From June 14 to 16 the NSW Secondary Principals’ Council welcomed attendees to the 2022 annual conference, held on the lands of the Dharawal Nation, at the Novotel Wollongong on North Wollongong Beach.

The conference theme for 2022 was “Phosphorescence​: trails of ‘light and wonder’ on the power of public schools and the luminosity of school leadership”. As part of the 3-day event, representatives from the Educational Pathways Program were invited to present at one of the breakout sessions on June 15.

Lyn Kenny, Career Learning Coordinator and Lauren McCarthy, Head Teacher Careers for the Illawarra Central group of schools, delivered an 80 minute presentation titled “VET is on the move; and the ‘EPP’ is here to help!​” to the assembled attendees.

The session started out by exploring the strategic underpinnings and goals of the Educational Pathways Program​, then moved on to discuss key learnings as the program expanded from the original 24 pilot schools to our current 145.

Lyn and Lauren then went on to un-pack in more detail the school-based roles within the program​, wrapping up by sharing insights and career learning research with the principals in attendance around ways the program can be implemented to meet local needs.

A video was also shared with attendees in which Nicholas Magripilis, Director Educational Leadership - Metropolitan South and West discussed his perspectives on, and enthusiasm for, the program.

Lyn Kenny shared that "key to the session were insights shared by Principals from the Educational Pathways Pilot Program who indicated how beneficial the program had been over the past two and a half years in meeting the needs of students in their school. Significantly, all 24 schools involved in the pilot chose to continue with the program when it was scaled up”.

After the presentation, Lauren McCarthy said “it was an absolute privilege to represent the Head Teacher Careers group, to have the opportunity to advocate for the hard work of careers advisers across NSW and to promote VET pathways to an engaged audience of Principals.”

“Sharing research on the importance of effective career guidance and current labour market data showing that 66% of current online job advertisements can be reached through VET training were two of the highlights for me,” she added.

While the Educational Pathways Program is currently in 145 NSW government high schools, the program team is always willing and able to share insights, success stories and tools more widely when the opportunity presents.