• Charles Sturt’s Future Moves program hosted Future Directions Day for Year 9 students in Port Macquarie region

The Charles Sturt University Future Moves program hosted a Future Directions Day to offer Year 9 high school students insights into what a higher education at the University could be like.

Up to 140 students from Hastings Secondary College Westport and Port Macquarie campuses attended the Future Moves events on Thursday 15 and Friday 16 June at Charles Sturt in Port Macquarie.

Students toured the University’s lecture halls, classrooms, laboratories, library, Learning Commons, First Nations spaces and the gym, and participated in sessions with faculty members for hands-on activities to give a glimpse of the university experience.

Students also competed in a digital scavenger hunt - Goose chase, to familiarise them with the campus.

Future Moves is a program for school students who wish to attend university, including those who may come from families with little to no experience with higher education.

Charles Sturt School Education Officer with Future Moves on the Mid North Coast Ms Jemma Wilkins said through Future Direction Days and another series of Future Moves events called Check It Out Days, Future Moves can break down barriers to allow students to become more confident in obtaining a tertiary degree.

“We offer students from local regional high schools the opportunity to experience a university campus in a fun and relaxed way,” she said.

“By showing them firsthand what university life looks like, where and how learning takes place, and introducing them to current undergraduates, we hope to dispel myths and break down barriers to tertiary education for students, many of whom will be first in their family to attend university.

“Students in regional and remote areas are underrepresented in higher education and so to combat this, the Future Moves Team hopes to raise the aspirations of the young people who attend these outreach events.

“Our aim is to encourage them to stick with their education and build towards the future they dream of.”

Additional Future Direction Days for Year 9 students will be held this year in Port Macquarie on Thursday 21 September, and on Thursday 16 and Thursday 23 November.

ENDS