Ascension Education had the pleasure of returning to Brisbane Boys’ College on the 21st of October. The first ever Pathways Programs were launched at BBC, so it’s always great to go back to the place it all began. In what’s now our third program here, we ran our Pathways to Business, Engineering, Medicine, and Allied Health courses. It was fantastic to see so many students invest time into one of the most important decisions they’ll ever make. In fact, this program was the largest we’ve ever seen at BBC!
This also marked the first time our Allied Health program has run at BBC, and as always we tailored our content based upon the careers the boys were interested in. This lead us to incorporate a physiotherapy master class during the middle session of the day. Physio student Blake Pryse ran the boys through a series of practical exercises which simulated what they might come to expect in a university tutorial, and indeed in their future workplace.
Blake demonstrating a physiotherapy exercise as part of the Pathways to Allied Health course.
Students participating in a physiotherapy exercise using strapping tape.
In the other programs, William Finn (director of Ascension Education) walked his business students through practicals including negotiation, pitching, and consulting. Tim Davis (third-year post-graduate medical student) facilitated activities revolving around taking a patients history and blood pressure. Next door in engineering, the students engaged in python coding and worked with Arduino circuit boards under the tutelage of sixth year engineering/economics student Matthew Brock.
Students undertaking a practical blood pressure taking activity during their Pathways to Medicine course.
Students participating in a pitching exercise as part of the Pathways to Business course.
The students reported the Pathways Programs heavily exceeded their expectations, rating the programs 49% higher than they expected they would at the start of the day. More importantly, students felt 40% more prepared to make decisions about tertiary education and gave our presenters an average score of 9.2/10 for how well they gave an overview of studying and working in their respective area. Below you can find some of the great comments students had to say about the day!
”He [Tim] was very informative on the pathways. It was amazing to have a long time allocated for questions.”
“[The most beneficial aspect of the program was] talking to someone who was already taking the course at uni and them talking about what the subject is like.”
“I like how they incorporated both practical and listening exercises. The videos were pretty interesting as well.”
“[The most beneficial aspect of the program was] giving background information about the path that I didn't know before. Showing what the path involves and what it takes.”
“Expose the program more. Definitely worth coming to!”
“Keep going this is an epic program and thanks for helping me for my future pathway.”
Ascension Education would like to thank Dr. Leigh Hobart and the fantastic team at Brisbane Boys’ College for their assistance in running our workshops for Brisbane Boys’ College!