Vocational Major & Victorian Pathways Certificate  

Mercedes with Tom Shelley

In the last week of Term 1 the VM Class got to see a Mecedes EQE car outside of the hall. Tom, a former Koonung student who works at Mercedes showed us the features of the car. We formulated questions prior to the session to find out more about him. We found out that he went to Wattle Park Primary School and during his time there he wore a bucket hat. He graduated from Koonung in 2018. 

During his time both in Koonung and after his graduation in 2018, Tom studied the method of e-commerce, which deals with selling goods and services online as well as digital marketing. He went to Germany for the graduate program, in which he tried out three different roles. Right now, he sets the prices for the different Mercedes models on sale.

The model that we looked was Mercedes EQE and it had comfortable seats. We could move the car seat all of the way with a button on door. We didn’t end up lifting the bonnet because there was not a lot to show for us in there. We asked if we could rev the car but it wouldn’t have done anything because it was electric. This means it works completely differently than a petrol car with no combustion. It works by converting chemical energy intro electrical energy and then kinetic energy, it is powered by a battery. But we did get to beep the horn. 

Overall, we had a lot of fun with Tom and hanging out in a Mercedes during class. The highlights were honking the horn, the vibe of the car which was chill. We would also like to say thank you to Nance Manders for organising this for us as the Alumni Coordinator. We look forward to meeting some other professionals that have completed their study through Koonung.

Year 12 VM and VPC Students & Ms Sens

Industry experience in the VM

As the Vocational Major pathway is a new pathway for Koonung, we thought we would begin sharing some perspectives from our students from their workplaces. The way their week is set out is different from a normal school week. They attend school on a Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. On the Wednesday and Friday they attend work placement and TAFE. In TAFE our students are pursuing a range of different career pathways. Here are some of their experiences:

Design

I am a Year 12 student who is currently undertaking a work placement at Minuteman Press, a place that specialises in printing apparel decals and graphic design. My supervisor gives me the tasks I usually do, like graphic design, packaging apparel, cutting and folding booklets and other paper-related items, to name a few of my responsibilities. It’s a quiet environment, with only 2-3 employees working there, me included, the only noise being the whirs of machines. I like it because it is not that stressful, and our supervisor buys us lunch on the very last day of the month. It has given me to experiment with new ways to create and design things I’ve never done before. 

Plumbing

I am a year 12 VM student and I am pursuing a career in the plumbing industry, I’m currently working on a jobsite in Essendon where I have been working nearly over a year now. My boss will give me set tasks I have to complete to get the jobs done. These jobs include digging holes so I can lay pipes in the ground, for that I cut pvc pipes and stick them together with the cleaner and glue to form the storm water.

Kirby Sens 

Learning Specialist - Student Engagement Programs Leader