Rose & Waratah

Senior School Update

The Senior School has been a hive of activity to begin the 2025 academic year. Students from Years 9 to 12 have actively engaged with learning in the classroom and also with sport, music, service and community events. It has been terrific to see our Senior School students settle quickly into a productive routine for their learning and co-curricular commitments. We genuinely believe that the learning and pathways opportunity we offer in the Senior School will be enriching and stimulating across all year levels and learning programs. 

 

An area of focus we have been keen to strengthen in the Senior School is our offering in Vocational Education and Training (VET). These courses are designed to complement classroom based learning by giving students access to workplace learning which may provide clearer future pathways to career opportunities, part-time work, TAFE training and university. This year, we are offering a record number of VET opportunities which students can undertake alongside their more traditional subjects by combining with a VET subject to give them broad opportunities and provide them with industry certification while still at school. The benefits and outcomes of studying a VET are innumerable: 

  • these programs are developed and approved by industry
  • students receive a qualification that is recognised Australia wide and is based on assessment at the School and in the workplace
  • VET results will count towards TCE certification 
  • students can try out career options and begin training while still at school
  • students learn job skills that will be useful in a range of employment situations
  • students spend time in a number of workplaces
  • programs offer a clear pathway to further education and training

In expanding the School’s offerings in the VET space, our hope is to shift preconceptions and attitudes towards vocational training. Our hope is that students - and the broader community - see VET as a ‘parallel pathway’ to post-school training rather than an ‘alternate pathway.’ A former Minister for Education, Andrew Robb, summed up this aspiration best by saying:

 

“Today, our society tells young Australians that success is a university degree. We don’t tell our children often enough that success is about finding what you are good at in life and giving it your best. Young people may think trades are dirty, dangerous and difficult. But in reality, young Australians who take up a trade enjoy a strong prospect of lucrative, long term, challenging and rewarding careers” (2007). 

 

Under the leadership of VET Coordinator, Joni Chuter, the Senior School has seen a significant uptake of students enrolling in VET courses. A review of the Senior School timetable has facilitated stronger enrolments by ensuring that VET is no longer an ‘add on’ to more traditional subject offerings but instead allows for students to take part in courses offered both in-house and through external Registered Training Organisations (RTOs). Students are also now able to structure their timetable in a way that better allows them to take part in School Based Apprenticeships. This has been instrumental in shifting attitudes on traineeships and apprenticeships so that a quality VET subject is valued just as highly as a classroom-based subject that leads to a university degree. A renewed commitment to VET has also enabled more students than perhaps was previously the case to remain enrolled at Friends’ until the end of Year 12 to complete their education pathway. 

 

VET programs align strongly with the goal of a Quaker education which is to go beyond teaching for understanding and knowledge. We expect that our students will put their skills into action in meaningful ways that ultimately make the world a better place; to become contributing members in the world they live in and actively work towards creating a more just and virtuous society. So when our students leave at the end of Year 12, we measure success by how they show understanding of and empathy for the Quaker testimonies of Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality and Earthcare. Our aim is to tap into each student’s unique talent, passion and capacity by providing a learning environment in which they can flourish. VET programs are a terrific example of the way we are better responding to student needs and providing a pathway which challenges the prevailing paradigm of VET to be an inferior choice to university pathways. This year, VET courses include Certificate I in Construction, Certificates II in Cookery and Outdoor Recreation and Certificates III and IV in Fitness, Childcare and Dance. We also work with external providers to offer VET Business, Aquaculture, Animal Studies and Allied Health. A growing number of students have opted to undertake a full Schools Based Apprenticeship or traineeship which enables them to combine paid work and training to achieve a nationally recognised qualification while still attending school and working toward their TCE Certificate. 

 

The success of the School’s work in the VET space was highlighted earlier this year as we celebrated the news of four major awards from Government House. Four of our VET graduates from 2024 in Violet Bunting (Certificate II in Cookery), Eva Downie (Certificate II in Construction), Lizzie Ralph (Certificate III in Fitness) and Henry Webster (Certificate III in Fitness) were awarded Outstanding Achievement Awards in a ceremony at Government House in February this year. The students’ achievements are an example of the pathway opportunities available to students in the Senior School at Friends’ which can lead to meaningful and fulfilling post Year 12 pursuits. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adam Chambers - Head of Senior School (Years 9 to 12)