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iTrack students to plan their career paths

21 August 2018

Through our iTrack program, students in Years 9 to 11 are given the chance to explore more options for the future and make a plan. It’s guidance they desperately need but often can’t get at home. In 2018-19, 79% of students who participated agreed that their mentors helped them feel more confident about their future job, career and study options.

Here’s what three friends and their teacher say about the experience.

I didn’t really have much of a plan, I guess. I had a wide-open plan, but my mentor really helped me to define and refine it to a certain job.

Bliss has a clear plan and her first job

“When I leave school, I’d like to be a physiotherapist. It’s a recent decision since doing iTrack,” said Bliss.

“My mentor also helped me with jobs for now and even resumes, which has been great. And since doing iTrack, I got my first job with help from my mentor! I work at the dance shop down the road. Because I dance, it has been really good for me.

“If I was ever a bit shy about something, I could ask my mentor and she gave me a bit of support and told me what to do in those instances. She was a really important person in my life. I never missed an iTrack session.”

We talked about work experience, scholarships for uni, what type of unis I would want to go to, studying abroad – a whole range of different things.

Molly-Rose feels all set for university

“My mentor has really helped me figure out what I want to do when I get out of school. At first, I thought maybe I wanted to be a psychologist. But now that I have had a chat to my mentor, I’ve decided to do a double degree at uni in maths and engineering to keep my options open,” said Molly-Rose.

“She has definitely given me a range of options of what would be best for pre-requisites for my uni degree. She’s also talked to me a lot about how to handle stress. Some subjects I will be doing will be quite stressful and have a lot of work, so she gave me options on how to manage that and how to balance school, friends and work.”

iTrack has been really important to me. When I first joined, I just thought we would talk a bit about my subjects and stuff. But Sarah was really helpful in the process of picking my subjects for school and [giving me an idea] of what university is going to be like.

Lara is on her way to a career in law

“When I leave school, I want to go to law school. My dad is a police officer and I have always wanted to be part of the law. iTrack has really helped me to know what I want to do when I’m older,” said Lara.

“When I talked about some of my interests, my mentor, Sarah, really helped me with the requirements and what I have to do when I am at uni.

Holly sees a big shift in her students’ focus after iTrack

“Students of this age group face a lot of big decisions as they head into senior years,” said high school teacher, Holly.“Having this focused program helps students to better plan their path throughout the whole of senior schooling – rather than trial and error in subject selection.

“This style of mentoring helps students to talk about things that they want. There is no pressure from parental expectations or standards set by the school.

“Their mentor is an impartial person who is only concerned with what the student wants and how they can achieve this. It is also beneficial for those students who have difficulty expressing themselves face-to-face with adults, and it can make big topics less daunting by removing the fear of judgement or disappointment.

“They become more savvy with university prerequisites and navigating information about employment which can be found online. They also take more opportunities to add items to their resume, such as extra-curricular activities or programs at school for which their teamwork and leadership skills are recognised.”

Students who participate in the iTrack program become more interested in their futures and the steps they will need to take to get where they want to go.

Through our iTrack program, students in Years 9 to 11 are given the chance to explore more options for the future and make a plan. It’s guidance they desperately need but often can’t get at home. In 2016-17, 89% of students who participated agreed that their mentors helped them feel more confident about their future job, career and study options.

Here’s what three friends and their teacher say about the experience.