At MacKillop Catholic College, each individual student is encouraged to be aspirational in their career goals. Participation in lifelong learning that supports these career goals is facilitated via a range of programs, from Years 7-12. The Career and Pathways Program allows students to discover their potential, explore their career interests and link their learning to future success in life.
MacKillop Catholic College aims to use a blend of delivery methods for career education. Embedding careers into the curriculum is broader than infusing careers into school subjects, although this is still important. Career learning is integrated into the broader school timetable, subjects, pastoral care, ministry, and co-curricular.
Some aspects of the integration include:
Career Advising
Career Cafes
Vocational career assessments
Work experience in Years 10, 11 and 12
Occupation research skills
Job application and interview preparation
Career expos and career days
Guest speakers from industry and the education/training sectors
Subject selection assistance in Years 8-12
Tertiary application assistance
Life and career management skills
The College uses the Australian Blueprint for Career Development (ABCD) to design, implement and evaluate career development programs. We use the four learning stages for Career Development:
Four learning stages – Acquire, Apply, Personalise, Act.
From Years 7 to 12, our program is based on the following year-based themes.
Grade |
Overarching Theme |
Focus |
ABCD |
7 |
Who am I? |
Exploration of self |
Acquire |
8 |
How am I seen? |
Exploration of self |
Acquire |
9 |
The World of Work (Employability Skills) |
Exploration of work |
Acquire/Apply |
10 |
Where to next? |
Exploration of careers |
Apply/Personalise |
11 |
Is my compass correct? |
Pathway clarification/review |
Personalise/Act |
12 |
Taking the next step…putting the wheels in motion. |
Pathway review/enacting the plan |
Act |