Teaching and Learning

Year 10 Careers Program

Thursday, March 26 saw our Year 10s undertake Morrisby Testing. This testing assists students in determining their career paths as one of the most significant decisions in their lives to date is made this year; that is the choice between the VCE and VCE Vocational Major Program.

Building on the Careers Program from Year 9- which very much endeavoured to expose students to possible careers and future skillsets- the Year 10 Program is focused on assisting students and their families in making the significant decision between;

a vocational or skills-based pathway which usually leads to apprenticeships, traineeships and the workforce or
a tertiary education pathway that prepares students for University and associated fields.

In support of the testing, students undertake a 30 minute interview with a Careers Practitioner to unpack the Morrisby results and what they mean for them. In addition, students will attend the Careers Expo at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre later in Term 2 and participate in Tertiary Immersion Days in Term 4. Students will be required to make their pathways and subject selections early in Term 3.

We are very fortunate to have a strong Careers Department at the College, with both Kaylene Menara and Jen Willian accessible to students across the year. Their expertise and willingness to provide students with these experiences means they are able to make such decisions well-informed. As a College, we look forward to supporting our Year 10s through this exciting time.

Year 10 2027 VCE Acceleration

As outlined above, Term 3 is the time when all students are required to select their subjects for 2027. As has been done previously, Year 9 students will be presented with an opportunity to apply for acceleration into VCE in 2027. Whilst the majority of students at the College first engage in VCE Subjects in Year 11, students in Year 10 2027 have the opportunity to apply for and, if successful, accelerate into Unit 1 (Year 11) VCE Classes at from the commencement of Year 10.

Accelerating into a VCE subject is not for everyone, as it places significant demand on students. If a student is not committed or not performing to a high level academically, the chances of it negatively impacting their achievement in all of their subjects is increased. As the purpose of acceleration is to maximise one’s ATAR at the end of Year 12, undertaking VCE subjects prematurely can often be counterproductive.

There are criteria for selection for VCE acceleration for candidates interested in taking this path for Year 10. Whilst students are in Year 9, they must achieve the following criteria:

Achieve an overall mark equal to or above 80% in English;
Achieve an overall mark equal to or above 80% in two of the following subjects: Maths, History/Geography, or Science. If you are doing Higher Level Maths, the mark needs to be equal to or above 70%;
Achieve an overall mark equal to or above 80% in two of your other subjects (for example your electives, RE or PE).

It is worth noting that should a student not achieve the aforementioned criteria, they may still be considered as the decision is not made based solely on achievement in their subjects.

An information night will be held in late in Term 2 which will provide further detail. We encourage all interested students to continue to apply themselves to their studies and look forward to seeing some great achievements.

NAPLAN 2026

You would be aware that NAPLAN Assessment of Literacy and Numeracy took place over nearly two weeks from March 11. This is a significant undertaking, providing information on both an individual and cohort level. Although it was not without incident- the nationwide platform that hosts the online tests experienced a malfunction on day one- the support provided by the College's teachers and ICT Department ensured the process ran smoothly. All students are to be commended on the manner in which they approached and completed the assessments.

Ms Deb Frizza, Principal has written in the current Newsletter about what we can be encouraging in our students to assist them in the development of their reading and writing skills. With a Reading and Research Program at the College that all students undertake, encouraging students to read a range of texts regularly both at school and at home will improve these important and lifelong skills.

We look forward to seeing the results when they are released initially to schools in June and then to parents from the start of Term 3.

Brenden Mair

Deputy Principal - Teaching and Learning