St Columba College

Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (15:24): I rise today to speak about an event I had the pleasure of attending last Wednesday at St Columba College at Andrews Farm with year 10 students. Indeed, it was an inaugural event which was quite fascinating. It was the St Columba College Career Speed Dating event where I got to date 100 year 10s in a brief afternoon and advise on careers. It was a wonderful opportunity in the morning and afternoon to speak to so many students.

The aim of the event was to introduce students to a professional and diverse range of career paths and occupations. I really enjoyed the experience, as it provided a great opportunity to listen to local students and provide information in helping them choose their suitable career choices going into years 11 and 12. With more than 100 students participating, each group took a turn in asking questions and learning from the various guest presenters.

The presenters were: Ms Michelle Ethridge, journalist and chief court reporter with the Messenger; Mr John Berco, principal of Ray White Real Estate at Grange; and Mr Steven Brombal, business manager of St Columba College, who has a very broad experience in commercial and school-based accountancy. There were two alumni students from St Columba, Mr Josh Calleja, a fifth-year medical student at the University of Adelaide, who has persisted to forge a career in his chosen path; and Mr Cane Clay, owner of Caznet Solutions IT, who, indeed, sold his first product to St Columba when he was still in year 12. There was also Miss Kaye Smith, a partner of EMA Legal, and Chris Spry, the Assistant Head of Primary at St Columba.

With these people, I hosted tables of approximately eight students at a time with a school representative, and the students tried to guess my occupation by asking as many questions as possible in two minutes, and then we went through and answered a whole variety of questions which they asked, such as, 'Could you do your occupation overseas?', 'What is the best thing about your occupation?', and 'Was income-earning capacity a feature of it?' As they talked to the variety of speakers available, they learnt more about their own career choices and what advice we would give them in reflecting on our own careers.

It was a very intense experience for both the students and presenters; the two sessions were interspersed with a well-deserved break for all the participants and we finished at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. The feedback the teachers received in the lunch break from all the year 10s was that it was an inspirational and fantastic opportunity for them to see the breadth of careers in the local community and how they can make choices now to prepare for their future.

I thank St Columba's Executive Principal, Ms Madeleine Brennan, for inviting me to participate. It is always a great pleasure to go to St Columba. It is a shining star in the north, and I am pleased to have it within the electorate of Taylor.