Student Voice & Agency

Student Pathways Panel

Lena is a Year 11 student and part of our Student Voice Team – during a meeting earlier in the year Lena discussed with other members of the team how she felt there was an opportunity to have more student input in providing our younger year levels with information regarding their pathway options in school. In particular, Lena was motivated to run a panel for the current Year 10 students, which occurred last term. I have asked Lena to share this to highlight and celebrate the wonderful work and initiative of our students!

Written by Lena H.

“Last term, I ran a small student panel for Year 10 students to give them a better understanding of the different pathways available in Senior School and where each pathway could lead in the future. The panel focused on sharing our personal experiences and explaining why we chose the pathways we are currently completing.  I decided to run the panel because when I was in Year 10, I wanted to hear directly from students about what Senior School was actually like, rather than only receiving information from teachers. I wanted to provide other students with the opportunity to hear honest experiences and ask questions from people who had already made these decisions.

The panel included two VCE students, a student who had moved from a VET course into VCE, a student who had moved from VM to VCE, a VM student, and myself as a VCE/VET student who really enjoys my pathway. Having students from different pathways allowed us to provide a range of perspectives and demonstrate that there are many different options available.

The panel was successful in helping Year 10 students understand the different pathways and what they could lead to. It also gave students the opportunity to ask questions and clear up some of the uncertainty surrounding their choices. I received a lot of positive feedback from students who said that hearing directly from other students helped them better understand their options and feel more confident about choosing their pathway.”