Back to VCAA Bulletin No. 48 - May 2019
May feature stories
Celebrating VCAL excellence
The Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) Achievement Awards were held at Deakin Edge, Federation Square on Monday 29 April 2019. The awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of students who completed a VCAL qualification in 2018, as well as VCAL teachers and community partners for their contributions to the success of VCAL programs.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Education, James Merlino, said that VCAL 'provides innovative ways to encourage the spark in young people to achieve their goals and dreams'. He acknowledged that providing students with a world-class, innovative education was a team effort and thanked parents, carers, mentors and teachers.
Dr David Howes, Chief Executive Officer, VCAA, noted that there was an extraordinary diversity of projects with the common theme of excellence in leadership and community engagement.
The VCAL Achievement Award student winners included Lachlan Essing, Eastern Ranges School, for his Youth Homelessness Project where he helped organise a city experience camp to increase awareness of homelessness; Rebekah Lear, Goroke P–12 College, who organised an event to raise awareness in her local community about mental health and the support available to farmers; and Hamid Arjomandi Lari, Georgia Hewitt and Stephanie Whitty, Doncaster Secondary College, for their Personal Development Skills team project that raised funds for New South Wales farmers who have been affected by severe drought.
Ashlee Fisher from Cranbourne East Secondary College spoke on behalf of the student award recipients. She gave an insight into her journey through high school, where she started with insecurities and doubts, but after enrolling in VCAL gained confidence through her involvement in a number of different projects. She was the first VCAL student in her school to become Vice-Captain, and received multiple awards, including the prestigious Caltex Best All Rounder Award, recognising her academic success. Ashlee thanked her teachers and family for their support and encouragement. 'This is one of the first times I have been proud of myself,' she said.
Melanie Brooks from Lakeview Senior College was awarded VCAL Teacher of the Year for her innovative and effective approach to teaching VCAL Business students. Melanie harnessed the students' enthusiasm and guided them in the development of a coffee cart and catering business.
VCAA Chair, Chris Wardlaw, presented Lorne P–12 College with the VCAA Chair's Award in recognition for their outstanding contribution in delivering the VCAL program through a number of projects in collaboration with the local community.
The VCAA congratulates all the VCAL Achievement Awards winners. Read more about the recipients on the
VCAA website.
VCAA stakeholder survey – please give us your views
The VCAA is surveying its stakeholders to find out how it can improve its services and information provision. If you're an education professional, a student or the parent of a school student, you can give us valuable assistance by completing our survey using the relevant link below. The survey only takes 10 minutes to complete.
VCAA releases draft English as an Additional Language curriculum for F–10 educators
The VCAA has released a draft of the F–10 English as an Additional Language (EAL) curriculum for familiarisation, feedback and optional implementation. The new curriculum has been written to reflect the different English language starting points of EAL students and is intended to be used by all teachers with EAL students in their classrooms.
In Victoria, students for whom English is an additional language form a significant percentage of the student population, with approximately 70,000 EAL students currently enrolled in government P–10 schools and 6000–7000 new enrolments expected every year. EAL students come from an increasingly diverse range of linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Some speak and read multiple languages other than English, while others have not experienced any formal learning in any language.
The curriculum recognises that a student's first, second, third languages – however many they have before English – are an important learning resource and should be maintained. This emphasis on 'plurilingualism' acknowledges that while learning a new language, students can shift between their languages as they establish communication competence in the new language.
Another key feature of the draft curriculum is a diagnostic assessment tool that helps teachers and schools determine the most appropriate EAL learning pathway and level for each student, considering both their stage of schooling and previous language learning.
The
draft EAL curriculum and supporting resources are available now for schools and teachers to review, provide feedback and optional implementation.
To assist teachers become familiar with the new curriculum, the VCAA, with support from VicTESOL and EAL staff from the Department of Education and Training and Catholic education, will hold a number of professional learning activities, starting with a series of face-to-face presentations and webinars across May and June. For program details, go to the
F–10 Professional Learning webpage.
Teachers are invited to give feedback on the draft EAL curriculum, and this can be done
online, with feedback closing on Thursday 29 August 2019.
Full implementation of the curriculum is expected to commence from Term 1, 2020.
For further information, contact Kellie Heintz, EAL Curriculum Manager:
heintz.kellie.a@edumail.vic.gov.au or (03) 9603 7953.