VCE Vocational Major Update

Our VCE VM students in both Years 11 and 12 have been very busy in Personal Development Skills and Work-Related Skills. 

We spent a day with a Community Engagement Officer from ‘Be Ahead of the Game’ who taught us about the harm that gambling can cause.

Our female and gender-diverse students, including some from mainstream VCE and from other year levels, spent the day in at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre at the Trade and Tech Fit Expo, where they were able to try the tools, have their resumes workshopped with a careers expert and listen to successful females in a range of industries.

Mrs. Chee has shared her experience of the day:

Empowering Female and Gender Diverse students: A Recap of the Trade and Tech Fit Expo Excursion

On Thursday 9 May, a group of Year 12 and 9 students embarked on an empowering journey to the Trade and Tech Fit Expo at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. The event is tailored to championing diversity and inclusion in traditionally male-dominated fields and allows students the chance to explore the latest innovations.

The expo was a vibrant tapestry of ideas, showcasing the latest advancements in various sectors ranging from engineering to digital marketing. What truly stood out, however, was the strong presence of women and non-binary individuals leading the charge in these industries. 

From keynote speakers to booth facilitators, representation was not just tokenistic but genuine, inspiring attendees to envision themselves as future leaders.

Interactive exhibits allowed attendees to immerse themselves in cutting-edge technologies, from virtual reality simulations, safety test equipment, operating power tools to 3D printing demonstrations. These hands-on experiences not only sparked curiosity but also challenged traditional notions of who belongs in the trade and tech world.

As we reflect on our experience at the Trade and Tech Expo, one thing is clear: the future is diverse, and it is ours to shape. 

We have also had expert tuition from an experienced jewellery-maker, Sarah Munnings of Sarah Munnings Jewellery, who taught us the skills of hammering and texturing different metals, how to shape the metal and the ways in which experimenting and taking risks leads to better design outcomes. From here, the students will continue planning and designing new pieces with costing sheets and a budget, improving their numeracy skills as well as their artistic skills. 

In addition, both classes have also been fortunate to spend time at successful, local business, Form A Sign. The students were given a tour of the premises and allowed to use the equipment, including wearing safety gear and learning about the machinery. 

One student from 11V wrote this reflection on the experience:

Reflection on Form A Sign excursion!

As I got to school, I went to Gary’s classroom to see when we are leaving and when he came, he took us on the bus and headed to Noble Park North. Once we got to the destination, we saw a massive factory with sign that says “Form A Sign” as we went to a stop, we met two lovely people Karen and Wes Chandler (owners of the business). They went through all the details on what their business represents. They started going through about the activities we are going to be doing, but first we went to a massive machine that chips wood, we finished watching the machine create a spectacular sign with a lot of detail. Josh, Jack, and I went to our station and the first we did was create dog tags, we also cut out stickers of our names. We later went to wrap a car. It was satisfying to see how nice it turned out. Once we finished the wrapping we went to a cherry picker and went 17 metres high! After we finished that, we went upstairs to see a boat tracer that has a perfect measuring scale and is 100% accurate. We printed it out on a foam machine and got the exact piece online to person. We went upstairs to eat sausages and had a massive feed. We said a massive thank you for the day and couldn’t appreciate them enough.

Josh Edwards in 11V also wrote a glowing reflection:

Form A Sign reflection:

The reason it relates to work related skills is because it is a work-related business and we went out their to see what a real life job looks like and get some experience in the work life 

The reason we went was because our teachers wanted us to see what we would be doing in the future and see what you want to do later in life

I learnt a lot of things while being their such as how to wrap a car looking at all the different machines and how expensive they can be and also went up in the cherry picker 17 meters in the air which was pretty scary and we made dog tags with our names on it and at the end we had hot dogs which was another plus in the excursion.

Me personally I would love to go back and learn more.

And Billy Leris in 12V responded to a few questions about the day:

1. What career types did you notice within Form a Sign? 

I noticed there was numerous career types the one that stood out to me was graphic designer, car wrapping, welding, editors, painting 

1. Would you consider a career within a company like Form a Sign?

Yeah I would consider it because it looks like a very fun company to be a part of and all the staff are very friendly and look fun to work with

1. Give some feedback on how you think the site visit went:

I really enjoyed the site and how everyone explained their role at the company and showed us how to do it and the safe way to do it and everyone was friendly and helpful

1. Would you recommend this type of visit for other students within the school? 

Yes I would highly recommend this to other students, they can get a idea of they want to head down this type of pathway after school 

We are very grateful to have a community that is willing to share their knowledge and expertise and time with our students – both the Chandlers from Form A Sign and Sarah Munnings are parents of our student cohort and generously volunteered to offer these experiences to our VCE VM students. Thank you, also, to the teachers who have organised these events and taken time out of their schedules to spend these experiences with us; Mrs. Chee, Gary, Mr. Pousoulis.

Coming up in the next few weeks will be visits to Unwrapped Pantry in Belgrave South and Blue Connections IT in Scoresby, in addition to helping out at Chesterfield Farm and spending a day in the city with Big Issue Classroom. An enormous thank you to Yvonne Paice and Kelly Dougan from our parent community who have offered to host us next term. We are incredibly fortunate in our College community!

Felicity Graham-Prowse

Senior School Leader

VCE VM Learning Area Leader