pm-7.30pm

TIME: (Note Approx. 90mins)

VENUE: Saint Ignatius’ College. Senior School campus. Flynn Theatre

To book, refer to the Edsmart sent to parents of Years 9 and 10 students. Whilst these year levels are targeted, parents from other year levels can book by emailing me on l.mcdonald@ignatius.sa.edu.au