Do you remember what you were thinking about in year six? Was your future career on your radar?
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At a career expo in Katherine today, students as young as 11 could be seen dashing between stalls promoting universities, Defence jobs, trades and vet courses.
These events are usually reserved as an exit strategy for students in years 10, 11 and 12 - at a time they have generally committed to a certain path.
Primary school may seem a little young to be planting the career seed, but new research is showing the benefits of encouraging youth to think about the future from a much younger age.
Jenni Smith the manager of career education from the Department of Education says the push is about showing young people the opportunities available so they can start making informed choices.
"We have found students couldn't see the relevance of school and uptake of STEM subjects was low, I mean why would someone take up maths when they don't know how it fits in the world," she said.
"Research shows youth need to think about life beyond school at a primary school age.
"They can start to put a story together about what their future might look like and start making decisions about how to achieve those goals."
About 600 students from Katherine schools visited the expo today.
While high school students were the clear majority, the expo had drawn the largest group of primary aged students than any other year.
Katherine South Primary School students Peter Bright and Cooper Peirce, both 11 years old, had their first glimpse of life beyond school, today, at the expo.
Cooper Peirce, who's favourite subject is math, was quickly drawn to the trades stall where small trucks were on display.
He said he had already been thinking about the future, now he was in year six, but the hands on play with machines cemented dreams of a career in the mines.
"I can see myself doing that in the future," he said.
Peter Bright, on the other hand, already knew he wanted to be a builder.
With dollar signs in his eyes, he has plans to build his mother a house and is already paying special attention to math. He knows he will have to do a trade.
The expo, a chance for students to broaden their horizons, wasn't a waste on Peter, though.
He took a special interest in the Indigenous Allied Health Australia organisation, which works to improve health systems particularly for Indigenous and Torres Straight Islander people.
"I want to be a builder, but I didn't know all of these other things existed," he said.
"I really like learning about Aboriginal culture, the paintings are cool, and some people don't respect the culture, but I do. It would be cool to work in that [field]."
Sandy Talbot, the industry engagement officer from the Department of Education, works with students across Katherine and has found older students are less likely to take up risks or opportunities when it comes careers.
She says it is due to a lack of exposure to possibilities, and direction.
"The curriculum is cramped, they have to meet academic requirements and there is no room left for students to look at what their future might look like," she said.
"The earlier we can plant the seed the better, so [students] can target where they want to get to."
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