In the past few years, our awareness of change has been heightened. In March 2020, schools and other workplaces drastically rethought the paradigm of work in response to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, there was no stronger reminder of the importance of transferable skills and dispositions like curiosity, agility, global awareness and creative thinking, than the pandemic.

In 2019, the Victorian Government commissioned a review into vocational and applied learning pathways in senior secondary schooling with the dual goals of ensuring access to high-quality vocational and applied learning options and of improving transitions for students between school, tertiary studies and work. Further information about the Firth Review can be found here.

The VCE Vocational Major will soon replace the current Intermediate and Senior Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) program. This means that the VCE will recognise different student programs equally and from 2023, all Year 12 students will work towards obtaining the Victorian Certificate of Education irrespective of where their strengths lie. This integration, I hope, will do away with the outdated community belief that academic and vocational learning are not equally valuable and meaningful pathways for our young people.

I particularly encourage students currently in Year 9 and 10 to consider the place of Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses as they move towards the process of subject selection for 2023. Further information will be provided to students and families at Subject Selection Information Evenings in August.

Mrs Catherine Spurritt

Deputy Principal – Learning and Teaching