Year 9-11 News

Monash Scholars Program

Congratulations to Katherine Styles and Sampada Kandel of Year 10 who have been accepted as a participant in the Monash Scholars Program!

Monash Scholars is a prestigious program for high achieving secondary school students based in Victoria. The program is offered by Monash University to give high potential students a unique head start into university life. It provides opportunities for personal and academic development, as well as giving students the knowledge, skills and confidence to make the right study choices. It also enables them to expand their network of like-minded peers.

Katherine and Sampada will join over 1000 students across the state to participate in a series of events to enhance their learning and explore University life. Scholars will have access to a range of activities and events that will support their success at high school and enable them to discover what it’s really like to be a University student.

Early Start VCE 2024

Expression of interest for Early Start VCE in 2024 is now open. Early Start VCE offers the potential to improve your ATAR (admission rank) at the end of Year 12. 

Completing a VCE Year 11 subject in Year 10 allows students to study a Year 12 subject/s in Year 11. This will mean that the total VCE subjects will be 6 rather than 5, providing students with an additional 10% of the fifth and sixth permissible scores that are available towards their ATAR. For more information on ATAR, please read below.

Here are some additional benefits of undertaking an Early Start VCE Subject/s in Year 10:

• Students gain valuable experience and early exposure to the VCE program in Year 10.  For some, this is a taste of what the rigour and expectation of VCE is like, and can help students understand ‘what it takes’ to be a successful VCE student.
• It is a great opportunity and pathway for learning extension and challenge.
• It may assist students in identifying subjects they enjoy and prepare them for future pathways, such as university or TAFE. 
• It distributes the completion of Year 12 subjects across two years. High achieving students, with approval, may also apply to undertake two early start VCE subjects in Year 10. This may result in undertaking 4 x Unit 3 and 4 subjects in Year 12, instead of the traditional 5 subjects. This provides more time to study and focus on the remaining subjects in Year 12.

How do students apply?

Year 9 students wishing to undertake an Early Start VCE Unit 1 and 2 subject/s in Year 10 should complete an expression of interest form. The expression of interest form is available to all Year 9 students on Compass, Microsoft Teams and in hard copy form from the Senior School from Tuesday 13 June.

This form is not an enrolment form, but simply an expression of interest form to undertake an Early Start VCE Subject/s in 2024 and does not guarantee a place in a chosen VCE subject. Eligibility is determined based on a combination of a student’s academic suitability, teacher recommendations and meeting the selection criteria provided. Access to a VCE subject/s in Year 10 is also dependent on availability of places after all Year 11 students have been accommodated.  Note: undertaking a VCE subject in Year 10 will replace two semester electives.

The teacher recommendations page must be completed by teachers relevant to the subject/s students are expressing interest in.

APPLICATION PROCESS SUMMARY

1. Students are required to complete and submit an expression of interest form to Senior School by 8:45am Friday 21 July to be eligible for selection.
2. Applicants may be interviewed as part of the application process.
3. Students will be notified of the outcome of the process (successful/unsuccessful) by Week 4 Term 3.

Calculation of the ATAR Score

Tertiary institutions look at the ATAR and the combinations of VCE studies students have completed before offering places. The ATAR is calculated by the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) on the basis of study scores and is presented as a ranking between 0.00 and 99.95. If students want to obtain an ATAR, they need to have at least four study scores (4 x Unit 3 and 4 sequences), one of which must be from the English group. Study Scores are calculated out of 50. VTAC uses VCE results issued by the VCAA (Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority) to calculate the ATAR. The ATAR is a percentile rank, so it shows the relative performance of each student compared to everyone else in their age group.

The ATAR is a rank based on each student’s aggregate (or total) produced by adding:

• The VTAC scaled study score in one of English, English Language, Literature or English as an Additional Language (EAL)
• The next best three VTAC scaled study scores permissible; and
• 10% of the fifth and sixth permissible scores that are available.

University Enhancement Study is also an attractive option for some high achieving students because it is usually delivered after school one afternoon a week, may give students credit toward a university degree, and can contribute toward a student's aggregate when calculating the ATAR score.

All Year 9 students attended a Preparation for Subject Selection Assembly in Week 7, during Explore, to hear more about the process of applying for Early Start VCE, Sports Excellence and Peer Support.

If students or parents/guardian have any questions regarding Early Start VCE, please don’t hesitate to ring the College on 9801 9700 or contact Mr. David Black (Senior School Leader- Learning and Improvement) via email at BLA@wantirnacollege.vic.edu.au

Year 11 & 9 Learning Mentoring Initiative

Last term on 14 June, during Explore, some of our Early Start Year 11 students had the opportunity to provide advice, guidance and mentoring to some of our Year 9 students to better prepare them for their future pathways, including the possibility of an Early Start VCE.

During Period 3, 11A and B Explore classes met with 9A and 9B to create an opportunity for Year 9 students to ask year 11 students different questions regarding VCE. Two weeks earlier, Year 9s created a variety of questions relating to different aspects of VCE that they wanted to learn more about.  Last week we were able to prepare answers for these questions, including other essential information to help prepare Year 9 students for VCE and beyond. In groups of three we held conference-like interviews, in which year 9 students asked Year 11 students a variety of questions, including questions related to Early Start VCE. This was a great opportunity, as we ourselves didn't necessarily know the answers, so it helped deepen our understanding of learning and VCE. - Nicholas Schulte, Year 11

David Black, Tim Pearson 

& Darren Hoogkamer

Senior School Leaders