General News
27 March, 2023
Vocational major helping Maryborough students
Local year 11 students are among the first to study a reformed Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) program which features a greater focus on getting young people work-ready. Commencing this year, the VCE vocational major replaces the Victorian...
Local year 11 students are among the first to study a reformed Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) program which features a greater focus on getting young people work-ready.
Commencing this year, the VCE vocational major replaces the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL), a more hands-on alternative than traditional class-room learning, after a review found the model was failing to keep up with changing employment trends.
The vocational major is designed to give students greater choice and flexibility to pursue their strengths and interests as well as develop the skills and capabilities to succeed, preparing them to move into apprenticeships, traineeships, further education or directly into the workforce.
The Maryborough Education Centre had been delivering VCAL for a number of years, with Highview College now providing a vocational pathway for the first time, which vocational major teacher Lucy Freemantle said will be a better option for a many students.
“We introduced the certificate at the start of this year — throughout Victoria, this is the first year. It’s to hopefully get our students who are relatively disengaged to be engaged and get them work ready,” she said.
“Most of these students are not interested in going to university, that’s not their pathway. But they still want to stay at school because it’s quite challenging at their age of 16-17 to have ongoing employment.
“I’ve had a few parents already contact me and they’re saying there’s such a difference and the students are loving it. They’re really enjoying it.
“I wouldn’t say every lesson is invigorating or engaging, but with the majority of the lessons they feel like they’re doing something that’s going to help them.”
The new program features three subjects at Highview — literacy, numeracy and work related skills and Ms Freemantle said students have been interested in agriculture, construction and hospitality, among others, all businesses that will be visited as part of the vocational major.
“For a lot of students this is about finding out what industry they’re interested in going into — at the start of the year, a majority of the students had no idea what they wanted to do but now they do,” she said.
“Other schools have had VCAL and we never did but when this new certificate was presented we just felt there was a need and we had to cater for our students.
“I think this program helps build the students’ confidence and teaches them that they are ready to go out to the workforce and they’ve got those soft skills that are transferable.
“I know some kids will get to year 10 and think they’re no good at school but they’ve got skills and they’ve just got to find the area it’s going to be suited for.
“The community has been very supportive of this. Every community agency I’ve approached for industry visits have been very supportive, they think it’s fantastic, and they’ve been saying we should do more of this.”