Gateway’s Project Officer, Marc Swensson, recently invited SA Great’s

Imparting wisdom to students

“Speakers In Schools” to visit Port Pirie and surrounding areas.  Making the trip from Adelaide, Jessica (SA Great), Lesley & Helen (ElectraNet), Andrea (Technology Industry Association) joined Marc (Gateways), Shaker & Elmore (JHI Builders) at John Pirie Secondary School, Mid North Christian College and Gladstone High School to talk to Year 10 & 11 students about their respective careers and pathways. 

Apprentice of the Year: Elmore from JHI

With Marc acting as emcee, Lesley kicked off the presentation, sharing stories from days organizing the very first Tour Down Under, to her time in Italy and Nepal, to her current role as a Project Scheduler.  Armed with a Vegemite jar prop and give-away’s being thrown left, right and centre, Andrea then spoke about the different ways that technology is used in industry today. 

Local legends Brenton (“Shaker”) and Elmore from JHI Builders talked about

Students listening intently...

the benefits of volunteer work, supporting locals and Elmore’s journey to becoming Apprentice Of The Year.  All presenters were young, passionate and inspired all students in attendance.  Gateways thank all the students and schools for their support, and a big thank you goes to all the speakers for generously giving their time.

September 16th saw over 30 students from Gladstone High School, Orroroo Area School, Mid North Christian College and Quorn Area School attend Gateway’s annual road trip to Olympic Dam.  For most of the students, it was their maiden voyage to Roxby Downs.  The bus chucked a mainy and a quick look around the town was followed by some well earned lunch. 

While at BHP Billiton, presentations included an overview of the proposed

Big old disco pants!

mine expansion and guided tour by Public Affairs Officer, Deb Ainslie and an explaination of radiation and safety procedures on site.  Students and Gateways own Marc Swensson dressed up in the compulsory safety uniform (aka disco pants) making for some memorable dance moves and catwalk poses.  After some Q&A time, it was back on the road for the trip home.  Gateways also supplied Subway sandwiches for lunch, snacks, drinks and movies for the bus ride – and the students provided some cheeky sing-a-longs and great conversation.  Capped off with Hungry Jack’s for tea, the trip was long and fun with never a dull moment!

During Term 3, Gateways Project Officer, Marc Swensson assisted Year 10 students at Jamestown Community School prepare for life in the work force.  One lesson saw the students divide into groups of three and perform mock interviews to the rest of the class.  In these groups, one person played the part of the interviewer, while the other students played the part of interviewees (one displaying a poor attitude and the other performing positively).  Over the following weeks, Marc facilitated and assited to perform formal mock interviews with all students.  Students were expected to be punctual and dress appropriately – treating the interview as if it was for a real job.

For year 10 students at Samaritan College in Whyalla, Week 10 is WORK EXPERIENCE WEEK!!

Fast approaching their first opportunity to undertake work experience in an industry setting likely to be their intended career path, it was identified that preparation would be advantageous.

Students were given information around industry expectations, punctuality, presentation, communication, body language and mannerisms to assist them during their placements. There was also a strong influence on personal preparation including researching their chosen workplace prior to commencement.

The highlight of the session was certainly the Occupational Health and Safety presentation by OHS Inspector, Gavin Lehmann from SafeWork SA. Inspector Lehmann informed the students of potential hazards in the workplace, relevant Personal Protective Equipment that may be required and how to undertake risk assessments during their placements.

Good luck to all Samaritan Year 10 students undertaking work experience in Week 10 and don’t forget…. SAFETY FIRST!

Boogeying down in the "Disco Pants"

On September 2nd, over 40 students from John Pirie Secondary School and Australian Technical College took part in Gateway’s annual road trip to Olympic Dam.  It was the first time many of the students had been to Roxby Downs, so after a tour of the town and some lunch, it was off to Olympic Dam.  The excursion included an overview of the proposed mine expansion and guided tour of Olympic Dam by BHP Billiton Public Affairs Officer, Deb Ainslie; CEG’s Darren Lowe spoke about employment opportunities; plus an explaination of radiation and safety procedures on site.  Students were given the opportunity to ask any questions they had about mining and related industries and everyone got a good laugh (and photo opportunity) when we could dress up in the compulsory safety gear & uniform (including the affectionately titled “Disco Pants”).  Gateways also supplied Subway sandwiches for lunch, snacks, drinks and movies for the bus ride – keeping everyone entertained and fresh as a daisy.  Complete with a trip to Bree Park’s bird sanctuary in Woomera and Hungry Jack’s for tea, the trip was long, but informative and enjoyed by all.

Full steam ahead!

VIBE Alive is a chance for the youth to express themselves and show their school, community and family what they are good at. Students also find out some awesome info and advice on career choices, meet celebrities and learn some very important info on health and nutrition.

VIBE is a festival dedicated to celebrating Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander cultures and being a proud Aussie! Oh, and it’s the perfect place to catch up with the mob and make some new mates!

On Wednesday, 12 August 2009, Gateways for Youth in conjunction with the Northern Regional Development Board, South Australia Works, CRS Australia, Business SA and the National Disability Coordination Officer Programme successfully conducted an interactive all day workshop focussing on Disability in the Workplace.

The day commenced with a Business Breakfast, which certainly lived up to

The many faces of Session 2

its title of being ‘THE BEST BREAKFAST YOU HAVE EVER HAD!” This session included an expert panel across numerous fields associated with Disability that were able to bust the myths for employers around disability and recruitment.

The second session focused on service providers and strategically mapped out all present services during an interactive exercise. This allowed for service providers, general business, parents, carers and those with a disability to identify what services are available to assist when seeking employment across the lifespan. Please contact our office if you wish to obtain a copy of the services documented.

Session 3: Guest Speakers

The third and final session for the day was aimed at parents, teachers, students, carers and other interested parties with a clear vision of identifying and improving pathways to employment. It focussed on current programmes designed to improve employability skills in the community and within schools. Presentations from the Phoenix Society, Port Augusta City Council and the Port Augusta Special School successfully informed all attendees about what is happening in this area.

All in all the day was an enormous success with over 100 participants attending throughout the day. Gateways for Youth and the committee would like to extend their thanks to the Coal Train restaurant at the Port Augusta TAFE campus for catering all food on the day!

These boys from the Port Pirie branch of Boystown were the very first off the rank for the Save-a-Mate presentation about the negative effects of drugs and alcohol featuring the ever-popular “Beer Goggles”. The boys listened intently to information and statistics about the effect drugs and alcohol can have on a healthy young body and then saw for themselves how even 2 beers can have an effect on their bodies.

Apparently walking in a straight line when your body has an alcohol level

Beer Goggle Antics

over 0.05 is a lot harder than first thought! The group had lots of fun attempting to ‘walk the line’, eventually progressing to hopping, jumping and even somersaulting! The presentation was so engaging that even the teachers were in on the act giving the Boystown lads a laugh of their own!

Gateways for Youth was once again excited to be a part of the Full On Future section at the VIBE Alive festival in Port Augusta for 2009. Marc, Sally and Rhianna were on hand all day giving very valuable careers advice to the 1600 strong crowd that Full On Future accommodated during day 1 of the 2 day festival. The Gateways for Youth stall (left) was very eye-catching and colourful and bursting will vital information for students of all ages as well as some very cool freebies and goodie bags for outstanding participants.

One of the highlights of the day was Marc most excellent dance skills which

Rhianna of Gateways giving Career Advice to students from the Highs division

amused and inspired students from the Juniors division – it was this engaging display of daggy 80′s inspired dance moves such as the ‘shopping cart’, ‘stacking boxes’ and even the ‘sprinkler’ which saw students from far and wide converging on the Gateways stall to challenge Marc to a dance off. As ‘groovy’ as Marc’s moves were, he was finally ousted by some more modern moves such as the ‘worm’. All students who rose to the challenge recieved goodie bags and giveaways from the Gateways team.

Marc handing out handy info

Another highlight was the drug and alcohol session held by Save a Mate. Students from Boystown Port Pirie were the first to use the interactive and educational tools provided by the Save a Mate team – this came in the form of ‘Beer Goggles’. These great accessories simulated the effects of alcohol at different stages of intoxication and provided the students with a great insight into just how uncoordinated you can become under the influence.

Sally hits a Bullseye... (poster that is!)

One of the many informational posters used on the Gateways stall, especially for younger students, were the Bullseye posters. These posters, which are as informative as they are colourful, help students to see which jobs they can go into based on their favourite subject at school. Each ring of the bullseye poster indicates a level of study required for the jobs listed on that area, the further out on the bullseye you go, the more study is required. Simple – yet effective!