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Informed subject selection and careers discussions
Please tell us a little bit about your school or organisation. What's its history, mission, and goals?
Since 1938,St Bede’s College has been an inclusive and caring community for secondary students to achieve their personal best and become positive contributors to the world around them. Driven by Lasallian and Catholic values, St Bede’s College seeks to inspire and teach students to learn, live and lead ‘by right paths’ to become confident, socially just and resilient individuals. Located in Melbourne, Australia, the College specialises in delivering a holistic educational program that supports the individual needs of each student in all aspects of learning – academic, social, creative, cultural and sporting.
The College has a dedicated Careers Centre that provides students with knowledge, advice and resources about future pathways, including subject selection, course exploration, post-school options so they’re ready for the future in an ever-changing world. Students build their self-awareness to realise their strengths, define their values and follow their passions with courage and self-belief. St Bede’s College is the destination for those seeking a values-led community.
What was the background to your involvement with Morrisby?
As a newly appointed Careers Education Learning Leader back in 2019, my primary goal was to source a supporting mechanism to underpin an evolving Career Education program, one that could be used in complimentary ways to companion resources and services. Supporting students through the process of choosing study options and potential future career paths is nuanced; whilst some have defined ideas about what they are drawn to, others lack direction and feel unsure and anxious about life afterschool. Morrisby appealed for its flexibility of delivery options, its range of psychometric assessments, its fully interactive suite of tools and the personalised report/advice generated. Having been delivered for the first time in the COVID 19 lockdowns, its flexibility proved to be a winner and St Bede’s has moved forward with the program confidently from this initial experience.
What role does Morrisby play in assisting you to provide an engaging, evidence-based, and information careers education plan?
Put simply, Morrisby adds value to our College Careers Program. It inspires new thoughts and ideas, develops self-awareness in our students and invites a collaborative approach to exploring and preparing for future pathways. It allows the College to harness the wisdom in a team of highly experienced and passionate Morrisby interviewers, external to our staff, but complimentary to their work. The Morrisby report is easy to read and focuses on strengths. It builds a picture of individual talents, potential and preferences, objectively offered to guide ongoing exploration and discussions of the world of work and career options within.
How does the Morrisby Vocational Assessment tool complement other career exploration activities and resources available at your school or organisation?
St Bede’s College has run the Morrisby Program since 2020, as part of a significant investment in its developing Careers Education program. As part of a sequenced program through the Middle Years curriculum it has proven to have enduring value through both the preparation for, and completion of, the Senior years. Our students visit a range of tertiary education providers, attend Careers Expos, have the option of studying a Careers Elective subject and have ready access to Careers Counselling services, collectively guiding their exploration of different career and education options. Morrisby was chosen as a tool to compliment these components of our program and to initiate assessment of aptitudes, learning styles and personality traits which in themselves inspire self-awareness and bring new ideas to the fore. The Morrisby program at St Bede’s has generated collaboration between home and school in managing the pathways of our students, who, five years into the offering, both look forward to completing it and frequently refer back to it in subsequent subject and course selection processes. As the Careers and Pathways Coordinator, it is pleasing to witness Morrisby become a cornerstone of our college Careers program.
“Morrisby has become firmly embedded in the Careers Education program at St Bede's College. We see it as an investment in the long term career development of our students, affording them ongoing benefits beyond their school years.” – Ms Kaylene Menara
What aspects of Morrisby do you utilise and why? (Morrisby Careers, Morrisby Profile, functions of Activities/Destinations)
We are looking to utilise the Morrsiby Lesson Plans as resources for Vocational Major students and mainstream Careers and Commerced elective classes. They are complimentary to curriculum in these areas.
What strategies have you found successful when encouraging staff and student engagement with the Morrisby platform and its recommendations?
Subject staff are becoming increasingly conversive with students around subject selection periods, often initiating discussion with reference to the Morrisby findings of individuals. Hence, it has become a cornerstone of counselling sessions through this period of the year.
“...as a parent I thought I’d share our experience with career direction for my son {name withheld}. The Morrisby testing and follow up interview helped shape direction for him that he hadn’t considered but is excited to explore. He’s looking to follow his interest in art and design. He's investigating design and architecture. It’s a new and exciting direction for him. If it works, great! If not, nothing lost. But it’s given him a bit of purpose and much needed focus and direction.
Thank you” - Parent
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