At Creating Chances, our mission is to inspire, develop, and empower young people to make a lasting impact on society. While sport is our language, the goal is building confident, capable, and future-ready individuals. Through our Youth Development Pathway—from Champions to Future Pathways and Teacher Cadets—we utilize a structured curriculum to help students master the eight essential job skills required in the modern workplace. The Next Steps Program encompasses all of this.
Here is how our Next Steps Program turns these essential skills into real-world success:
Communication: Finding Your Professional Voice
Mastering verbal, non-verbal, and active listening is a priority. Students may practice this by conducting lessons for primary students, which requires clear instructions so their audience understands what to do. Through peer-to-peer coaching and receiving feedback from mentors, participants refine their ability to engage stakeholders effectively
Teamwork: The Power of Collaboration
Teamwork is the most reported skill learned by our participants. Whether it is collaborative planning for lesson designs or co-coaching alongside other student leaders, students learn that working together is the only way to achieve a shared goal.
Problem Solving: Thinking on Your Feet
We create scenarios where students must go through a logical process to find solutions. This is put to the test through conflict resolution during playground disputes and adaptability, such as adjusting a coaching strategy on the fly if a lesson isn’t going as planned.
Initiative and Enterprise: Stepping Up
Our programs encourage students to step out of their comfort zones. We see this when students take the initiative to run a whole session or voluntarily sign up for the Teacher Cadet (GGT) program to explore careers they hadn’t previously considered.
Planning and Organising: Mapping the Future
Using “backwards mapping,” students learn to align their current actions with long-term career objectives. This includes resource management, setting project timelines, and developing a personal “toolkit” that includes a study timetable and professional goals.
Self-Management: Professionalism in Action
Aligning emotions with professional standards is key to success. Students develop dependability by meeting deadlines and practicing emotional regulation—learning to “keep a cool head” and push past mistakes rather than letting frustration take over.
Learning: The Lifelong Mindset
We foster a “lifelong learning” mindset through continuous reflection. By using journals to evaluate past experiences, students learn to adapt their management strategies to meet the different needs of the students they support.
Technology: Navigating the Digital Workplace
Students build digital literacy by using modern workplace tools. This includes researching career pathways via online resources and using educational platforms for lesson planning and recording, ensuring they are prepared for a tech-driven workforce.
The results speak for themselves: 93.5% of program participants students agree that if they were invited to a job interview – having completed the program – they believe they would do well.
Are you ready to build your future? Contact us to bring this life-changing program to your school!
