NSC Senior School Subject Selection Handbook

VCE Vocational Major

The VCE Vocational Major (VM) is a vocational and applied learning program within the VCE designed to be completed over two years. The VCE VM will give students greater choice and flexibility to pursue their strengths and interests and develop the skills and capabilities needed to succeed in further education, work, and life.

 

It prepares students to move into apprenticeships, traineeships, further education and training, university (via non-ATAR pathways) or directly into the workforce.

 

The purpose of the VCE VM is to provide students with the best opportunity to achieve their personal goals and aspirations in a rapidly changing world by:

  • equipping them with the skills, knowledge, values, and capabilities to be active and informed citizens, lifelong learners, and confident and creative individuals; and
  • empowering them to make informed decisions about the next stages of their lives through real life workplace experiences.

Students who do the VCE VM are more likely to be interested in:

  • Going on to training at TAFE
  • Doing an apprenticeship or traineeship
  • Getting a job after completing Year 12.

Subjects studied in VCE VM

The VCE VM specific subjects are:

  • Literacy
  • Numeracy
  • Personal Development
  • Work-related Skills
  • One other VCE subject of interest (in Year 11 only) 
  • Industry Specific Subject (VET Subject – completed on a Wednesday afternoon, usually off-site)
  • Structured Workplace Learning (likely to be one day a week at a workplace).

VCE VM structure

All VCE-VM students will spend Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays at the college completing the VCE VM specific subjects mentioned above, and one other VCE subject of their choice. On a Wednesday, the students complete their VET subject, usually off-site. Thursdays are spent on the students’ Structured Workplace Learning placement.

 

Structured Workplace Learning

Year 11: Structured Workplace Learning comprises a minimum of 100 hours, including a minimum of 80 hours of Work Placement, and up to a maximum of 20 hours in part-time/casual employment.

 

Year 12: Structured Workplace Learning comprises a minimum of 200 hours, including a minimum of 180 hours of Work Placement, and up to a maximum of 20 hours in part-time/casual employment.

 

Ideally the Work Placement should link in with the VET program being studied. Evidence of work placement will be recorded by the student and employer.

 

What must I do to satisfactorily pass the VCE VM

  • Complete all learning outcomes to a satisfactory standard
  • Contribute meaningfully to all group work tasks to a satisfactory standard
  • Attend all school-based classes, including your VCE subject, to a minimum of 90%
  • Attend all VET classes to a minimum of 90%
  • Participate and contribute satisfactorily in the VCE VM major projects

How will an “N” affect my results?

An N result may mean you have not gained enough units to achieve your VCE VM Certificate.

 

How are you assessed in VCE VM?

Although there are no exams, you will need to complete each of your studies to a satisfactory standard.

 

Assessment in VM will take into account:

  • A satisfactory level of understanding of the set tasks
  • Personal organisational skills
  • Timely submission of work
  • Bringing all required materials to class
  • Taking responsibility for your own learning

Application Process 

Expressions of Interest forms for the VCE VM are available from the Head of Year 10.

 

There will be an interview process during Term 3 to ensure that the VCE VM is the appropriate pathway for the student. An expression of interest does not guarantee the student a place in the program.

 

The qualities and attributes taken into account include:

  • Why you would like to study VCE VM
  • Your progress in subjects studied
  • Your attendance rate, work attitude and behaviour
  • How you intend to find work experience – whether you have any contacts
  • Whether you can select a suitable VET subject to study

There are limited places in VCE VM meaning that poor performance in Year 10 may effect access to VCE VM at Norwood. 

 

What are my Attendance Requirements?

If your attendance falls below 90% in any of your Norwood classes, you will be required to attend extra classes to make up missed classes. These classes can only be attended progressively throughout each term and semester. It is neither acceptable nor possible as part of the college VCE VM policy to catch up in bulk at the end of the term. If attendance falls below 70%, it will not be possible to redeem that level of absence and an ‘N’ result will apply for that class.

 

Missing any VET classes may make it difficult to complete certain modules and would result in an unsatisfactory assessment for that unit.

VCE Vocational Major Subjects

VCE VM Literacy

Unit Purpose

VCE Vocational Major Literacy focuses on the development of the knowledge and skills required to be literate in Australia today. The key knowledge and key skills encompass a student’s ability to interpret and create texts that have purpose, and are accurate and effective, with confidence and fluency.

 

As students develop these skills, they engage with texts that encompass the everyday language of personal experience to the more abstract, specialised, and technical language of different workplaces, including the language of further study.

 

Units 1 & 2: Areas of Study

  • Literacy for personal use
  • Understanding and creating digital texts
  • Understanding issues and voices
  • Responding to opinions.

Assessments (suitable tasks may include):

  • Reflective journals
  • Narrative, expository, or informative pieces
  • Performance or visual presentations
  • Research task or report
  • Digital presentations or videos
  • Graphic organisers or concept maps

Units 3 & 4: Areas of Study

  • Accessing and understanding informational, organisational, and procedural texts
  • Creating and responding to informational, organisational, and procedural texts
  • Understanding and engaging with literacy for advocacy
  • Speaking to advice or advocate

Assessments (suitable tasks may include):

  • Research tasks
  • Blogs or vlogs
  • Multimodal presentation created for promotion
  • Case studies
  • Brochures or pamphlets
  • Annotated photographs
  • Response to structured questions

VCE VM Numeracy

Unit Purpose

VCE Vocational Major Numeracy focuses on enabling students to develop and enhance their numeracy skills to make sense of their personal, public, and vocational lives. Students develop mathematical skills with consideration of their local, national, and global environments and contexts, and an awareness and use of appropriate technologies.

 

This study allows students to explore the underpinning mathematical knowledge of number and quantity, measurement, shape, dimensions and directions, data and chance, the understanding and use of systems and processes, and mathematical relationships and thinking. This mathematical knowledge is then applied to tasks which are part of the students’ daily routines and practices, but also extends to applications outside the immediate personal environment, such as the workplace and community.

 

The contexts are the starting point and the focus, and are framed in terms of personal, financial, civic, health, recreational and vocational classifications. These numeracies are developed using a problem-solving cycle with four components: formulating; acting on and using mathematics; evaluating and reflecting; and communicating and reporting.

 

Units 1 & 2: Areas of Study

  • Number
  • Shape
  • Quantity and measures
  • Relationships
  • Dimension and direction
  • Data
  • Uncertainty
  • Systematics

Assessments (suitable tasks may include):

  • Investigations and projects
  • Multimedia presentation, a poster or report
  • Portfolio

Units 3 & 4: Areas of Study

  • Number
  • Shape
  • Quantity and measures
  • Relationships
  • Dimension and direction
  • Data
  • Uncertainty
  • Systematics

Assessments (suitable tasks may include):

  • Investigations and projects
  • Multimedia presentation, a poster or report
  • Portfolio

VCE VM Personal Development Skills

Unit Purpose

VCE Vocational Major Personal Development Skills (PDS) takes an active approach to personal development, self-realisation, and citizenship by exploring interrelationships between individuals and communities. PDS focuses on health, wellbeing, community engagement and social sciences, and provides a framework through which students seek to understand and optimise their potential as individuals and as members of their community.

 

This study provides opportunities for students to explore influences on identity, set and achieve personal goals, interact positively with diverse communities, and identify and respond to challenges. Students will develop skills in self-knowledge and care, accessing reliable information, teamwork, and identifying their goals and future pathways.

 

PDS explores concepts of effective leadership, self-management, project planning and teamwork to support students to engage in their work, community, and personal environments.

 

Through self-reflection, independent research, critical and creative thinking and collaborative action, students will extend their capacity to understand and connect with the world they live in, and build their potential to be resilient, capable citizens.

 

Units 1 & 2: Areas of Study

  • Healthy Individuals
  • Connecting with community

Assessments (suitable tasks may include):

  • Reflective journals
  • Response to structured questions
  • Record of survey responses
  • Annotated paragraphs
  • Websites
  • Research tasks
  • Record of discussions or debates

Units 3 & 4: Areas of Study

  • Leadership and teamwork
  • Community project.

Assessments (suitable tasks may include):

  • Research or investigation report
  • Project plan
  • Digital presentation
  • Record of interviews with members of the community
  • Presentation regarding individual or team effectiveness in executing planned project
  • Video, podcast, or oral presentation
  • Case study

VCE VM Work Related Skills

Unit Purpose

This unit emphasises the significance of obtaining dependable information about education and employment prospects to make informed decisions. Students will explore details regarding entry-level and promising industries and evaluate their choices considering their abilities, goals, and education. They will also develop communication strategies to convey their findings.

 

Unit 1 Areas of Study

  • Future careers
  • Presentation of career and education goals

Unit 2 Areas of Study

  • Skills and capabilities for employment and further education
  • Transferable skills and capabilities

Assessments (suitable tasks may include):

  • Records of data analysis
  • Research tasks
  • Career and education reports
  • Creation of smart goals
  • Skills audits
  • Participation in mock interview
  • Resumes
  • Cover letters

Unit 3 Areas of Study

  • Workplace wellbeing and personal accountability
  • Workplace responsibilities and rights
  • Communication and collaboration

Unit 4 Areas of Study

  • Portfolio development
  • Portfolio presentation

Assessments (suitable tasks may include):

  • Case studies
  • Participation in discussions and questions during excursions
  • Research tasks
  • Digital presentations
  • Role plays or performances
  • Portfolios
  • Presentation and evaluation of portfolio

Industry Related Skills: Units 1 & 2

This requires students to either:

  • Study and complete two Units of VET subjects of their choice. Please refer to the list of VET subjects in this handbook.

OR

  • Undertake a School Based Apprenticeship**

** Please note: School Based Apprenticeship/Traineeships (SBATs) can be arranged when students find an employer who agrees to employ them as an apprentice or trainee covering both their Work Placement and VET studies. SBATs are implemented and managed by Headstart, a Depart of Education initiative. Please see the Pathways Department if you would like to discuss this option.

VCE Subject

Students can study one VCE subject during Year 11 as part of their VCE VM course. This is done on an individual basis to ensure that the student’s program is appropriate and meets the needs of their future pathway.