As our 2020 Vice Captain, resident childcare expert and total animal lover, Year 12 student Grace has empathy in spades.
She has attended NG Central since Year 10, after a disrupted, difficult period at a mainstream high school. While she’d previously struggled with discipline and concentration in a classroom setting, her performance has skyrocketed over the last two years.
Grace puts it down to being able to access individualised academic support, strong teacher-student relationships and NGC’s intentionally small class sizes. These days, Grace is thriving across multiple subjects, from making massive improvements in Maths to excelling at Sports Lifestyle and Recreation. And outside of traditional learning, she has taken advantage of the additional help available through our onsite school support workers.
“At previous schools, I felt like one in a big bunch of people. But here, everyone really knows each other and I made friends so quickly. It’s more like a family, you just feel accepted. You can also get that personal help whenever you’re struggling. I think there's a really good structure around what we do everyday and a rewards system for getting work done which is motivating.”
Grace participates in our Certificate II in Horticulture course. Every Wednesday, her class works in the garden, propagating plants, building the new greenhouse and setting-up a professional style nursery. She is also on track to attain her Certificate II In Skills For Work, where she has learnt to perfect her resume and cover letters and to apply for jobs. With a casual job at Dominos on the weekends, those employability skills have clearly paid off.
Grace is interested in pursuing Childcare after school. To help her get first-hand insight, NGC coordinated a work-placement with Aussie Kindies Woy Woy. For one day a week over the span of a month, she had the opportunity to take this career for a spin. The results were fantastic, with plenty of great feedback coming her way.
“I absolutely love babies, so I was so happy working at the childcare centre. We did everything from making their lunch and changing nappies, to putting them down for naps and playing on the playground. The team were really nice and it was good to see what it’s actually like to be in a workplace like that."
So, what’s next for Grace? She’s working towards her HSC in November, doing an excellent job as our School Vice Captain and continuing to cultivate her passion for animal welfare. Grace definitely leads with kindness and we can see her thriving in any industry where she can care for others (human or animal!)
“After school, I’d love to do childcare or be a youth worker. In my life, I’ve had some hard times and I see kids in similar situations. I want to be able to help people to get past those experiences. I’d also work with animals in a heartbeat, especially endangered species. For now, I’m focused on getting my HSC. I never thought I’d do that and I’ll be the first in my family to achieve it."
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