MERCURY SERIES: Making A Difference
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Stockland Shellharbour, The Smith Family and many Illawarra schools are working together on a pilot to help Illawarra youth identify, explore and discover career options.
Wollongong and Shellharbour schools will be the first in Australia to have a large number of students participate in an Inspirations program trial that is about turning work experience into work inspiration.
Stockland Community Partnership manager Lauren Cassar said a broad range of career options were covered because Stockland's three asset groups (residential communities, retail development and retirement living) all supported the initiative.
"I could see there was a great opportunity for the whole region to get involved," she said.
"From there we started to organise forums with the local schools."
Representatives from TAFE, the university of job service providers were also involved.
Schools participating in the first pilot were Albion Park High School, Warilla High School, Corrimal High School, Figtree High School, Dapto High School and Kanahooka High School.
Stockland personnel had already visited the schools to tell 480 students what the program was about and how they could be involved.
Now 20 students were being chosen from each school to participate in what was being called the Stockland Inspirations program.
Students who were interested had been advised to let their teachers or careers advisers know.
"They are all keen for it," Ms Cassar said.
Shoalhaven schools would be involved later this year.
The partnerships between each school and Stockland provided students in years 10 to 12 a chance to explore and connect with the property industry as they began to make career decisions.
"They will be given the chance to see opportunities in the world of retail business and shopping centre management or residential development," she said.
Stockland personnel acted as mentors to explain what kind of skills an employer was looking for and help them make the link between work and the subjects they studied in school.
They also conducted one-to-one conversations outlining how careers actually happened.
Ms Cassar said it was ultimately about helping young people in the community and after trialling the program in the Illawarra, the plan was to roll it out nationally.
"We would like to do this every year ... and help target youth unemployment in this region, which is quite high," she said.
Stockland Shellharbour centre manager Brett Leonard said his team of 14 people, who looked after the Shellharbour and Corrimal shopping centres and the retail park near Bunnings at Oak Flats, were all looking forward to the pilot starting with Albion Park High School students on May 21.
"At the schools we have visited so far, the students are all very keen to get into the final 20 spots," he said.
"Most of the schools have set it up so that after we visit and do the presentation ... the students have to write a submission to their career advisers and from that, they got selected. The process that would be like finding yourself a job."
Smith Family partnerships broker Ian Batty said the pilot, providing opportunities for 120 Illawarra students in term 2, was based on a UK model called Work Inspirations.
Mr Batty said when Stockland expressed interest in such a program, a series of round table discussions were held and the decision was made to do an innovative work experience program.
Ms Cassar said for Stockland, it was about taking an interest in young people in the communities around its Shellharbour and Corrimal shopping centres.
From The Smith Family's perspective, it was also about improving retention rates at school. Mr Batty said the work experience was intensive for the students.
He said all Illawarra schools involved had provided a big input into the design of the Australian pilot.