It was a fun day on 27^th February 2024 at Noumea Public School when sixty students (Years 5 & 6) thoroughly enjoyed interacting with eight guest speakers representing different professions and job roles. The activity is called “What’s My Line” and was facilitated by ITF Australia in collaboration with staff from Seven Hills High School collegiate through funding support from the NSW Department of Education.

The children asked numerous Yes/No questions to the eight volunteers sitting on the stage in casual clothing in order to guess what job they do. The volunteers then left the room while the children’s guesses were recorded on a whiteboard. Each volunteer then returned one by one in their uniform and/or with a prop representing their job and explained who they were and how English and maths are used in their job.  The volunteers them rotated around small groups of children at 5 min intervals to share more about their job and answer students’ questions.

The volunteers included Simran, a female construction engineer from Climatech, Amber, a female Operational Technology Apprentice and Irina a female electrical network engineer who both work for Sydney Trains, David, a male nurse from Western Sydney Local Health District, Caitlin, a female truck driver with JACTEC Transport, Adel, a male painter and apprentice supervisor with Master Painters Association and  Ashley, a female plumber and her HR supervisor Sam from Level Group who drove up from Canberra just for the event!

One teacher said that following the event, many of the students shared their new career aspirations and that it “really got them thinking  about what they could achieve”.

One of the volunteers said “The program was fantastic. It was lovely to see the children excited about the many different pathways in life and that careers are not linear.” Other volunteers said that ”It’s good to expose the kids to occupations that they don't normally see or interact with:” and that “It’s good for our kids to understand the importance of education at an early age.”

Many thanks to all who made the event such a success, especially the teachers who hosted it and the employers who released their staff to participate.