Northland Careers Roadshow for Years 9-13

Far North Careers Expo and Whangarei Careers Expo for Years 9-13

This initiative was set up to assist students in exploring opportunities for after school, also to collaborate with industries and employers to ensure learners/ākonga have the skills, knowledge, and pathways to succeed in work. Students gain the support to know what providers/industry require of them to be successful in their future pathway.

There are a wide-range of pathways available—i.e., pre trade, apprenticeships, universities, and ITO/PTE. Each roadshow is 4 days and there are usually a few weeks to a few months between the Whangarei one and the Far North.

The goal is to have the roadshow at each school (so less travel for schools) and to liaise with close schools so they can attend too. The host school accommodates the providers with morning tea and lunch, so they stay onsite—which reduces costs for providers and is cheaper for the host school not having to pay for a bus to transport.

Giving students as much exposure to industry, tertiary training, armed forces, volunteering etc. with a diverse range of providers at one school on one day has been a great resource in delivering this initiative.

At Kerikeri High School, we created a passport competition (link below) to encourage students to engage with 8 providers. Far North Expo had 34 providers, and some were localized to their area, so they did not attend all schools. 53 staff assisted. Whangarei Expo had 26 providers with 45 staff assisting.

Teaching staff engage with the students they teach and talk about future pathways, with this initiative encouraging them to assist their students further. Form Teachers had conversations prior to the Careers Roadshow, and the teaching staff could explore where their subject areas lead to.

One of the main challenges was engagement from students—how do you get students who are not interested to buy in? (hence the competition).

We also wanted to keep the cost to a minimum if possible. We paid about $400 for food for over 50 people, which was cheaper than hiring a bus to transport 50 students.

For anyone wanting to run a similar initiative, the advice I would give is to prepare your students and staff prior to the visit and get them ready to ask questions of the providers.

Overall, a very successful event and we highly recommend. Will continue with this as its very popular with many students, staff and providers.

Competition Link
Catering Costs Example
Kerikeri High School Careers Day Schedule
List of Providers