An update from the Careers Department on what's been happening this month with many students attending different courses!

You go girls! Try out a GirlBoss Course!

Jessica has always wanted to work on a dairy farm and her long-term goal is to own one. When she heard about the GirlBoss Primary Industries course she quickly enrolled online. It was a networking course where she could hear about women leaders in agriculture, horticulture, environment sustainability and forestry. During the July holidays, she went online once a day for 10 days to participate in some live chats, challenges and mentoring. Jessica listened to Holly Budge (the first woman to skydive from Mount Everest) and Dr Paul Wood (talking about developing your Personal Brand) who told us: Once you know your values, you unlock your own personal secret to a life of happiness and success. After completing a personal values assessment to find out what her top three values are, Jessica is proud to say Trust, Passion and Love. From Laura Koot (owner of Real Country) she learned the triangle system: Top = what you love, Left = What brings satisfaction, Right = What you are good at.

Jessica networked with other teens around NZ, had live videos with speakers like Siobhán O'Connor who runs FENWICK and a one-to-one mentoring session with Julia Hoddinott (Senior Analyst in the Ministry for Primary Industries - MPI). Jessica was thrilled to finish her MPI challenge and graduated in a live online meeting with all the other participants. She wrote a blog over the 10 days, about her aspirations, observations, thoughts and passions, not only to remind herself about what she did and learned but also to submit as an NCEA writing piece. Her suggestion is go online and look at what other courses they offer.

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NZMA Café Service Course a Holiday Hit!

Learning how to serve customers was the deciding factor in three Year 13s giving up a week of their July holidays to learn Café Service skills. They enjoyed meeting ākonga from other schools and making different coffees. All three stated that the course was a very supportive learning environment at NZMA in The Culinary Collective café setting. There was a range of hands-on activities which meant that they all needed to co-operate and work in small groups.

Anyone who attends this course will benefit from the customer service activities as the tutor was very clear about what café service involved. He also made sure the class had fun while taking notes to help them practise and then pass the assessment tasks with confidence. NZMA has more STAR courses coming up in Term 3 - make sure you read the Daily Notices or the STAR noticeboard outside E7.

Vision College Barista Courses a Great Holiday Experience

Over the July school holidays, a number of ākonga enrolled in Barista courses at Vision College. They all enjoyed this chance to explore a skill that is needed in café and restaurant work. They learned to use a commercial coffee machine but they also had to explain where coffee is grown, how to store the beans/grinds and how to make a range of coffees. While it is a hands-on course, it is critical to realise there is a lot of theory to explain to get NCEA credits. One ākonga summed it up well by saying that they liked ‘not having to wait for others because when some were having their turn making lattes etc, there was theory/bookwork to do.’ All who attended said that It was fun or interesting and some hope to get part-time work where they can continue to make coffee.

Being creative at Yoobee can help you with decision-making

Whether it is producing a new Anime type of character as a digital painting, making games and learning how to create levels or how to properly animate a walking cycle Yoobee is the place to be. Those who went on courses in the July holidays said they learnt more about Photoshop, how to improve their art pieces and the steps to making a good 3D Animation.

If you are interested in video games, want to learn a lot in a short amount of time and have fun then Yoobee has a course for you. As one ākonga said: ‘ You may have ideas about a form of digital art/gaming and by the end of a course you will know if it is something you want to keep exploring.’ However, it is important to be self-motivated as you have the freedom to choose your project and need to use a range of new skills.