News

Gowie Street Primary students learn about business

By James Bennett

Nov 15, 2019

GOTAFE, Greater Shepparton Lighthouse Project and Gowrie Street Primary School have teamed up to start a mentoring program.

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For six weeks, year five students will be paired with local business people as part of the Sit, Eat and Talk program.

Students sit with their mentors for an hour over lunch to discuss career aspirations and learn more about the local community.

The students are paired with a different mentor each week to understand more about different industries, including CAF Consulting, Greater Shepparton City Council, Spiire, Camia Stockfeeds and Advance Computing.

“The energy and conversation in the room is exciting to witness and the students really enjoy the discussion with the mentors about jobs,” program co-ordinator Fiona Smolenaars said.

The feedback from students has also been positive.

The program is held at GOTAFE's restaurant, with meals cooked and served by GOTAFE students.

“Programs such as this are fantastic as it allows GOTAFE to work collaboratively with the Lighthouse Project and local industry to guide and mentor young students as they start to consider the possibilities available to them in the future,” GOTAFE chief executive Travis Heeney said.

The same program was trialled by Mooroopna Primary School in 2018.