Career experts are advocating for children to be thinking about potential vocations as young as nine and are calling on the Australian Curriculum to introduce a career education to students following a parliamentary inquiry in the UK.

At Annesley, we understand the need to prepare our students for an ever-changing future and there are many ways that we are preparing our primary-aged students for their future in the strong belief we hold in the capability of the young people we work alongside each day.

• Strength-focused program: Our students are continually given opportunities to reflect upon their strengths and what this means for working alongside others.
• Enterprise: Students from Reception to Year 7 are given time each week to explore their passions and add value to the world around them through innovative, creative pursuits.
• Mentor programs: Our students regularly connect with industry experts as mentors to deepen and extend their learning, including Annesley administration staff such as our Business Manager, our Risk and Compliance officer and our Accounts team.
• Cleland partnership: Our Base 6/7 students enjoy a 5 week program at Cleland as part of The Quest. In this time they choose a professional to shadow for the day, it may be a Scientist, Vet, Café Manager, Wildlife Keeper or Operations Manager.
• Baptist Care partnerhip: During Base 6/7 Quest, students again partner with Baptist SA and engage in volunteering opportunities to serve lunch and coffee to their community.
• Bouncing Bean Café: Our student-led café has been created as an authentic learning space for our Year 6/7 students to develop work related skills. They run one hour shifts across the week and are appointed to this role once they have submitted a resume and been through an interview.
• Unify: A Year 6 student enterprise ‘Unify’ from 2021 now provides the opportunity for a group of Year 4 students to work in the Unify shop. Twice a week, they collect donations, label items, promote, display and sell.
• Roles at Annesley: Students at Annesley regularly engage in roles around the school to give them a sense of purpose and belonging, examples being collecting and delivering mail, sorting lost property, school crossing duty, assisting with uniforms.

This year we have been able to add Debating to our Strength programs for students in Base 5 and Base 6/7. The students have been fortunate to work with our expert Debating Coach, Ann Langman each week to prepare for five debates held over two terms against other schools on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. We are proud of the skills that our students have brought to this challenge and the new ones they have developed through their workshops with Ann, their growth mindset and willingness to try new things.

Congratulations to the following students who have represented Annesley exceptionally well this year in our three debating teams, who enjoyed wins and losses and many received ‘Speaker of the Debate’ awards!

And so continues The Quest!

Resilience has been a key focus of Base 5’s Quest adventures. Only a week after summiting Mt Lofty, Base 5 battled icy winds and consistent rain at Glenthorne National Park. Students assisted park rangers to plant a variety native species as the state government’s work continues in creating a new National Park.

Base 3 returned to Adelaide Zoo after a week at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. Students met with Zoo staff and discussed the key features of habitats. Finally, they took this information and created a unique habitat for one of the Zoo’s resident lizards. Annesley staff and parents were blown away by the depth of knowledge and understanding that Base 3 students displayed in what was a truly memorable day!