Northcote International

VCE in China

Northcote High School is the only Government school in the State of Victoria (and probably Australia-wide) to be registered to work with Chinese schools to offer the Victorian Certificate of Education. Our Chinese partner schools are Hengshui No 1 High School (situated in Hebei Province) and Baotou Foreign Languages School (in Inner Mongolia).

For our staff, the professional development opportunities when mentoring partner teachers delivering the VCE overseas are profound and we have seen the benefits time and again. The VCE, a premier Australian curriculum, also prompts and challenges students in Asian countries in new ways and tests new skills. And at the end of this – a student in China finishing the VCE and receiving an ATAR has access to an Australian tertiary institution through the same pathway as everyone else.

To date, this educational export area has been the province of a very small group of independent schools, whose work in Asia has largely been of a commercial nature. Northcote High School has partnered with the International Education Division of DET and the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) to work with the two Chinese schools. In 2018 we will develop a relationship with a third Chinese school to offer the VCE.

Recent activities:

Visit by NHS staff to Hengshui and Baotou for 2 day intensive VCE teaching at both schools

Visit by 14 Unit 3-4 students from Hengshui to NHS for a 2 week February VCE intensive program 

Coming up:

Marketing the VCE in Hengshui and Baotou – Jocelyn Hill and Nick Murphy

VCE Offshore Conference – Eight teachers will attend and present at the 2018 VCE offshore conference in China, during the July school holidays.

Tianjin Sister School visit

Northcote High School has two Chinese sister schools - Huaibei No1 High School (which has been a sister school for almost 20 years), and Tianjin Binhai Foreign Languages School, which signed as a sister school in 2016.

Tianjin Binhai Foreign Languages School is a P-12 school. As part of their February holiday program 25 students and teachers from the school made a short visit to NHS on Friday February 2. Tianjin Binhai FLS is located in the new development area of Tianjin near Beijing, and was one of the locations visited during the very successful 2017 NHS Music trip. 

Sister school relationships are based around the concept of reciprocity and friendship. Thus, our forty music students on the 2017 music tour stayed with and performed at Tianjin FLS, being hosted at no additional cost - as guests. The sister school concept enables students and teachers to embrace these international concepts, based firmly on the principle of Australians becoming good global citizens. 

In September, Huaibei No1 High School will visit NHS for a one week visit. Homestays will be required for the twenty students. Its worth thinking about hosting one, especially if your son or daughter is planning to join the 2018 Sports trip in August or wants to brush up on their Chinese language skills. It’s always great fun.

Nick Murphy

VCE Offshore Director