VCAL News
VCAL NEWS
The trouble with operating an Applied Learning program in lockdown is that students need to apply their skills practically for their assessments. Without certainty of what the future holds, VCAL students have been incredibly resilient and adaptive to this current situation and have responded to feedback from their teachers to assess their outcomes. The Year Level Leaders, teaching staff, ES staff, Careers team and external partners would like to commend all VCAL students for holding their own during this lockdown and preparing themselves for our return to school.
Keep it up!
Senior Environmental Projects
Our Senior students have been looking deep into global environmental issues, right in time for the IPCC report to come out and confirm the human impact on the earth. All Year 12 students have now visited a local farm once and have plans to visit again once we return to school. The main reasons for the farm visit are to sequester carbon from the atmosphere using fire and making charcoal, promote biodiversity by creating habitats for wildlife, and contribute to community action by working together for a common cause. Tony is an amazing human for having us on his farm and letting us better understand our environment and practical solution strategies. Check out the photos to see more.
By the next COG issue, all of our Senior students will have written up and published a speech on environmental issues to share on our VCAL webpage.
Applied Learning in Practice
A big thank you must go out to Tremaine C in Year 12 for running through some stretches and exercises to help promote blood flow and circulation while we sit at our computers all day. Tremaine is studying an Allied Health SBAT, specialising in Aged Care. He completed similar exercises to these with his aged care residents to help keep them healthy and dementia free. Without being able to access work placements, VCAL students are making the best out of lockdown by adapting their skills to our home environments. Well done, Tremaine!
Industry Immersion Day
Our Year 11 students managed to squeeze in an industry immersion day at the Trade Training Centre at Frankston Chisholm at the beginning of the term. They participated in presentations from MAS National on how to prepare themselves for an apprenticeship or traineeship while they are still at school, from the SWL arm of the FMPLLEN on how to attain the right work placement while still at school and from HALT on the importance of mental health in the working world. The relevance and real life applications here were fantastic and we thank all of our presenters for their time and expertise.
Community Project Job Board
Our Year 11 group were just about to start their community projects for their Industry unit, when we were thrust into lockdown.
The job board (pictured) requires students to choose a job that suits their skills and complete an application with an attached resume.
Our year 11 group will be busy completing these practical projects as soon as we get back on deck at McClelland!
Year 10 Social Experiment
Our Year 10 cohort are studying an interesting unit called “The Social Experiment” where they investigate famous and unethical social experiments to better understand the people around us. It takes on a new meaning when we are all taking part in a social experiment globally and witnessing many different reactions and responses play out. We asked them to comment on their current unit and this is what they came up with:
In lockdown we have mostly been doing portfolio work, the topic we are doing this term The Social Experiment we are learning about famous social experiments like The Stanford Prison Experiment, The Bobo Doll experiment, The Milgrim Experiment and Asch Conformity Experiment. After we do research about the experiment we respond to the stimulus and give our opinion on the experiment and if we think the experiment was ethical or not.
- Nic N
In year 10 VCAL I am currently in lockdown trying my hardest to attend every class and complete all my work to high standards, but it is difficult since my stepdad sleeps during the day so it is harder to communicate with my teachers. Unfortunately, we are not able to complete much practical work due to lockdown so we just continue doing our portfolios (evidence of learning). I believe I am doing well throughout lockdown and I'm sticking to a positive mindset.
- Noah S
VCAL students and staff alike look forward to a return to school so that we can put our practical skills to the test!
For now, thanks for reading,
Dave and the VCAL Team