Surfest and Callaghan College Jesmond Campus

From 26 March - 6 April the annual Surfest event was held at Merewether Beach, Newcastle. As part of the 2008 event, Career Links set up an Adopt-a- School partnership between local high school, Callaghan College Jesmond Senior Campus and Surfest.

This initiative involved more than 120 Year 11 and Year 12 students. These students, who volunteered to participate came from a diverse range of subject areas, including: Aboriginal Studies, Photography, Retail, Construction, Information Technology, Business Services, Sport Lifestyle and Recreation, Music, Hospitality (Cookery and Food & Beverage) and the Student Representative Forum.

This event has required a huge amount of preparation and commitment of time from students and staff.

The students gained insight and "hands on" experience into the organisation of a corporate event and the preparation required to host Surfest over two weeks.

•        Hospitality Food and Beverage students served food to competitors & staff in the compound, as well as serving in the Silver Service/corporate sponsor functions

 •        Construction students were involved with the complete setup of the compound (erecting fences, boarded up/secured premises, built makeshift stages) and worked closely with the onsite OH&S officer

 •        Business Services conducted surveys with competitors and visitors, collated information for event organisers and major sponsors for reporting purposes

•        Sport Lifestyle and Recreation students worked with judges and officials at the event by running with scores, cross referencing results and supplying copies to officials for results to be recorded. They also worked with registration of competitors and setting up for competitions.

•        Aboriginal Studies students attended the opening to experience a welcome to country and traditional Aboriginal dancing. They also spoke with Aboriginal sponsors and employment consultants on job possibilities in the area and sponsorships available to them

•        Information Technology students worked on the official Surfest website, using Graphic Design skills and broadcast live webcasts from the event. They were also involved in the reporting and collating of information received from surveys

•        Photography students worked with industry representatives and were supervised to use cameras valued at $4,000 each to take photos of the competitors.  Photos were compressed and sent to ABC radio and Surfest websites. Two of the students’ photographs of the event were published in Cosmopolitan magazine and the Billabong Surfing magazine.

•        Music students provided entertainment to corporate sponsor lunches and for the Wine and Wave festival. They performed and set up the stage area with event management staff

•        The Student Representative Forum promoted the school through the Wine and Waves festival and assisted in other students as needed.

In addition to gaining valuable skills and experience, students made important contacts to assist with future career ambitions.

Career Links Programme Coordinator, Leigh Killian, has worked closely with Callaghan College, during the weeks and months leading up to Surfest. Other results of the project were:

•        Students experienced what is involved in setting up an event and what goes on behind the scenes

•        School and community links were formed

•        Career opportunities opened for students, most received references from industry professionals

•        Participating employers are now interested in School Based Traineeships