Professional Development

As part of a Career Practitioners professional development, we are required to attend annual Career Practitioner events at Universities and TAFE’s to learn about VTAC enrolment outcomes and collect data from the previous Year 12 students. Gather information on current courses entrance requirements, new courses and pathways into bachelor degree courses so we can impart this knowledge to our students in our counselling sessions.

At these events we also experience faculty tours, see students in action and sometimes are able to participate in a small activity. We have the opportunity to speak to current students, student advocates, lecturers, professors as well as connect and network with career practitioners from other Victorian schools to share ideas.

This term we have attended:

Swinburne University of Technology Hawthorn Campus

General course information session including pathways into bachelor degree courses from the Vocational Education (VE or TAFE) sector. Swinburne is one of 4 dual sector providers offering both Higher Education (HE) university bachelor degrees and post graduate degrees and VE certificate and diploma courses. Being a dual sector provider enables students strong achievable pathways from VE to HE via associated mapped diploma to degree courses with credits. Engineering tour seeing the various hands-on engineering labs and testing labs, culminating in viewing the 2025 race car built in collaboration by the mechanical and electronic engineers who design, engineer, fabricate and build the car from scratch then race it with exceptional results. This prototype is retained for current students to reference, replicate and improve upon.Fashion Design tour with a focus on ethical practices sustainable wearable art and technology. Students can access various industry standard machines, equipment and studios with flexible operational hours to support the concept, design and creating processes. Students can showcase their collection for a real-life client in the ‘Rising’ fashion festival event. Within 12 weeks students will go from never using a machine to creating a full outfit. Screen and Media tour showcasing the new fully equipped classrooms, breakout spaces, audio/visual products and paraphernalia to loan for assignments and impressive new sound proof hubs and booths to create audio, visual, podcast interview or media content, editing booths and a dedicated Dolby sound editing booth.

The final experience was a fabulous immersive experience in the Swinburne’s Virtual Universe as part of the Astrophysics session. Understanding the possibilities of space as we were taken on a journey through a virtual 3D universe combining fantastic planetary visuals with voice activated super computer programming commands.

Box Hill Institute Lilydale campus

General course information session followed by a beauty tour, full trade tour encompassing the plumbing, carpentry and electrical trade space under the same roof. Horticulture/Landscape and Outdoor Education tour using the expansive lands of the Lilydale campus to practice and receiving a free seedling cultivated by the students. Hospitality and cookery tour viewing the commercial kitchens and functioning restaurant for students to practice their skills where we sampled some freshly baked focaccia bread. Nursing and Allied Health tour showcasing replica hospital wards containing very expensive programable patient care manikins that mimic various human functions to test student’s practical knowledge in a simulated hospital environment.

Animal studies lab and kennel housing rabbits, guinea pigs and rodents with regular onsite interactions with domesticated canines.

RMIT city campus

General course information sessions held at the beautiful Art Deco Capitol Theatre on Swanston Street. RMIT is a dual sector provider offering both Higher Education (HE) in the university and Vocational Education (VE or TAFE). Enabling strong achievable pathways from VE to HE via associated mapped diploma to degree courses with credits. We learnt about AI washing and the misconceptions that AI will take over the jobs of the future. Current predicted data suggests around 5-6% of jobs may be absorbed by AI with the emphasis on skilled human technicians required to program, monitor and fix potential AI issues. The embedded teaching processes of the positive use of AI within RMIT courses. Heard from a PhD professor who started his studies in the VE sector before moving to the HE sector who is now a dean of a faculty. Discussions on the on the fantastic work integrated learning opportunities for students with the abundant RMIT partnerships.

William Angliss Institute

The number 1 institute for Hospitality, Cookery, Events and Tourism. General course information session where we learnt about ‘The Visitor Economy’ and its predicted growth from $46 billion to $53.4 billion by 2030 in the Hospitality, Foods, Events and Tourism space. Full campus tour of the 17 commercial kitchens, 4 simulated hotel rooms, internal replica of a Jet Star plane for the Cert III in Cabin Crew students to practice and build core skills in preparation for applying to aviation ground schools. Chocolate tasting and information session and full cooked brunch prepared by the cookery apprentices and serviced by the hospitality students practicing front of house skills whilst 5 William Angliss alumni discussed their experiences at the institute and subsequent career journeys.

La Trobe University Bundoora campus

General course information and AI activity followed by Archaeology experience at an onsite dig allocated on the extensive park like and natural environment of La Trobes grounds. This course includes fieldwork ethical heritage management using skills and acquired knowledge and scientific methods. Gaining real world experiences through placements and government opportunities students are being snapped up and the uni reports they cannot keep up with the huge demand due to the Government legislation requiring consultancy from Archaeologists. The faculty of Law tour of which La Trobe is considered number 3 in the state!Psychology in both neurological and clinical psychology pathways with clinical practice available onsite. Nursing watching the diploma students practice inserting cannulas and understanding the alarms and numeric outputs on the portable patient monitors, a behind the scenes in the lab watching the technicians program the manikins during practical assessments. Speech Therapy discussion and Podiatry tour both of which have very solid future job opportunities whereby the university cannot keep up with the demand.

Work Experience

Work experience participation is optional at VSC, however we strongly encourage all students aged 15yrs+ to get involved in this very beneficial and rewarding program. Students can undertake Work Experience every year until they graduate VSC.

Work experience provides young people with a taste of the real world of work and a clearer understanding of a particular industry, field or business they may be interested in pursuing in the future. It assists in career discovery and exploration, goal setting and decision making whilst preparing students for VCE or VCAL, future tertiary studies, apprenticeship/

traineeships or full time work.

There are no designated time frames for students to complete placements as we believe a flexible delivery arrangement provides students with a better opportunity to meet the availability and operational time frames of businesses and industries within the community. This also means we are not competing with other local schools which can limit student’s placement opportunities.

Placement dates are arranged through consultation and negotiation between the employer, school and student to maximise the experience. However, if your young person is not going on the Central Australia to Darwin trip, they may want to consider the last week of Term 3 as the perfect opportunity to undertake work experience.

Drop into Pathways to discuss further and collect the ‘Preparing for the Workplace’ pack.

Pathways Website – www.vscpathways.com

Did you know VSC has its own careers website? It’s a ‘One Stop Shop’ for everything you need to assist with Career planning, research, information and help, available 24 hours a day. Please see attached the Term 1 Career Tools Newsletter with lots of informative reading. To access the website please click on the link vscpathways.com or go to the VSC website and click on the Pathways tab.

Features:

Latest news and events
Senior school options
Work experience and OH&S in the workplace
VET – Vocational Education and Training
University Admissions requirements through VTAC
Find what careers suits you & course discovery
Interactive Career bullseyes
Gap Year
Resume creation & finding a job
Youth allowance and money matters
Informative career videos
Plus lots, lots more to help individual career development

Career Development is the lifelong process of managing life, learning and work (paid and unpaid) over our lifespan. The ability to make informed decisions, manage and transition through change for a personally determined future.

Young people build their career development through self-awareness; understanding how they make decisions and how these decisions impact future aspirations through exploration, identifying interests, values and preferred learning styles through careers exploration activities such as Morrisby in Year 9 and Careers Tools in Year 10. The ability to research a wide range of career options helping them to select subjects they may enjoy learning whilst aligning to tertiary course pre-requisite requirements in the future or apprenticeship/traineeship requirements and work.

Career development is further enhanced by juggling the expectations and requirements of school with extra-curricular activities like sport and family responsibilities, part-time work, community involvement and social interests.

To further assist your Career Development please visit vscpathways.com an easy-to-use interface with links to a multitude of career resources for both Students and Parents. We encourage all VSC students and their families to explore the Pathways website to assist in making positively informed decisions about their future.

News from the General Office

Vermont Secondary College