Leading the Way With Industry Partnerships

Toorak College is committed to taking classroom learning into the real-world, challenging career stereotypes, and flipping the long-accepted education journey - 13 years of school, leading to university and then the workforce - on its head. By forging industry partnerships, we hope to inspire and motivate students into careers they did not know existed and fast-track their career pathways.

One such partnership is between Toorak College and Downer Group, the third-largest employer in Australia. The program, which has been developed in partnership with Downer, allows students from Years 9-12 to have multiple industry-based experiences in the Science and Engineering fields.

In Year 9 and 10, students are given a taste of what life at Downer is like through visits to the Downer Group facilities and networking with Downer employees. In Year 11 and 12, students can get involved by work shadowing a Downer mentor to see what a ‘typical day’ looks like. Finally, in Year 12, up to two Toorak students are able to secure positions in the highly sought after Cadet Program, where students are employed at Downer Group throughout their tertiary studies, and upon graduating from university, are guaranteed employment with Downer Group at project manager level.

Madeline McComb (TC ‘19), was the first to secure a place in Downer’s Cadet Program and moved straight from school into eight weeks of paid work before starting university. Since commencing with Downer in November 2019, Madeline says, “Most of my day is spent out on-site, which has been a fantastic learning experience. I was excited to see what engineering looks like in the workplace, and the Downer workplace is a great environment to be in. I have absolutely loved being a part of it so far.”

The Toorak College X Downer partnership is the first of many industry-led programs that we are developing for our girls, and we look forward to working with a diverse range of employers who are committed to growing clever, courageous female talent!

Mrs Bianca New - Student Futures Specialist