COG Newsletter

VCAL Vision

Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning

Year 10 Team Bonding

Our new Year 10 VCAL group enjoyed a hot and sweaty Bubble Soccer session last Wednesday morning on the front oval. It was a chance to get to know each other, test out the skill set of the new VCAL recruits and burn off some end-of-year steam for those who attended. Liam from BubbleSoccer2U was fantastic with the group and spoke highly about the behaviour of the group. Levi Whitford took out the British Bulldogs award for Best Bubble Avoider and Shakira Cooper was the Quiet Assassin, taking out several students and scoring some great goals. An honourable mention has to go to Aaron “Beckham” Trotter for two long bomb goals from his own half!

Year 11 Team Bonding

The Year 11 VCAL group spent a day at Gravity Zone in Seaford to build relationships with each other and get to know the new recruits. Mason Kitt showed his aerial skills with some amazing tricks, while Ben Lanarus and Ben Desbois rivalled for the Highest Jump award for the day. The teachers on the excursion were complimentary of how polite, friendly and well-behaved all of the students were. They showed that they are a trustful and respectful group of young adults and it was a great way to end the year.

Year 12 Team Bonding

The Year 12 VCAL group headed out to Dandenong to test out their driving skills at Le Mans Go Kart track and Laser Zone. It was competitive and fiery on the track, but Mitch Guest took out the day’s honours with some polished driving skills. He did not get the fastest lap though. That honour went to one of our Car Show organisers, Blake Lister. Mitch was not happy! Mr Hackett stormed the Laser Zone mission and won by an absolute mile. He must have been covering up his armour because he provides a big target! The group were enthusiastic and well behaved and it was the perfect way to begin a unit around Safe Driving for 2018.

Orientation Day Helpers

The 2018 Orientation Day was held last week and 220 hungry Grade 6 students flooded the front of the school. They needed sustenance and water to keep their brains switched on for the day. VCAL to the rescue! Our Year 10 and 12 students stood up and provided a well-organised, tasty and hot BBQ lunch for the new students without delay. It was fantastic to see students who were new to the VCAL program step up so quickly and show their ability to organise a major event in the school. Particular thanks must go to our Master BBQ Crew in Liam Davies, Kloe Tisdell, Josh Shanahan, Tegan Allen, Shakira Smith, Braden Loxton, Britney Thomas, Aaron Trotter, Jamie Hudson and Sonia Meizhensuowa. We are very proud of you and grateful that you hung around and helped to clean up as well!

VCAL Academic Awards

2017 has been a fantastic year that has displayed some academic prowess and organisational excellence. We celebrated our VCAL Valedictorian, Kayla Wilson, earlier this term and now we get a chance to celebrate our Academic Achievers for 2017.

The Academic Award winners from the College Awards Night on Tuesday December 19th were:

Year 10

Jaydin Clarke

Hayley Fuller

Brea Trotter

Year 10 DUX

Brea Trotter

Year 11

Lochie Hickson

Blake Lister

Felicity Macintyre

Year 11 DUX

Felicity Macintyre

Year 12

Emily Bencic

Kalyb Doyle

Maddie Long

Talia Tsiakopolous

Laura Visser

Kayla Wilson

Year 12 DUX

Talia Tsiakopolous

 

Congratulations to all of our award winners and our DUX’s for 2017! We are very proud of you.

Swan Education Support Scholarship

This year we welcome a new and exciting partnership with Swan Plumbing Supplies. They have decided to fund a special scholarship that helps to make a difference in the life of a hardworking and enthusiastic young VCAL student. The inaugural winner of this award is our very own handyman, Keith Morris!

Read the spiel that was read out on Awards Night by Swan Group Training Manager, Roger Grech.

It is a privilege to be here this evening representing Swan Plumbing Supplies to present this special award, which I understand, is the first of its type for McClelland College and the VCAL program.

I myself, having taught for over 25 years previously, and the Managing director, Guy Stewart at Swan Plumbing Supplies find this a very worthy initiative to support.

This, the Swan Education Support Scholarship will donate $500 to a student to help with costs that apply to their education.

This could be for VET course materials costs, tools, driving lessons, short courses, school fees, and educational materials and so on.

We hope that in supporting and financing this award, that it can make that difference to a student’s life and education.

Now a bit about the recipient ……..

The recipient of this inaugural award is someone who has overcome many difficulties in their education yet, always has a smile on their face and the motivation to help others.

This student comes from a supportive family who have deep connections with this community and who spend a lot of their time helping others.

This student is the first person to put their hand up and help anyone who needs it.

This year alone, this student has been involved in:

  • filming a School Education program video for the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation,
  • building planter boxes for the VCAL kitchen,
  • building garden beds for National Tree Day at Frankston Heights Primary School,
  • helping with maintenance at Karingal Heights Primary School,
  • helping build lockers here at McClelland
  • created an ‘unofficial business’ as part of their studies which involved doing handyman jobs around the school for other departments such as:
    • fixing the PAC stage door for the Performing Arts Department,
    • fixing tables and chairs in the Year 7 and 8 MAX rooms and
    • putting together easels for the Art Department.

 

This person is truly deserving of this award and sums up what the VCAL program is all about, as he has done all of this whilst passing all of their VCAL subjects and partially completing modules of both a Certificate II in Hospitality and a Certificate II in Public Services.

 

It is with great pleasure to announce that the inaugural winner of the Swan Education Support Scholarship is Keith Morris.

Thank you from VCAL Team

Finally, the VCAL team would like to personally and passionately thank all of our VCAL community for the ongoing support and enthusiasm that we experience. We constantly field phone calls from local employers, parents, past students and businesses who want to help in some way. Whether it be taking on a work placement student, offering an excursion/incursion, giving advice or simply calling up to authorise a student’s absence, we appreciate the input and care from each and every one of you. We would like to specifically say a big VCAL farewell to Mr Steve Reid, who is taking some time away from us for 2018. He has had a great impact on our students this year and we appreciate his efforts.

Have a safe holiday break and come back energised and ready to tackle 2018!

Love and Learning,

The VCAL team.