Careers Educator: Mrs Toni Smith
School: Corpus Christi Catholic High School
“If you can’t see it, you can’t be it”
In a busy school with 1,200 students in Year 7-12, Transition and Pathway Specialist Toni Smith is constantly looking for ways to enhance career education for her students. With a careers program for years 7-10 held in 50 min lessons each term, and topic-specific sessions and one-on-one appointments for years 11 and 12, she needed a flexible, well-structured program to suit her unique needs.
When Toni discovered Study Work Grow and the Ponder Program through a recommendation of a colleague in 2021, she easily saw how the resources available stood out from the vast amount of ‘free’ content available.
Here are some of Toni’s key takeaways from using the Ponder Program in 2022:
Use of the Ponder Program Framework
She likes the “sequential nature” that the Ponder Program provides, and that it’s based on the Blueprint and the General Capabilities but is also flexible in that she doesn’t have to be tied to delivering in a set manner. The fact that it provides short “weekly snippet’s” means that she can fit it around disruptions, student absences and all of the other things that sometimes cause difficulties in delivering a careers program, means that she can ensure students are getting what they need and when.
Showing Career Education Videos in different settings
She uses the Ponder Program videos for different events at school such as info evenings, and because each concept is delivered in a short, engaging style, students love watching them and then are eager to approach her or other educators afterwards for more information.
Putting Career Education Posters up
Toni has used her included posters wherever she can throughout the school, and laminates them for use in her office discussions. She has found they’re great for starting conversations with students and getting them thinking (without always having to use a screen).
To use the Ponder Program like Toni, you’ll need to:
- Use the included Library Packs (A3 Posters, Handbooks, and Job Spotlights available in Australia only) to bring something tangible and non-digital to your learning experiences.
- Use the weekly videos from the framework in class, home room, pastoral care, or with individual sessions to introduce new ways of thinking about careers and your students’ place in the world of work.
- Use the Career Development Framework (CDF) resources to structure your lessons and provide supplementary materials but deliver them in a way that suits your time, cohort, and teaching situation.
We thank Mrs Toni Smith for her time in sharing her experience of using the Ponder Program in support of other educators.
If you would like to see more about the resources Toni is using, take a look at Essentials here.
