Penrith High School student Grace Faulder was cherishing her time at work experience this week as the revelation hit her; she had to go back to school.
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“I like it here and I want to stay… And I don’t want to go back to school!” she said.
Grace was one of 162 Year 10 students from Penrith High attending work experience. Like many others, she chose to work at the local public school.
“I want to go into a social work type career after school, so I wanted to have an experience working with people, to get a taste of what a similar work environment could hold.”
But little did the Springwood teenager know, her perspective on school life was about to be altered forever.
“It really makes me appreciate my teachers, and the emphasis they put on individual help. This different perspective has kind of enlightened me to the fact that most of my teachers have to focus on 30 different people’s individual learning in one class,” she said.
When Grace turned up to Springwood Public School, she was expecting textbooks and hand-writing. But when she started work with the encouraging Mr Gary Halpin, she was in for a surprise.
“On Tuesday afternoon we went to the library and every single student had a laptop and they were remixing any music piece of their choice. Some kids were downloading Dubstep (electronic music) and pop music. It was such a wonderful variety to appeal to and engage students.”
She had nothing but wonderful things to say about the experience.
“I’d just love to thank Springwood for having me and being such a great school. Mr Halpin has been overseeing me for the most part and he is so lovely, and helpful and very nice to work for and alongside. He knows what he is doing, he’s very experienced, and he has a great relationship with all of his kids and I've learnt a lot from him.”
She was not alone. According to Natasha O’Regan, careers advisor at Penrith High, teaching was among the most popular choices, next to hospitals and retail.
“I think it gives them the experience they need to have a look at what is necessary for full-time employment, and for work in the future. It gives them a good opportunity to liaise and learn how to interact with older adults, other than their family members.
“One of our students went to work at a guard dog training centre, which is really unusual. Also, another student went to work with an equestrian, which is an individual who trains horses.”
On the other side of the spectrum, Faulconbridge resident Oscar Adams was thoroughly enjoying his time crushing cardboard at Lloyd’s IGA in Springwood.
“It’s something that’s interested me as I shopped there from a young age,” he said.
When asked about the role reversal from consumer to employee, he said “when you’re a customer, you just hear one word over a PA system and you go ‘that doesn’t matter, I’m just shopping here, but when you’re working there, and you hear that, it’s a command; and you know exactly what you’ve got to do.”
Both students said they thoroughly enjoyed their time in the workforce and can’t wait until a second week of work experience in late November after their yearly exams.
