Work Experience is a compulsory part of the Year 10 co-curricular program at Nossal.

It takes place late in Term 4 to minimise disruption to classes and in 2024 the allocated work experience week is Monday 9th to Friday 13th of December.

What is work experience?

For high school students it is a short-term placement with an employer to give them insights into the industry and the workplace. Schools running a work experience program must adhere to guidelines set by the Victorian Department of Education to ensure compliance with legislation. This means our school has a specific process students must follow when organising work experience and includes a work experience arrangement form to be completed by all parties involved: first the employer, then the student and parent/guardian, and lastly the school Principal as final approval.

Students must be 15 years of age at the time of their work experience placement, and it cannot be undertaken: overseas or interstate, in a dangerous or hazardous workplace, during summer holidays, with a family member or place of current/previous employment.

Year 9 students are given a presentation about the Year 10 work experience program early in Term 4 which includes an overview of what it is, insights from older students, guidance on how to find work experience opportunities, and instructions with steps that must be followed when applying to receive approval from the school. Year 9 students are also given a research task to start thinking about careers of interest and workplaces to contact plus to prepare for contacting employers. Resources are provided to students on Teams in the Work Experience tab at the top of their year level Careers channel. Before a student can attend work experience they must complete Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) training – this is completed by Year 10 students during Pathways week in late March.

Nossal highly values the learning opportunity that work experience provides our students.

Benefits students gain by doing work experience:

• Understanding of employer expectations
• Developing employability skills
• Exploring careers of interest
• Opportunity to exercise more self-discipline and responsibility
• Building self-understanding and self-confidence
• Developing maturity, social skills and independence
• Can help secure a casual job or with applying to tertiary courses and scholarships

Another important aspect of the work experience program at Nossal is the skills students gain by organising their own work experience placement. This requires the student to follow the Work experience instructions carefully, and then research, locate and contact employers about work experience opportunities. Securing a work experience placement will take time and often requires contacting several employers before being successful.

Clarissa Jacques is the Work Experience Coordinator at Nossal and is who students must contact about seeking approvals for work experience placements offered by employers outside of the allocated week, for guidance on following the instructions, and with any questions or concerns about work experience in general.