The VCAL Spot 

Our Year 11 and 12 students completing the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) have been busily working away throughout the year. The students undertaking this program build their knowledge and skills in a variety of different settings. Their program includes two days of classes at school along with SWL (Structured Workplace Learning) or an SBAT (Student Based Apprenticeship and Traineeship run by atEAST) that involves one day of TAFE and a designated number of hours in a workplace. This is a very busy and full workload and often has students starting work at 5am in places all over Melbourne.

Our students absolutely thrive in their workplaces like Josh in Heavy Automotive, Codie in Allied Health, Nick in Hospitality, Baxter in Carpentry and Jake in Automotive. 

Through this year’s lockdowns, many of our SBAT students have been lucky enough to continue working. Olivia at Make ‘n’ Bake has been cooking meals to support people through the lockdown. Tia has been busier than ever with the increase in delivery sales at her florist, she has made some beautiful arrangements recently. 

The Year 11 Literacy students have been given an opt-in lego challenge by Ms Walshe to complete. Jonah has taken on the challenge and has built an amazing Dodge Charger.

VCAL Applications for 2022:

Expressions of Interest for 2022 have been completed and there is now a waiting list to enter the VCAL Program at both Intermediate (Year 11) and Senior (Year 12) levels. Our VCAL Coordinator Ms Walshe and our representative from atEAST Bronwyn are currently interviewing students to enter the atEAST SBAT program. In these interviews we discuss the 8 employability skills, that employers from all trades and industries have identified as important for young people to develop: 

1. Communication
2. Teamwork
3. Self management
4. Learning skills
5. Problem solving
6. Technology
7. Planning and organisation
8. Initiative & enterprise

As well as, the four Enterprise Skills: 

1. Creativity
2. Financial Literacy
3. Critical Thinking
4. Presentation Skills

It’s never too early to start thinking about your career and pathway. For more information about the VCAL Program or employability skills please contact Ms Walshe at christine.walshe@education.vic.gov.au.