VCE-VM News

By Andrew Blackwood - Faculty Coordinator

Term 3 Recap

Term 3 for VCE-VM has seen students engaging in project-based learning across a variety of units, including Business, Personal Development Skills, Active Volunteering, Work Related Skills, and Numeracy.

In Year 11, students completing their Certificate II in Active Volunteering have been attending Yuille Park Community College every Monday to work with students in the junior school. As part of this project, they have assisted with literacy and numeracy as well as organised wellbeing activities for the school’s Respectful Relationships program.

In Personal Development Skills (PDS), we are focusing on a new project called Welcome to Loreto. Year 11 students are creating welcome packs and presentations which will be delivered to current Grade 6 students who will be attending Loreto College Ballarat in 2026.

For Business, students created a micro-business addressing homelessness called A Night Off the Streets and raised money to donate to St Vinnies. Every $52 raised allows someone experiencing homelessness to access a safe night’s accommodation. Students raised over $400 during this time!

As our Year 12s draw closer to their final VCE-VM assessments, they have been involved in a wide range of individual and group-based projects.

Throughout this year, Year 12 students in our Community Connections program have been collaborating with local organisations to create a community garden on the grounds of St Patrick’s Cathedral. Students have worked every second Tuesday with landscapers, builders, landscape designers, and cathedral staff to create five planter boxes filled with fruit, vegetables, herbs, and local natives, bringing a previously unused section of the grounds to life. We will be holding a grand opening for the garden early next term.

For Outdoor Ed, our VM students attended a three-day camp in Anglesea to experience the outdoors through mountain bike riding, snorkelling, canoeing, hiking, and surfing. Students went “off the grid” for the three days with no power, no phone reception, and some challenging weather conditions, but they had an amazing time creating memories together.

Finally, in Week 9, the girls delivered their major project for Personal Development Skills, which involved running guided Chapel Tours for elderly residents of local retirement homes. Our students took on a variety of roles, including tour guides, chapel guides, and hospitality crew. The project aimed to address the issue of social isolation among people living in aged care. It was a fantastic day, and the students should be very proud of their efforts.