Is your child ready for work?
Every student is different in regards to what they wish to do and achieve throw work. Discussions between family members is vital before deciding on taking paid work.
Students may get excited about starting a new job and may forget about the upcoming study load as they progress through high school.
While teachers believe that part-time work provides an important learning experience for children outside of school, academic performance has to take precedence in order to build long-term employability.
As students progress through high school, they face different expectations in different years. It is important that you have a sense of the demands they face as they consult with you about whether or not they are ready for work.
Different Expectations for Different Years
Student achievement at school is assessed throughout the year with a schedule of school based assessment tasks for each of the subjects they are studying. During the school year, students will be aiming to meet the deadlines in their schedule, but there will be times when their workload is heavier than usual, during exam periods, for example.
Here is some information about when these extra expectations are generally placed on students in years 10, 11 and 12:
Year 10 students are working towards their School Certificate. This is an important credential, especially for students who might be thinking of leaving school and trying for a job, course or apprenticeship. Year 10 students have a schedule of assessment deadlines to meet in addition to the following:
Mid year exams/assessment- typically held in early term 2
End of course exams/assessment and Trial School Certificate exams- end term 3/ start term 4
Board of Studies School Certificate exams- in 2008 they will commence on 10 November
Year 11 students are working towards their Preliminary Higher School Certificate. These courses finish at the end of term 3. Student continuing with the HSC commence their HSC courses in term 4. In addition to their schedule of assessment tasks, Preliminary students may have the following:
Mid course exams- end term 1
End of course exams- mid-late term 3
Year 12 students are working towards their Higher School Certificate (HSC). In addition to their schedule of assessment tasks, HSC students generally have the following exam schedule:
Mid course exams- in the second half of term 1
Trial HSC exams- mid term 3
HSC exams- - in 2008 will commence on 16 October for a duration of about 4 weeks.
For exact information on Board of Studies exam timetables go to: http://boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/events/
Each Family is Different
Different families have different priorities for their children's time outside of school. Some families believe that sport and other outside school activities are important to their children's development. Other families teach their children responsibility by assigning tasks at home including household chores and caring for pets. Still other families have elderly relatives who rely on younger members for company and support. When work enters the equation, priorities may have to be reordered. Try to take a holistic view of your child's time commitments before agreeing that they look for a part-time job. Here are some points you might want to raise in conversation with your children:
- What is most important to you:
- Something you will enjoy?
- Something that will help you gain experience for your future career?
- Flexibility – a job where the employer helps you fit your work around other obligations?
- Working with friends?
- New Skills?
- Convenience?
- Ask them to consider:
- Their hobbies/interests
- What they would like to do later on
- The kind of flexibility they are looking for
- Do they only want to work at certain times of the day?
- Do they only want to work on certain days of the week?
- Do they only want to work a certain number of hours each week?
- Where their friends work
- What they would like to learn to do
- Where they would like to work and how they will travel there: are they dependent on you for transport?
- Family obligations
On the student section of this website, there is a short quiz that prompts children to consider these issues. If you would like them to think these issues through on their own first, have them take the quiz, then have a discussion.