Options

VCAL – the ‘hands-on’ option
Senior students at Mount Erin can now choose between two parallel pathways to further education, apprenticeships, traineeships and employment.

One option is the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE), the recognized ‘academic’ pathway for students requiring an ENTER score for entry into higher education (University).

Another option is the increasingly popular Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL), a ‘practical’ pathway for students wanting to enter TAFE, apprenticeships, traineeships or employment. From 2005, the Senior VCAL Certificate will be considered a minimum requirement (alongside VCE) for entry into Certificate IV TAFE courses (NB: such a pathway to TAFE could later lead to University).

The VCAL program is an accredited framework qualification, recently developed in recognition of the many values of a hands-on applied learning approach and built on the successful delivery of vocational programs (including VET) already running in many schools. The VCAL is flexible and enables students to enter and exit each of the three levels of the certificate to meet their individual learning needs, styles and pathways. In only a few years, VCAL has gained wide recognition and support from students, teachers, parents and employers alike. The success of VCAL for senior secondary students speaks for itself. In a number of Victorian schools, VCAL is already the preferred pathway for the majority of Year 11 and 12 students.

Why are more and more senior students choosing VCAL as their preferred option?

VCAL is a highly regarded, accredited and quality assured learning program
VCAL has an applied learning approach using adult learning principles
VCAL provides a coherent and relevant learning program
VCAL has high levels of support from employers
VCAL is a proven pathway to successful TAFE offers, highly prized apprenticeships/traineeships and excellent employment outcomes

Why a Certificate of Applied Learning?
Applied learning emphasises the relevance of what is being learnt to the 'real world 'outside the classroom, and makes that connection as immediate and transparent as possible.

Applied learning involves students and their teachers in partnerships with organisations and individuals outside school. These partnerships provide the necessary out of school context for students to demonstrate the relevance of what they have learnt.

Applied learning is concerned with working with students in a holistic manner, valuing their personal strengths, learning styles, interests, goals and previous experiences in a way that may not normally be the focus of more traditional school curricula.

Applied learning recognises that important to the transition from school to work is being treated as an adult, and that moving students out of the classroom to learn also means helping them make a shift to become more independent and responsible for their own learning.

VCAL/VET Hospitality/Tourism