VCAL to be introduced in 2017

St Patrick’s College will welcome a new era of hands-on learning when it introduces the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) to its curriculum offerings in 2017.

The College has employed the 2014 VCAL Teacher of the Year Lyn Maniz to oversee the development and introduction of the program which will complement the school’s already broad and diverse VCE and VETiS curriculum opportunities.

Headmaster John Crowley said the introduction of VCAL to St Patrick’s College represented a landmark moment in the school’s mission to raise fine boys to the status of great men.

-Historically, over its 120-year journey, St Patrick’s College has been regarded as an elite school for academic achievement and this new offering enables us to continue that tradition by offering ever more career pathways for our boys,- Mr Crowley said.

-Now, in addition to our wonderfully successful VCE curriculum, we are introducing the VCAL-‘s hands-on model of learning for those boys who may be more interested in pursuing a traineeship or apprenticeship or TAFE-level tertiary study.

-In recent years, through capital investment in our trades centre, St Patrick’s College has grown into a rich source of young apprentices for Ballarat businesses seeking to employ fine young men.

-However, this has often meant that the boy in question was forced to make a choice between accepting the offer of an apprenticeship or completing his VCE.

-Now, with the implementation of the VCAL curriculum, boys have another option of preparing for a trade-based career while still working towards obtaining a Year 12 qualification which will serve them well later in life.-

Mr Crowley said the College will offer VCAL all three qualification levels from 2017, providing the opportunity for boys in Years 10, 11 and 12 to join the program.

He said the College was delighted to have obtained the services of Ms Maniz to oversee the implementation of the program.

-Lyn was named the VCAL Teacher of the Year in 2014 for her great work at Ballarat Secondary College and we are delighted that she has taken on this opportunity to establish the program at St Patrick’s,- he said.

-We will undertake capital works within the school grounds to ensure VCAL has its own home in the heart of the College and that the boys have access to the finest facilities to foster their learning.-

Ms Maniz said she was excited to be able to introduce the VCAL model to a school with such a long tradition of excellence.

-VCAL is designed for students whose prefer learning through doing, or a -hands-on- approach,- Ms Maniz said.

-VCAL aims to give boys the necessary skills to equip them well for employment, training at TAFE level, apprenticeships or traineeships. VCAL gives students practical work related experience as well as literacy and numeracy skills and an opportunity to build personal skills that are important for life and work. Like the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE), the VCAL is a recognised Secondary Qualification.-

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