Looking long-term essential

This year, National Skills Week takes place within the wider context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the impact that the measures taken to try and control it are having on our economy locally, nationally and globally.

It is within this wider context that Career Development programs and initiatives at The Hutchins School are designed to assist students to develop skills and knowledge needed for effective lifelong career management.

Notwithstanding the COVID-19 pandemic, the quote from Justin Trudeau’s speech in February 2018 at the Davos World Economic forum that “the pace of change has never been this fast, yet it will never be this slow again” highlights the environment in which lifelong career development skills will be increasingly important. Not only as individuals but from a local and national economic perspective.

The Hutchins School provides a structured series of Career Education and Vocational Learning initiatives, designed to develop student self-knowledge of interests and abilities and assist them in beginning to align this to current and developing opportunities and career goals.

Vocational Education and Training plays an important role in many Hutchins students’ Career Development, facilitating vocational learning and skill development within an industry or occupational context.

Flexible learning facilitated by online Vocational Education and Training providers has provided students with the ability to gain nationally accredited Certificate III and II qualifications in Fitness and Business. Accessing local registered training organisations has also enabled a wide and varied range of Vocational Education and Training opportunities to be accessed by students in more traditional in-person settings.

The Hutchins School can provide pathways aligned with industries such as maritime, building and construction, tourism and hospitality, fitness, engineering, and the entertainment industry, with courses often sourced to fill an individual’s identified career pathway.

Students are utilising Vocational Education and Training to develop cross sector skill sets combining qualifications from areas such as maritime with tourism and hospitality, gaining experience and developing skills and knowledge that are valued by innovative employers requiring employees who are multiskilled and bring professional complimentary competencies.

School Based Apprenticeships and Traineeships are also available to students wishing to utilise Vocational Education and Training pathways,

with students undertaking their Tasmanian Certificate of Education, whilst undertaking a School Based Apprenticeship or Traineeship.

A strong consideration for students choosing this pathway is the continued connection to the school and the strong sense of community and rites of passage that occur as students transition through Years 11 and 12, underpinned by a Christian ethos and the understanding that each boy is his own person with individual needs, aspirations and has an individual career journey.

Vocational Education and Training in its many forms is pivotal to The Hutchins School vision to provide an inspirational education where each boy strives to achieve his best and serves his community.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES AT THE HUTCHINS SCHOOL ARE DESIGNED TO ASSIST STUDENTS TO DEVELOP THE SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE NEEDED FOR EFFECTIVE LIFELONG CAREER MANAGEMENT

PAUL BONNITCHA