Planning for life after school
Planning for your child’s life after school can begin early in high school.
The planning for your child’s next steps after school is referred to as “post school transition planning”.
Transition planning usually begins in early high school. This planning covers your child’s support, needs, goals and progress.
Your child might want to start with an overall goal and together you, your child and your child’s team at the school will work out the steps to help them achieve this goal.
Starting these conversations early will give you and your child time to discuss things like the subjects they can select and the work experience they could do to help them meet their goals.
As these meetings continue throughout your child’s time at high school, they might also involve any members of the community - such as prospective employers - who could play a part in helping your child reach their goals.
It’s important for your child to have different options when it comes to their after-school goals. They could have a back-up plan for achieving a specific goal, for example, an alternative pathway to enrolling in university such as attending TAFE or a registered training organisation - see list below for more options.
What are your child’s options when they leave school?
After school, your child might want to:
- find a job, with or without additional support
- build their work experience through volunteering or work experience placements
- continue developing their independent living skills
- be more involved in their local community
- continue studying in vocational education and training at TAFE, another Registered Training Organisation, or an adult and community education provider
- combine study and work as part of an apprenticeship or traineeship, or
- continue studying at a university.
Your child’s high school can help support them, no matter what their goals are.
High schools have specialist staff to support students to plan for leaving school.
Parents are encouraged to make contact with their child’s school to discuss pathways and to plan transitions to life after school.
It’s important to remember that they can change what they want to do, or continue to expand on their plans for the future.
