Wollumbin High School students are getting a jump on their peers through an interview process that focuses students on quality learning and developing communication skills.

Wollumbin High principal Karen Connell said the process, adapted from a similar program operating at Newcastle’s Callaghan College, helped students develop skills so they were “competitive” in the employment market.

“We wanted the students to focus on improving the quality of their work,” Ms Connell said. “It also gave the students an authentic way to develop their communication and interview skills.”

The Quality Portfolio process, adopted by the school in 2004, gives students the chance to display examples of quality work produced during the year to a panel consisting of a student, parent/community member and teachers at the school.

Ms Connell said students included draft and finished material to emphasise the focus on student improvement. She also said the support of parents and community was integral to the program’s success.

Ms Connell said involving students from a year below the presenters – as panel members – gave them an insight into what was expected of them the following year. Year 6 students from Wollumbin High’s partner primary schools sit on Year 7 panels as part of the school’s transition program.

The portfolio process involves all Years 7 to 11 students, assisted by classroom and mentoring teachers, collecting samples of quality work throughout the year.

The students use the portfolio as the basis for an oral presentation where they discuss how their work meets the school’s core competencies: quality achievement, academic endeavour, effective communication, responsible citizenship, self-directed learning, technological capability, problemsolving and decision-making, and cooperation and teamwork.

After the interview a formal report is written and included with the student’s end of year report.

“[The panellists are] saying that the students are including far more quality work in their portfolio,” Ms Connell said. “The students have certainly become more confident at interviews.”

Ms Connell said the portfolio process had also become a point of interest for the north coast school.

“[The process] is now part of the culture of our school and sometimes parents will write on their out-of-zone application that they feel their children will benefit from the process.”