New Vocational Major Program 2025

Over the past two weeks, students who have elected to move into the new look Vocational Major program for 2025 have completed their orientation sessions. Students participated in a number of activities including:

• Bus tour showing students different VET locations

• Writing and role-playing scripts in preparation for cold calling local businesses, in order to obtain a placement.

• Learning about the required paperwork for their Structured Workplace Learning

• Getting a taste of the integrated, project-based learning environment that the students will be working in, to complete all relevant outcomes

Feedback from the students about the orientation was overwhelmingly positive, with comments stating how relevant, practical and useful to them the activities were. The College looks forward to a great year planned with many students gaining skills in their chosen career paths.

CALD Women’s Group Christmas Presentation

North Geelong Secondary College in partnership with Catholic Care Victoria held the annual Christmas get together for the CALD Women’s Group at St Mary’s Football Club. Our Women’s Group supports refugee mothers from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, as they have the additional challenge of supporting their children through school while navigating re-settlement.

North Geelong Year 11 students Zain Sayed, Gloria Baraka and Gay Nay Moo Gay Nay Moo led the morning celebration which included speeches and thankyous from many organisations, a presentation from Geelong Football Club and an introduction to AFL through a skills clinic on the oval. The CALD Women’s Group were also provided with Christmas hampers for the holiday season which was organised by students from Sacred Heart College.

Zain, Gloria and Gay Nay were also involved with the Human Library Project throughout the year, which involved students documenting their journeys to Australian education from a variety of backgrounds and difficult circumstances. These stories were shared on Multicultural Day, where Ella George, Member for Lara, was able to speak to the students involved and ask some questions about their individual experiences.

Social Media legislation

For those unaware, legislation was passed to support protection of our children under 16 from social media. This will take place at some stage next year. This may be a common topic of conversation in households at the moment. “What is it going to look like, what should I be doing to prepare my children for laws that I do not know about yet?” We do not really know yet, but it looks like it is going to support parents to reinforce boundaries for their children to protect them from negative online interactions through social media. Basically, you will be better placed to say you cannot be on that app! In 2025, NGSC will aim to provide parents with support, advice and information to help with this transition.

School rules, values and pathways

Quite often in our roles we are having conversations with students about the school expectations with rules and their purpose was, often reverting back to what a prospective employer might be looking for in an employee. We really want our students to be well prepared for their next steps in their pathways and, regardless of whether it is a part time job or lifelong careers, the expectations at NGSC are high but prepare our students excellently. I recently visited the Platinum Institute, which provides students with pre-apprenticeships. I was quite pleased to see on the wall their 9 principles of work readiness. Jason Pickles, the Chief Operations Officer and NGSC Alumni, was more than happy to share these with us and highlighted that these underpin their everyday expectations.

When you take a closer look, you can see elements of our Progress Reports and expectations around ownership which we often discuss with students.

The Platinum Institute is just one example of opportunities we can explore for students who are looking for an alternative pathway or an avenue into a trade. Platinum provides a pre-apprenticeship for 16 weeks, inclusive of relevant on-site work experience. It was pleasing to hear that Maklin Jeffrey (year 10) is excelling in the program this term and fingers crossed he receives an apprenticeship in the new year.