The VCAL is as an alternative pathway to the VCE at Years 11 & 12. VCAL provides students with practical work-related experience, as well as literacy and numeracy skills and the opportunity to build personal skills that are important for life and work. Like VCE, VCAL is an accredited secondary certificate. The VCAL is aimed at students whose major career goals are apprenticeships, TAFE and employment and are interested in a more practical approach to their learning. The VCAL certificate helps you to be work ready when leaving school.
It is offered at two levels at Rowville Secondary College:
- Intermediate – Year 11
- Senior – Year 12
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There are five compulsory learning strands at each year level. Students undertake two units from within each strand at each year level.
- Literacy Skills
- Work Related Skills
- Numeracy Skills
- Industry Specific Skills
- Personal Development Skills
Students must successfully complete 10 units per year to obtain the relevant VCAL certificate (Intermediate or Senior). Additionally, students MUST complete a minimum of 100 hours of work placement per year to be successful.
Intermediate VCAL at Year 11 and Senior VCAL at Year 12:
- Students must complete Literacy, Numeracy and Personal Development Strands here at Rowville Secondary College three days per week.
- They complete the Industry Specific Skills Strand by undertaking a VET course at TAFE Institution or at another Registered Training Organisation (RTO) one day a week.
- As part of completing the Work Related Skills, students may complete 2 x 10 day blocks of work placement over the year.
- Students must have their work placement arranged prior to the start of 2022 otherwise they will NOT be able to access the VCAL program. Students can seek assistance from the school if they experience difficulties in organising a work placement.
- Students may enrol in Senior VCAL at Year 12 even if they have not completed an Intermediate VCAL at year 11.
- Both intermediate & senior certificates are independent of each other as each contains 2 units per strand.
INTERMEDIATE LEVEL
- Literacy – Units 1 & 2: Reading & Writing and Oral Communication
- Numeracy – Unit 1 & 2
- Personal Development – Unit 1 & 2
- Industry Specific Skills – TAFE: 2 Unit Credits. Please complete the Mullum VET Cluster Student Application Pack (refer to Careers Team to access this).
- Work Related Skills – Unit 1 & 2
- Structured Work Place Learning (work experience)
SENIOR LEVEL
- Literacy – Units 1 & 2: Reading & Writing and Oral Communication
- Numeracy – Unit 1 & 2
- Personal Development – Unit 1 & 2
- Industry Specific Skills – TAFE: 2 Unit Credits. Please complete the Mullum VET Cluster Student Application Pack (refer to Careers Team to access this).
- Work Related Skills – Unit 1 & 2
- Structured Work Place Learning (work experience)
What do I need to do to successfully obtain my VCAL?
A student must successfully obtain 10 credits. A credit is awarded for each unit (100 hours of study in a semester). Students must obtain 2 credits in each of the 5 strands. The strands are Literacy, Numeracy, Industry Specific Skills (TAFE), Work Related Skills (SWL/employment) and Personal Development.
Which students should choose VCAL?
- Those who have strong time management skills and can independently manage school, placement and TAFE. Support will be provided however these are 3 separate components.
- Those who enjoy applied learning and some theoretical study.
- Those who can work and learn independently.
- Those who would like to trial one or more industries.
- Those who wish to be ready to go into the workforce.