Testimonials from Schools Using DreamCatcher

New School in 2018, their experiences to date:

Dear Jane

I am writing to express my appreciation both for the DreamCatcher platform and for your assistance in establishing the use of DreamCatcher at our School.

Our school has a roll of 2000 students, and at the end of this year our very experienced Careers advisor Judy Novis is retiring. With a new person in the careers advisor role, and a new 'Lifeskills' course compulsory for our 2018 cohort of Year 12 students which involves a major career planning focus, we knew our school needed a careers guidance platform which would perform a variety of functions.

We explored three options thoroughly, one of which was Dreamcatcher. As an option, your platform stood out way ahead of the rest in terms of the functionality and the extremely well thought out process through which DreamCatcher guides students to explore and identify career pathways, but also guides them to identify transferable skills and develop a CV which is tailored to the needs of the individual student and their particular pathway/s.

The DreamCatcher platform is both logically and intuitively organised, meaning that navigation for both students and for staff is easy to follow. From the administrative side:

The ease by which we can transfer data from Kamar - including NCEA assessment results, is highly valuable, as it will increase the students understanding of how what they do at school has a bearing on their futures. This is because the platform also provides access to detailed career information which identifies what NCEA standards are required or helpful for particular pathways.
The provision of comprehensive lesson plans appropriate to each year level and easy to follow video tutorials on the various functions possible within the platform make getting to grips with Dreamcatcher exciting and fun.
The facility by which we can group students according to their preferences career-wise, or identify at risk or high achieving students, is extremely useful. It helps us to meet the needs of our diverse learners, being future focussed for every single one of them.
Being able to set a calendar of assessment timings and careers events that students are going to be able to upload will be invaluable. In our school, recent assessment of workload stress for both students and staff has resulted in our identifying that a global assessment calendar is an urgent goal. DreamCatcher has this facility, through appropriate use of the calendar.
The role of the administrator can be shared in Dreamcatcher, facilitating collaborative work between staff.
The administrative rights functions have been very carefully constructed, so that a wide variety of staff can use DreamCatcher appropriately according to their level of responsibility. The key elements of how DreamCatcher functions has been introduced to a range of our very experienced staff, including the senior management team, and they have been extremely impressed at the range of functions and the organisation of the platform.
The way the portal is organised makes accessing both individual and group information transparent and easy. I cannot stress enough how important this is for busy teachers!

From the student side:

The cultural responsiveness of the platform in showcasing students' pepeha is an exciting element to Dreamcatcher. To be able to put a student pepeha front and centre of the initial login and navigation process is absolutely wonderful. Tu meke!
The facility to personalise the individual page is a key asset in Dreamcatcher. Teenagers are acutely self-conscious, and this facility to 'make it their own' with their own picture etc heightens willingness to engage with the platform. Looks matter!
The side navigation menu takes students on a logical journey of self-reflection while building self-confidence through the process of self-identifying key competency skills, as well as co and extracurricular experiences which add to their transferable skill set. When students have not yet input their own data and try to skip to the CV builder end of things, the platform cleverly, clearly and firmly returns students to those elements of skill identification which are incomplete and vital to building a strong CV.
It is so easy to navigate - and this assists students to 'do the mahi, get the treats' in terms of inputting information. It is immediately apparent that this is constructive to their future pathways.
The career exploration dimension of DreamCatcher is thorough, comprehensive and wide-ranging. The resource links are up to date, diverse, and extremely easy to navigate.
The new 'Know Me' function enhances individual self-identification of strengths.
Students can easily change their information, (as their experiences, interests, and ideas change over time) and the transparency of how conversations are recorded on the platform enhances student agency: their sense of control over, and responsibility for their own information.
The Subject Selection process and facility in DreamCatcher help to make career planning more real and purposive for students.
We can see how over time, a student's use of DreamCatcher will serve as a thorough record of their learning journey towards young adulthood, as they plan their future, whether that be via work, or further training and education.

Regarding the initial support phase - Jane, you have been immeasurably patient and informative with Wills and I as we get our heads around what Dreamcatcher can do. No question has been too stupid or has gone unanswered. While you are clearly the expert, you have made us feel like we are alongside you on our learning journey - you have built our sense of agency and as such, increased our excitement about the potential DreamCatcher is going to have for our students.

We think Dreamcatcher is absolutely superb, and can't wait for 2018 and the full implementation of this tool for our students. It not only catches dreams but helps to build them. Not just of the students, but of the teachers who work so hard to support our students as well!

Rick Nicolson: Director of TradeUP:

As an Apprentice Co-ordindator and now company director of TradeUp I have been working with MMC students for four years placing students into apprenticeships.

I have found the students to be well informed and career focused. I put this down to the work done by the Careers Department and the tool called Dreamcatcher. We have noticed, students using DreamCatcher as their initial 'self knowledge and 'career research' process are more likely to be:

Ready to seek employment and able to articulate why they are seeking an apprenticeship in a specific area
Are well informed about the apprenticeship they are seeking
Their curriculum vitaes strongly reflect the apprenticeship they are seeking
Very rarely change their minds once in work placement (1 out of 22)
Successful apprenticeship employment placements

We receive emails via DreamCatcher, communicating that a student is interested in an apprenticeship inviting us in to meet with them and their parents.

The TXTing tool in DreamCatcher is used regularly via Careers to communicate with students, enabling reminders, action and notification of new trainee positions available.

Student Quotes:

‘…at my previous school I had not done any career research before, I found DreamCatcher a very helpful tool in deciding my career pathways. My Dad also found DreamCatcher good to work with me at home.’ Year 12 Student – Kayla
‘Being a new student it was a different experience being able to pick relevant classes to help me get closer to my career goal also communicate with teachers via email’ Year 12 student – Year 13 Student – Jesse
‘I found DreamCatcher helpful with preparing myself for the big step next year’ – Year 13 Student – Jen
'….really helped me guide myself for my future. The tasks for my plan A, B and C was really useful because, it gave me a guide-line to follow so I won’t get lost along the way. DreamCatcher makes you think about your decision and pathway you will be taking. Year 12 – Mikayla
‘I was very stressed about Universities, DreamCatcher helped me understand what to do and helped reduce my anxiety’ Year 13 Cheyenne

Mount Maunganui College

Terry Collett

Principal

Dear Colleagues,

DreamCatcher is a career development programme created by Jane Doherty, Careers Adviser at Mount Maunganui College. Jane recognised a need to have a process that starts students developing their thinking on their career pathway from Year 9. Students start with their dreams, and as they progress through school, they continue to develop and firm up their career choices through subject choices and finally leading on to choices they will make post secondary schooling.

DreamCatcher is an excellent web based tool that allows students to individually build their career profile and pathway, using the tools they feel comfortable with. They can access other career information sites, tertiary education programmes, and university halls of residence, application forms, scholarships and much more. Students can build a partnership with their parents to form a sound career plan for the future.

In school, students can work with their subject teachers, Deans and career counsellors to develop their career plan. On DreamCatcher they can continually update and review their plan and research career options.

From a school management point of view, DreamCatcher allows Deans, counsellors and form teachers to identify students at risk in terms of making well considered decisions regarding their career pathway. Lists of students attending tertiary programmes can be generated, and of those needing halls of residence information, applications and testimonials. It can produce subject/option lists that will assist in timetabling, and student leavers data.

DreamCatcher will be instrumental in assisting students make the right career choices. This alone, is cost benefit to parents and our communities when students move with considerable certainty into the next stage of their career pathway.

I would recommend that all Principals have a close look at DreamCatcher, review its potential and see the opportunities it can offer to your students, parents and school.

Mount Maunganui College

Amy Lean

Year 12

The DreamCatcher programme has been very helpful for me as it allows me to set out my goals for the future and research into what is required. The career profile that has been created has a section for your career options which helped me to put down ideas that I might like to pursue and then investigate what each course entails. By being able to do this I have been able to find out which subjects I should be taking for the next year and what pre-requisites I will have to sit to be able to get into the path that I choose.

There is also a section for tertiary study which is good for those that are moving on from High School at the end of the year. You are able to put down possible options for the course you are looking into and select the type of accommodation that you would like to be in when you are studying. This is good as it allows you to look into the various halls and flats that are in the area, it also means you look into the different ways the courses are run at each tertiary provider, for example some universities offer different pre-requisites for the same course and the one that is right for you can be determined by the subjects that you choose at school.

I think that DreamCatcher is a very useful programme for seniors in College as it is a way of planning what career you may want to follow and where you want to study. It has helped me as I have been able to put down my main options for my career choices and research the requirements as well as find the universities that provide the course and the accommodation that is offered there.