Photo courtesy of The Bunyip 

As Inspiring the Future ramps up throughout Sydney and the rest of NSW, it’s also growing throughout the nation with the Northern Adelaide State Secondary Schools Alliance (NASSSA) leading the charge. On Monday 30^th October 2017, South Australian Minister for Education and Child Development, the Hon. Susan Close MP, officially launched Inspiring the Future (ITF) in South Australia. The event was held at Craigmore High School Performing Arts Centre, Blakeview, one the 11 NASSSA schools. Over 200 people came to see ITF launched, including prominent industry and Education Department representatives, employers, local government officials, school Principals and teachers, ITF Australia representatives and secondary school students from NASSSA schools.

Colleen Abbott, past NASSSA Chairperson and now Director: Operations, Partnerships, Schools and Preschool Division of the Department for Education and Child Development, provided the background to NASSSA’s engagement with ITF Australia, explaining how ITF compliments NASSSA’s mission to maximise the learning opportunities, career pathways, retention and educational outcomes for all students in their alliance and also how it will benefit all South Australian schools.

Julie Clifford, NASSSA’s Industry Engagement Broker also spoke, providing an overview of ITF and how it is designed to benefit and inspire young people by linking them with volunteers from the world of work to expand their career horizons. She also challenged classroom teachers to come with creative ways to make use of ITF volunteers, especially in broadening students’ understanding of the relevance and application of their school studies in the world of work.

To demonstrate ITF’s effectiveness in establishing connectivity with students, a panel of four industry leaders were interviewed by four school students from NASSSA schools who used questions they prepared themselves. Their well-designed questions enabled the panel members to share some valuable insights about their career journey and provide tips for young people embarking on their future career.

ITF Australia and NASSSA invites all local and national employers operating in South Australia as well as professional associations with members based there, to encourage their staff and members to sign up as volunteers with Inspiring the Future to inspire school students and contribute to lowering high levels of youth unemployment, especially in the northern Adelaide region.

Sign up as a volunteer 

Sign up as a teacher