About 30 students from grades 7 and 8 took part in Beacon Foundation's Prepare program at the Campbell Town Bowls Club, which saw students schooled in the art of communication, first impressions and positive identity.  

Goal-setting, nutrition and resilience were also on the agenda as Beacon Foundation lead facilitator Taz Devadass led students through a one-day program. 

“The whole purpose of it is to develop those baseline transitional skills that you use right through your lifetime,” Miss Devadass said.

“We want them to know that age should not be a barrier so there's all this stuff they can start doing already.

“Maybe they want to get into childcare - you can't go and get a job tomorrow doing that, but you can go and look after your baby sister or do some babysitting.

“It's all about what is the next step from here to your career.”

The program represented a welcome insight into employment and careers for grade 8 students Darian Richardson, Ruby Graham and Georgie Nicolson, who took part in Prepare for the second year running 

“We all have jobs outside of school, so we kind of think about (employment) here and there, but this is elaborating on it,” Darian said. 

The opportunity to talk to a selection of industry professionals was one of the highlights of the program for Georgie, who is considering a career in either education or agriculture.

“With the mentors it helps show… what they did when they were our age (to get where they are now),” Georgie said.

Haywards and Crisp Bros training and safety manager Steve Frankcombe was one of six mentors to offer advice to students on how to best prepare for the future.  

“For us it's about giving young people an opportunity, making them aware of what it takes to get into the workforce, and helping them set up some targets and goals through their school life so when they get to the end they know what they want to do and more importantly how to go about it,” Mr Frankcombe said.