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It can be really difficult for university graduates to get a full-time job.

While a bachelor’s degree may have been enough to secure your parents a job, increased competition means you need to go above and beyond to get your career on track.

We asked experts from three Melbourne universities how you can improve your chances of landing your dream job after graduation.

Related Post:

THE BENEFITS OF TAKING A GAP YEAR

ALTERNATE PATHWAYS TO UNIVERSITY

BE PROACTIVE

RMIT Director of Careers and Employability Judie Kay says you should start thinking about what you need to do to increase your employability as soon as you begin university.

“It is too late to leave it to the last semester,” she says.

“From day one you start that journey, and that continues on beyond graduation.”

Swinburne University Manager of Career Development Rob Vague says ideas surrounding employability have changed in the last few years.

“It used to be, ‘well you’ve got these skills, you’re employable’,” he says.

“Now you need a degree and you need skills, but it’s also about developing attitudes and behaviours.”

Ms Kay says while universities are there to help students, you need to be proactive and take charge of your career.

“What we encourage students to do first is to explore the industry or the area or the discipline that they’re wanting to enter,” she says.

She says this can help you understand more about what pursuing a career in that area may look like and what you need to do to get a job.

Monash University Senior Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Zlatko Skrbis encourages a similar approach.

“We want them to be aware of the magnitude of the challenge that employability prospects represent,” he says.

“We need to make them aware just how important it is that they think about employability issues, not towards the end of their degree, but at the very beginning of their university story and journey.”

GET EXPERIENCE

While high marks can go some way towards reflecting your aptitude, Mr Vague says it’s important to gain industry experience.

He says Swinburne offered a range of industry placements, differing in industry type and length.

“Students will graduate with not only not only a degree, but also a significant amount of experience which is really going to help them getting a bit become employable and get into the workforce,” she says.

Ms Kay and Professor Skrbis say RMIT and Monash also recommend undertaking industry placements while you complete your degree.

Ms Kay suggests you can either do it inside or outside the curriculum.

Professor Skrbis says about 15,000 Monash students completed a Work Integrated Learning unit at Monash each year.

“We are trying to make sure that we are not focusing those opportunities simply on areas that obviously lend themselves to Work Integrated Learning opportunities, like education,” he says.

“We do place a lot of emphasis on areas like law, like arts because this is really where traditionally universities have been weakest.”

BUILD TRANSFERABLE SKILLS

Professor Skrbis says Monash is looking at its curricular and co-curricular structures to ensure students were equipped with skills for the future.

“They range from data and analytical skills, to enterprising skills, to intercultural competency skills,” he says.

“No universities should purely focus on the narrow skill set that is associated with a particular profession or particular calling.”

Professor Skrbis says you can build intercultural competency skills, for example, by going on a university exchange or study tour.

Ms Kay says part-time work can help to build transferable skills that will be relevant in most industries.

“Even if you’re flipping hamburgers at McDonald’s, you’re still building those generic skills around teamwork and customer service,” she says.

Ms Kay says other useful skills you might develop through work, volunteering or travel include digital literacy, communication skills, resilience, initiative and the ability negotiate.

“You must start to take an interest in building those skills and reflecting on what skills you need,” she says.

Mr Vague says it’s not only important for you to build these skills, you also need to be able to articulate their relevance.

“It’s one thing to have done a part-time job; it’s another thing to be able to tell an employer how you have the skills and how are they going to help you,” he says.

If you get the opportunity to take on a leadership position, you should

“They’re the sorts of things that, I guess, make people stand out from other people from other candidates,” he says.

21st Century skills are 12 abilities that today’s students need to succeed in their careers during the Information Age.

21st Century skills are: 

1. Critical thinking
2. Creativity
3. Collaboration
4. Communication
5. Information literacy
6. Media literacy
7. Technology literacy
8. Flexibility
9. Leadership
10. Initiative
11. Productivity
12. Social skills

These skills are intended to help students keep up with the lightning-pace of today’s modern markets. Each skill is unique in how it helps students, but they all have one quality in common.

They’re essential in the age of the Internet.

On this page, we’ll take a look at what’s included in 21st Century skills, how they help students, and why they’re so important.

Join Chris Zook, content marketing manager at Applied Educational Systems, as he delves into the details of 21st Century skills.

Infographic List: 21st Century Skills

Want a quick graphic reference about 21st Century skills? 

Keep this infographic on-hand for any student of any age — even as young as middle school! 

Let’s start with an overview of the skill categories.

For more details please go to their website on: Applied Educational Systems

Frederic Adhitama- Network College Editor Manager & Head of Learning- Integrated Curricula 

At the intersection of neuroscience and artificial intelligence (AI) is an alternative approach to deep learning. Evolutionary algorithms (EA) are a subset of evolutionary computation—algorithms that mimic biological evolution to solve complex problems. Published this week on Tuesday in Cell Reports, IBM researchers took an innovative approach using evolutionary algorithms to create a state-of-the-art cloud-based neuroscience model for studying neurodegenerative disorders.

The origins of artificial intelligence goes back to the 1950s. The recent global resurrection of AI from its hibernation is largely due to advances in machine learning pattern recognition, namely deep learning. Deep learning, modeled loosely on the biological brain with layers of neural networks, tend to be single-purpose point-solutions that require extensive training with massive data sets, and are customized for a specific environment. In contrast, evolutionary algorithms solves a problem based on criteria set in the “fitness” function—thus requiring little to no data.

The different classes of evolutionary algorithms include genetic algorithms, evolution strategies, differential evolution and estimation of distribution algorithms. What these classes have in common is the process of evolution. The EA process of evolution involves generating, usually randomly, populations of search points, also called agents, chromosomes, candidate solutions or individuals. These populations of search points are put through “variation” operations and “selection” through multiple generations. The concept of a variation operation is similar to biological mutation and recombination processes.

The “fitness” of each search point is calculated after each iteration—the ones with the “strongest” (higher objective values) are kept, the “weakest” (lower objective values) are removed from the population of search points. Hence, the population of search points “evolve” over generations to produce the optimal solution to the problem. The “fittest” variation survives.

Evolutionary algorithms are distributed in nature, making it well matched for cloud-based or massively parallel multi-core processing. In this neuroscience study focused on Huntington’s disease, the researchers used state-of-the-art non-dominated sorting differential evolution (NSDE) algorithm hosted on IBM Cloud.

“We introduced a ‘soft thresholding’ of the error function coupled with a neighborhood penalty to prevent systematic bias due to targeting exact feature values,” said James R. Kozloski, neuroscientist and IBM Master Inventor, who worked on the research study.

”We used this modified error of the non-dominated sorting differential evolution (NSDE) framework and imposed a penalty based on a measure of ‘crowdedness’ in feature space of previously selected 0 error models thus biasing the algorithm to evenly cover feature space in the 0 error region,” Kozloski explained. “This allowed us to create models of the full range of parameters possible to fit the data, rather than just a single model.”

“This ends up helping the models to generalize well, because we're encouraging the algorithm to find a region of parameter space that has the capability of producing models that respond like any of the neurons recorded during the experiments,” said the master algorithm designer for the research—Tim Rumbell, PhD, and Computational Neuroscientist at IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center.

“Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) have been used quite often previously to search parameter space of neuron models, and I used NSDE in one of my previous publications,” said Rumbell.

Rumbell, along with researchers Danel Draguljić, Aniruddha Yadav, Patrick R. Hof, Jennifer I. Luebke and Christina M. Weaver, used evolutionary algorithms in a prior study to model the ion channel conductance and kinetics of pyramidal neurons in monkeys that was published in the Journal of Computational Neuroscience in August 2016.

Some open source frameworks used for evolutionary algorithms include Distributed Evolutionary Algorithms (DEAP) in Python, Evolutionary Computation in Java (ECJ), Evolving Objects in C++, EvA2 in Java, HeuristicLab C#, MOEA Framework in Java, and OpenBEAGLE in C++.

Neuroscience is an inherently complex field of science where artificial intelligence is accelerating breakthrough discoveries. Evolutionary algorithms present a flexible, adaptive alternative to AI deep learning, and are currently being used in computational neuroscience to accelerate the scientific understanding of the human brain.  

A few weeks ago, I was watching an episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. His show was focused on automation and its impact on the types of jobs that are slowly disappearing and will become obsolete in the future. The main point of the show was not to elicit horror that robots will replace workers and we are all going to be out of work, but to inspire viewers to start rethinking how we think about a career. In a clip of an interview with Farai Chideya, the author of The Episodic Career, she suggests that to the question we often ask children, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” we may want to add, “What five things do you want to be when you grow up?" Inevitably the pace of technological advancement will lead to job losses for many, and we may have to prepare younger generations to think more flexibly about their career plans.  

Toward the end of the show, Oliver endearingly explained to a group of young children how any job they want to do now, robots will be able to do better in the future. One kid asked, “Well, what can I do?” Oliver replied: “You can do a series of non-routine tasks that require social intelligence, complex critical thinking, and creative problem-solving.”

Social intelligence, complex critical thinking, and creative problem solving! Oliver and his team hit the nail on the head. That was music to my ears, for two reasons: First, this is what I do for a living – training people in those skills – so my job is safe. I will not be replaced by robots!

The second reason, however, is that I see how much the quality of my clients’ lives improves when they actively engage in learning and applying these skills in their daily lives. These skills are essential not only for career selection and job performance, but for success and happiness more broadly. From a cognitive perspective, these skills are considered the cornerstone of goal-directed behavior, the kind of behavior that determines the kinds of goals we set in life and the types of results we achieve. In fact, these higher-order cognitive skills are part our executive function system. Weakness in these skills is the reason we often feel stuck, overwhelmed, indecisive, misunderstood, and even hopeless. Social cognition is the foundation of emotional balance and healthy relationships. Critical thinking enables us to make more informed decisions.  And creative problem-solving can give us the sense that the world is indeed our oyster.

The good news is that these are skills that, to a certain extent, we all come equipped with. They are part of our brain engineering. We already use them implicitly to run our lives on a daily basis. The even better news is that just like with other mental skills, like attention and memory, we can engage them consciously and explicitly in order to improve them. To understand the difference between implicit and explicit use, think about it this way: We can put on a pair of sneakers and mindlessly go for a run. We implicitly know how to move our legs and arms to cover the distance and we know when we are too tired and it is time to stop. We may even feel accomplished at the end of the run. However, if we want to do it well, we have to switch from mindless to mindful. There are many factors that make for a better run. Learning good technique so that we minimize the impact on our joints, choosing the right gear so that we are not too cold or too hot, picking shoes that fit our training purposes and our bone structure, knowing when and what to eat or drink, setting up a schedule that meets our level and training needs, and more. All of that is explicit. We can run either way, but when we know how to run the benefits are greater and the risk of injury lower.

In a similar way, every day we solve many small and big problems, make plenty of decisions, and go through a range of emotions. Implicitly. Automatically. But it doesn’t have to stop there. We can become more mindful about how to solve problems at work, at school, or at home, how to make good decisions, and how to relate better to ourselves and to others. Explicitly training ourselves in these skills is going to make life’s journey more fulfilling and more enjoyable.

Even if we are eventually able to train robots in these skills, too, and we lose some more jobs, we will still need these skills to deal with an increasingly complex and socially demanding world. And to Oliver’s point, social cognition, complex critical thinking, and creative problem solving will make us irreplaceable .

Frederic Adhitama- Head of Learning Integrated Learning Curricula 

Once a month, I volunteer at a meal center to help serve food to people who are in need. Prepping and serving the dinner is a busy yet fun team activity of five to six people, organized by two generous souls. Despite the many other things that I need to do, I really look forward to meeting and serving the patrons, even if only briefly.

Although my motivation begins with wanting to help others and being grateful for what I have been given, it is joy that helps bring me back when I am very busy. I first noticed this some time ago: At the end of our shift, after the kitchen and dining room have been cleaned up, I would experience a lightness of being, a sense of satisfaction and reconnection to purpose. It just feels good.

Allen Luks coined this feeling “the helper’s high”, the sense of euphoria that can be experienced soon after helping someone else. Luks defined two phases—the first characterized by that uplifted, euphoric mood; the second by a longer lasting sense of calm. The greatest effect (the high) was observed in helping strangers.¹

A few years ago, as I was researching how kindness affected health, I came to learn that volunteerism was associated with a markedly lower risk of dying. Depending on the study, the decrease in death rates ranged between 20% to 60% or so. For perspective, this is huge. A good example is the introduction of clean drinking water. After water filtration and chlorination were introduced early in the 20th century, death rates from contaminated water dropped about 15% to 20%.²

The observations on volunteering come from epidemiologic studies in which populations are followed over time.³ They are complex in that people are living their lives and there are a lot of what are called “confounding variables”—different things happening at the same time. For example, people are getting married or divorced, getting or losing jobs, maybe quit smoking, or maybe eating and exercising better. In studies like this, it can be hard to sort out cause and effect. That is, maybe people who volunteer live longer simply because they are healthier and able to volunteer.  And perhaps they also have financial resources (don’t have to work two jobs) that frees them to volunteer.

Scientists can try to adjust for these different life events—with reasonable consistency, studies generally report that the effects of volunteering remain after these adjustments. Following them over time also supports the idea that volunteerism reduces death. One recent and large European study found that self-reported health scores were significantly better in volunteers than in non-volunteers—the difference in scores equivalent to about five years of aging.⁴

How could volunteering cause a decrease in death? There are several factors at play. The first, and likely most significant, is uplifted mood, that is, lower stress. Multiple studies have provided evidence that volunteering is good for depression, well-being, and social network, among other effects.⁵It is entirely consistent with Luks' observations and my own microcosmic experience. Second, people who volunteer regularly also make more effort to take care of themselves, as demonstrated in visits to their doctor for preventive health care.⁶ Perhaps their networks are chiding them to do so.

Finally, people who volunteer may be more physically active, as seen in the Baltimore Experience Corps Trial, a study of the effect of volunteering in older adults. In that study, women (but not men) had a significant increase in walking each day compared to those who did not volunteer.⁷

To try to tie this together, volunteering likely exerts its positive effects on health by connecting people to others as well as to an activity that they find meaningful. Achieving connection, purpose, and meaning is critical to attenuating stressors of life—particularly loneliness. Since stress is a major cause of disease, especially heart disease, the ability to quench the need for connection, purpose, and meaning can bring about beneficial and salutary changes for people.⁸ And when there is purpose and we are connected to others, we take care of ourselves.

Most have heard the ancient wisdom that giving benefits the giver more than the receiver.  “A generous man will prosper, he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed” from Proverbs speaks to this point. If we look at that solely from a materialistic perspective, the concept is hard to fathom. But if we look at it from a spiritual and now biologic perspective, it totally makes sense.  Even many years ago, our predecessors understood this point without modern scientific techniques.

About 25% of the US population volunteers.⁹ What do you think would happen if we could increase that percentage?

If you can’t volunteer right now but want to get that good feeling, try looking at the images of kindness, compassion, and love. Or go out and photograph it.¹⁰  We know that even seeing kindness will give you that feeling.

Raw and SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch is called The Man these days without anyone batting an eye. However, in the afterglow of her main event triumph at WrestleMania 35, it can be easy to forget that Lynch’s career was in an entirely different place less than a year ago. So how did she become The Man? Let’s take a look.

Summer sets. The Man rises.

Becky Lynch walked into SummerSlam 2018 beloved as ever by the WWE Universe as she prepared to take on then-SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella and Charlotte Flair with the title on the line. For weeks (years, really), Lynch had been constantly reminded of her shortcomings, both in terms of her own accolades and compared to her best friend, Charlotte. The Triple Threat Match was seemingly a chance for The Irish Lass Kicker to erase any doubt that others had casted upon her.

It wound up being a lot more.

In the contest’s closing moments, Lynch appeared to be nearing victory as she had Carmella locked in the Dis-arm-her. Charlotte pounced from behind, though, and dropped Lynch with Natural Selection for a sudden victory. After the match, it first appeared that Charlotte and Becky were going to embrace, but then, at the drop of a dime, Becky absolutely unloaded on The Queen with an ambush that was years in the making. The savage attack was a shocker for the WWE Universe, but not quite unsettling. The fans embraced Becky’s shift in attitude as quickly as Lynch herself, setting the stage for an eight-month journey the likes of which the WWE Universe had never seen.

A hellish ascension

Following her headline-stealing and attention-grabbing outburst at SummerSlam, Becky Lynch landed on a one-on-one collision course with Charlotte Flair with the SmackDown Women’s Championship on the line at WWE Hell in a Cell 2018. The two former best friends, now entrenched in a rivalry defined by its unyielding animosity, squared off in a match where The Irish Lass Kicker showed that she was no longer the same happy-go-lucky competitor the WWE Universe once knew.

Clearly more aggressive, a hyper-focused Lynch looked to exorcise her prior demons against The Queen like it was a PE class in Dublin. Channeling all her rage that stemmed from being continually overlooked, Lynch countered an attempted Spear from Charlotte and turned it into the three-count. Lynch could once again be called the SmackDown Women’s Champion, but she would soon assume another title following this victory: The Man.

Raw raider (#undersieged)

Going strong as SmackDown Women’s Champion, Becky was fast approaching the biggest match of her career, a clash with then-Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey, as Survivor Series 2018 drew near. Lynch and Rousey quickly got into a heated war of words in the leadup to their much-anticipated showdown. All the verbal jousting laid the groundwork for The Man to lead the SmackDown LIVE women in a raid of Raw, with The Irish Lass Kicker’s sights specifically set on Rousey.

Lynch made an unforgettable statement against The Baddest Woman on The Planet, locking her in the Dis-arm-her in the backstage area. Not content, The Man then ventured into the ring, and amid a raucous melee, ate a stiff right hand from Nia Jax that literally broke her face.

Contusions and a crimson mask wouldn’t stop The Man, though, and Lynch continued her attack on Ronda, creating a moment that will stand the test of time. The injuries Becky sustained during the brawl might have taken her out of the Survivor Series match, but little could anyone have known (especially Lynch) that her raid of Raw would lead to WrestleMania becoming WrestleMANia.

Former WCW wrestler Silver King has died after reportedly suffering a 'medical issue' at a show in London.

The 51-year-old - real name César Barrón - passed away following an incident at the Roundhouse venue in east London last night.

Barron was performing at the 'Greatest Show of Lucha Libre' alongside fellow WCW and WWE star Juventud Guerrera when tragedy struck.

A number of wrestlers have paid tribute to Barron, who was best known to western audiences as one of the high flying luchadores in WWE's then-rival promotion WCW in the late 1990s.

As well as being a wrestling legend, Silver King also starred on the big screen, having appeared alongside Jack Black in 2006 film Nacho Libre.

WWE'S Tommy Dreamer wrote on Twitter: "Terrible news of Silver King passing away in the ring tonight. He was a star in Mexico, Japan & WCW. Pray for strength for his family."

NXT star Kassius Ohno also took to Twitter to pay tribute, posting: "Terrible news. Please keep Silver King’s friends & families in your thoughts. RIP."

And fellow wrestler Christopher Daniels added: "The news of Silver King’s passing hits me hard. I was lucky to be able to tour and work New Japan with him. Such a great person. Rest In Peace, good sir."

Barrón performed in WCW (World Championship Wrestling) between 1997 and 2000 when he worked without one of the famous Mexican wrestling masks. 

He was performing as part of the Lucha Libre Mexican wrestling show at the Roundhouse last night.

For more article that are related please visit our Connect Website here

Last night match was an exciting one to see between Adler & Gillespie and their rivalries Jay Nelson & Nate Steve. They battle it out and also their get an early gift before their match was scheduled for Tuesday Backlash PPV, I guess that match are finished for now but Can Michael Gillespie & James Adler leads their way in a tag team division or will they put a open challenges not for the title at Tuesday Backlash for a winner of Battle Royale night before Tuesday Backlash. They will battle anyone who get into their ways. What basically happened was Michael and James had a plan for them that beat them and become new tag team champion also they are 2 times tag team champions while them two are 1 time tag team champion. 

What will or who will challenges the Tag Team Champions James Adler & Michael Gillespie at Tuesday Backlash from the winner of battle royale not for the titles!

Congrats New Tag Team Champions James Adler & Michael Gillespie 

Thank you

Cruiserweight Tuesday Wrestling Staff

If anyone wants a to get a job offers please go to this following links leads you to the main home page web:Job Frame Au

Note: Please use your personal email to enable get a notification from them about any careers that are available for you.

There are lots of jobs that you wants on their website if you search up the "Keyword" 

Any attitude or behavior, if sufficiently rehearsed, becomes a habit. Once formed, habits automate attitude or behavior, producing mental “knee-jerk” responses to the events of life. So, the key to honorable behavior, for example, is to think carefully about the attitudes and behaviors one is repeating. If it contributes to personal integrity, habit is a good thing. If repeated attitudes and behaviors are teaching you to be dishonest, you will have done it to yourself—and made it lasting.

A clear example of teaching oneself to be dishonorable comes from a British university study showing that people become desensitized to lying. The experiment involved creating scenarios whereby people could lie. In the experiment with 80 people, pairs in separate rooms viewed a photograph of a jar filled with pennies. The photo was clear only for one person, whose task it was to advise the other person how many pennies were in the jar. The person making the estimate was told that the reward would vary on each trial, without knowing critical details about the built-in incentive structure. No feedback was provided. The more the advice was deliberately exaggerated, the more financial reward was to be given. Conditions were manipulated so that lying could benefit both partners, benefit the advising partner at the expense of the other partner, or benefit the advising partner only. (There were features of the design that I think could have been improved, that is beyond the scope of this post.)

The greatest lying occurred when it benefited only the lying person. Dishonesty persisted at lower levels if the partner also benefited. There was zero lying under conditions were lying was punished by lower reward while the partner benefited.

People's lies grew bolder the more they lied. Brain scans revealed that activity in a key emotional center of the brain, the amygdala, became less active and desensitized as the dishonesty grew. In essence, the brain was being trained to lie. Thus, a little bit of dishonesty might be viewed as a slippery slope that can lead one to grow more dishonest. 

Emotions are at the core of the issue. Normally, we tend to feel guilty when doing something we know is wrong, like lying. But as we get in the habit of lying, the associated shame or guilt habituates. We get used to it and our conscience doesn't bother us so much. So, we are less constrained in our future behavior. We can't always be brutally honest, but it is now clear that each little lie or dishonest act can escalate and negatively change the person we are.

Another possibility is that positive reinforcement of behavior is involved. A well-known principle of behavior is that one tends to repeat behavior that is rewarded. Thus, if a person benefits from lying, he will likely do more of it. However, the brain area most associated with positive reinforcement, the nucleus accumbens, did not show any change in activity. The authors still asserted that lying was motivated by self-interest because the greatest lying occurred when only the adviser benefited. However, the experiment was designed so that subjects could not know when their advice was being rewarded. Thus, the likely remaining explanation is that they just adapted to lying and it didn't bother them so much to exaggerate their estimates.

The absence of feedback was a crucial part of the design. But the authors point out that in the real world, the extent of dishonesty is greatly affected by feedback in terms of whether the deceiving person thinks there will be benefit or punishment.

You can help reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes by understanding your risk and making changes to your lifestyle. Common risk factors include increased weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride (blood fat) levels. Changing the habits of a lifetime isn’t easy, but it’s worth the effort. 

Here are some tips to help you reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes.

1. Check your risk of diabetes. Take the Life! risk assessment test and learn more about your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. A 12+ score indicates that you are at high risk and may be eligible for the Life! program - a free Victorian lifestyle modification program that helps you reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, or call 13 RISK (13 7475).
   
   
2. Manage your weight. Excess body fat, particularly if stored around the abdomen, can increase the body’s resistance to the hormone insulin. This can lead to type 2 diabetes.
   
   
3. Exercise regularly. Moderate physical activity on most days of the week helps manage weight, reduce blood glucose levels and may also improve blood pressure and cholesterol.
   
   
4. Eat a balanced, healthy diet. Reduce the amount of fat in your diet, especially saturated and trans fats. Eat more fruit, vegetables and high-fibre foods. Cut back on salt.
   
   
5. Limit takeaway and processed foods. ‘Convenience meals’ are usually high in salt, fat and kilojoules. It’s best to cook for yourself using fresh ingredients whenever possible.
   
   
6. Limit your alcohol intake. Too much alcohol can lead to weight gain and may increase your blood pressure and triglyceride levels. Men should have no more than two standard drinks a day and women should have no more than one.
   
   
7. Quit smoking. Smokers are twice as likely to develop diabetes as non-smokers.
   
   
8. Control your blood pressure. Most people can do this with regular exercise, a balanced diet and by keeping a healthy weight. In some cases, you might need medication prescribed by your doctor.
   
   
9. Reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. Diabetes and cardiovascular disease have many risk factors in common, including obesity and physical inactivity.
   
   
10. See your doctor for regular check-ups. As you get older, it’s a good idea to regularly check your blood glucose, blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels.

Generally speaking, a student is engaged when they:

• participate in all areas of the school including academic, social and extracurricular activities (behavioural engagement)
• feel included in the school and has feelings of belonging to the school (emotional engagement)
• are personally invested in and take ownership of their learning (cognitive engagement).

Disengagement refers to a situation where a child or young person demonstrates none of these characteristics. Or they are not enrolled or have very poor school attendance.

Presence of only some of these characteristics may indicate a child or young person is at risk of disengagement.

Risk factors

There are a range of factors that may contribute to a student engagement. These include:

• Family and community factors such as poverty, parental unemployment and/or low educational attainment, homelessness, transience or living in out-of-home care, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander status, refugee background, family breakdown/relationship issues and domestic violence.
• Personal factors such as physical or mental health issues, disability, behavioural issues, offending behaviour and/or contact with police or justice system, substance misuse or dependency, pregnancy or parenting, caring responsibilities, and learning difficulties.
• School-related factors such as negative relationships with teachers or peers, unsupportive school culture, limited subject options and lack of student participation in decision making.

Young people may often experience multiple risk factors, which may be interdependent. For example, family breakdown may be a factor in substance misuse, which may itself contribute to other problems such as offending behaviour. 

The impact of risk factors on engagement, health and wellbeing will vary between individuals. It depends on their levels of resilience and protective factors such as support from a trusted adult.

While one or more risk factor does not necessarily mean a child or young person will become disengaged, it's important you have an awareness of these factors. This way, you'll be able to identify and address issues as early as possible.

What you should look out for

Indicators at the school level that a student may be at risk of disengaging include:

• erratic or no attendance
• low literacy or numeracy/poor attainment
• lack of interest in school and/or stated intention to leave
• negative interactions with peers
• behavioural issues including aggression, violence, or social withdrawal
• significant change in behaviour, attitude or performance.

Schools can draw on a range of data and tools to identify students that are at risk of disengagement. These may include:

• information on family background, educational history and personal issues collected at the time of enrolment
• attendance data
• educational, health or welfare assessments completed by in-school or Department support services (and external support services where these have been provided to the school with the student and their parents’ consent)
• reports from classroom teachers on learning and behavioural issues
• the student mapping tool, a computer-based application available to all Victorian Government schools that collates a range of school-level data to identify those students at risk of disengagement.