Pathways
Career Information and Advice
Career information and advice for students is available from Geoff Watt in the Pathways Office. Students are invited to drop in and talk with Mr Watt or to make an appointment to speak with him at a later date. Parents/caregivers are more than welcome to ring the school to make an appointment to see Mr Watt with their students. Information on subject and career planning, training institutions, support and scholarships is readily available.
Tertiary Information
Students and their families are advised to regularly check the Opunake High School home page to keep up-to-date with coming events such as day trips to different tertiary institutions, liaison visits at school, studylink presentations etc...
Halls of Residence Applications
Applications for halls of residence generally open in August for the following year of study. Applications must be in by 1 October. These applications are completed on-line. Each institution has detailed descriptions of each hall of residence either in their prospectus or on their website.
Post-secondary School Course Applications
On-line application for university study is generally availabe from early October for the next year of study. Some degrees have special selection criteria and early application dates. Students are advised to study each institution's website for it's particular process.
Gateway
Gateway is designed to strengthen the pathway for students to progress from school to workplace learning. This is a great opportunity for students to build skills for future employment and to try out potential careers. Opunake High School endeavours to place over 20 students each year into a Gateway position with supportive employers around Taranaki. Workplace learning is supported with scheduled classroom time for each student.
STAR (Secondary Tertiary Alignment Resource)
The aim of STAR s to assist secondary schools to better meet the needs of students by granting additional funding for schools to use in accessing a wide range of courses.
At Opunake High School STAR courses are usually offered as classrom based correspondence type learning covering subjects such as Early Childhood Education, Travel and Tourism and Business Studies. STAR funding is also used for various Whole Day options as well as courses such as First AId and Work Experience Week.
Academies
Opunake High School has had a number of students enrolled in both the WITT Engineering Trades Academy and Taratahi's Primary Industries Trades Academy (PITA) in 2012.
Websites
It is highly recommended that senior students and their families regularly use the following websites as they plan their career pathway.
www.breakout.org.nz (students are advised to access this site at school only)
