VCAL - Alkira Secondary College
The Journey Continues…
I welcome you to the next phase of your academic journey. It is a very exciting time as you prepare for the next stage.
In Year 9 we shared the Big Sky program, which allowed you the opportunities to develop independent learning skills and to explore many different learning experiences. The Pathways program in Year 10 has helped you develop a plan for the future and the opportunity to specialise in the learning areas that are most relevant to you.
The Later Years program now provides you the opportunity to make decisions that will support you on your journey beyond school. As you move on through the year levels you will notice you are given more opportunity to choose a course of study that will best develop your particular skills and talents. This happens because as you get older you learn more about yourself and how you learn best. You also become aware of areas of study and careers that may appeal to you and suit your talents.
There are two main choices in front of you:
Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning : VCAL or Victorian Certificate of Education: VCE.
In simple terms, if you are interested in pursuing a vocational pathway or further training in a specific area and you enjoy the challenges of applied learning, then VCAL is the best option for you. If your first preference is to go on to further education at university, then VCE is for you.
Both the VCE and VCAL are flexible enough to allow you to transfer across. These changes can occur in certain situations or when your preferences and achievements change.
You know yourself best; you know what you are interested in, and what engages you. Most year ten students have been involved in work experience and so you will have some idea about what the future holds. Keep in mind, research says you will have 10 – 14 jobs by the age of 38. Each of you has unique skills and talents so you need to reflect on your past successes and future goals and identify the subjects that will develop and bring out the best in you. Spend the time to think about and talk with family, friends and staff members with respect to the career direction you may like to follow.
Most importantly, you need to be future focussed in your course selection not just what might be easiest or most fun in but what will serve you best and develop your gifts most for your future years.
If you are not sure about what you want to do, may I suggest you and your parent/guardian visit www.myfuture.edu.au
and explore the options available to you at this web site. This will lead you to make an informed decision. In addition, we have course councillors who will also help you with the decision making.
Becoming a senior student at Alkira will bring many opportunities and experiences, rewards and successes, fears and challenges, responsibilities and freedoms. It is a time when our College values - Respect, Integrity, Care and
Excellence - become even more important, not only for your own development, but as senior students; you are the role models in the school and our community.
I wish you all the best, and remind you, once again, that you are entering a very important and exciting phase of your study. Seize it with both hands.
Mr John Shaw
Principal
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Contents
Foundation Mathematics Unit 1 & 2 32
General Mathematics Unit 1 & 2
Mathematical Methods (CAS) Unit 1 & 2
Further Mathematics Unit 3 & 4
Mathematical Methods (CAS) Unit 3 & 4
Specialist Mathematics VCE Unit 3 & 4
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Vocational Education and Training (VET) [$]
.............................................................................................. 46
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Staff Contacts
Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) Mrs Amanda Windsor
Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) Mr David Mockridge
Vocational Education & Training in Schools (VET) Mrs Charmaine D’Souza
Careers, Managed Individual Pathways Mrs Charmaine D’Souza
VASS Coordinator
Curriculum Coordinator
Curriculum Leader – Arts
Curriculum Leader – English
Curriculum Leader – Health & Physical Ed
Curriculum Leader – LOTE
Curriculum Leader – Mathematics
Ms Jordyn Bower
Mr David Mockridge
Ms Alison Cassidy
Mrs Rachel Colvin
Mr Matthew Roberts
Mr Jeremy Chen
Mr Trent Smith
Curriculum Leader – Science
Curriculum Leader – Humanities
Curriculum Leader – Performing Arts
Curriculum Leader – Technology
Cowarr Sub-School Leader
Malloo Sub-School Leader
Towera Sub-School Leader
Yaan Sub-School Leader
Mr Stuart Kerr
Mr Scott Poulton
Dr Barbara Joseph
Mr Jason Wylie
Mrs Amanda Windsor
Ms Simone McKenzie
Mrs Sandra Stevens
Mr David Mockridge
VCE, VCAL & VET Subject Descriptors
Accounting
Biology
Business Management
Chemistry
Chinese Second Language
Drama
English
English as an Additional Language (EAL)
English Literature
Environmental Science
Food and Technology
Geography
Health and Human Development
History
Information Technology
Legal Studies
Mathematics
Media Studies
Music Performance
Outdoor and Environmental Studies
Physical Education
Product Design and Technology
Psychology
Sociology
Studio Arts
Systems Engineering
Visual Communications and Design
Staff Contact for More Information
Mrs Barbara Shaw
Ms Amanda Viney
Mr Scott Poulton
Ms Stephanie Searls
Ms Qing Tian
Dr Barbara Joseph
Mrs Rachel Colvin
Ms Monica Chaudhry
Mrs Rachel Colvin
Mr Stuart Kerr
Mrs Simone McKenzie
Ms Jennifer O’Reilly
Mrs Amanda Windsor
Dr Barbara Joseph
Mr Benjamin Baas
Mr Scott Poulton
Mr Trent Smith
Ms Carlyn Kang
Mrs Mary – Anne Allen
Ms Ailsa Batey
Mr Mathew Roberts
Mr Jason Wylie
Ms Jessica Mortimer
Ms Sylvia Kosztyi
Mrs Cathy Stephenson
Mr William Frantz
Ms Alison Cassidy
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Selecting a Course
Before choosing individual studies it is advised that students carefully consider the prerequisites for tertiary courses of interest as outlined in the VTAC Guide or VICTER. These can be found: www.vtac.edu.au/publications/guide.html
and http://www.vtac.edu.au/pdf/publications/victer2017.pdf
VCAL COURSE:
VCAL students must undertake a VET subject to satisfactorily obtain their certificate. Students must also secure work placement one day per week in a field that supports this VET subject.
There is a yearly total fee for students wishing to complete their VCAL Certificate. Fees can be found as an individual supplement to this handbook.
VCAL students must complete a ‘VCE VCAL’ subject to satisfactorily obtain their certificate. Students may choose from a list of unit 1 subjects that will be completed over one year.
VCE COURSE:
Year 11 students selecting a VCE course are required to choose 6 subjects (i.e. English plus five Unit 1&2 pairs). Year 12 students are required to choose 5 subjects (Unit 3 and 4 sequences), due to the high work load involved with School Assessed Coursework (SAC).
English Units 3 & 4 are compulsory to satisfactorily complete VCE.
It is strongly recommended that all students take great care when selecting their course of study in mathematics and take serious note of the recommendations provided by the mathematics department.
Other units need to be chosen with any pre-requisites for further study or work in mind. In almost all cases
Year 12 studies will be a continuation of those chosen in Year 11, so choose carefully.
This document outlines the content for the units being offered at the college. It is very important that like all schools, Alkira Secondary College reserves the right to withdraw units if there is insufficient demand.
Students may have the option of undertaking these units via Distance Education or may choose an alternate subject.
Subject selection will be confirmed (and adjusted if necessary) taking into account examination results.
This will occur in consultation with the student during course counseling sessions. Parents/guardians are encouraged to attend the designated appointment.
The provisional timetable has been drawn up and students may find that certain combinations of units are impossible. However, all pathways and reasonable course combinations can be considered.
The College does not guarantee that a subject will run with a class size less than 10-15 students.
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Alkira Senior Pathways
Y EAR 7-10
VCAL
[V
ICTORIAN
C
ERTIFICATE OF
A PPLIED L EARNING ]
VET
[V OCATIONAL E DUCATION AND
T
RAINING
]
VCE
[V
ICTORIAN
C
ERTIFICATE OF
E DUCATION ]
C
OMPLETION OF
VCAL C
OMPLETION OF
VCE
E
MPLOYMENT
A
PPRENTICESHIP
/T
RAINEESHIP
TAFE
C
ERTIFICATE
II/III/IV, D
IPLOMA
,
A
DVANCED
D
IPLOMA
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NIVERSITY
7
Subjects in this handbook are a summary of each study design and should be used as a guide. For full subject guides or for more information please visit the VCAA website www.vcaa.vic.edu.a
u
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Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL)
The Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) is a 'hands-on' option for students in Years 11 and 12.
Like the VCE, the VCAL is a recognised senior secondary qualification. Unlike the VCE, which is widely used by students as a pathway to university, the VCAL focuses on 'hands-on’ learning. Students who do VCAL are more likely to be interested in going on to training at TAFE, doing an apprenticeship, or getting a job after completing
Year 12.
The VCAL's flexibility enables students to design a study program that suits their interests and learning needs.
Students select accredited curriculum components from VCE studies, Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualifications, Further Education (FE) and VCAL units. There are four compulsory strands in VCAL:
Literacy and Numeracy Skills (LIT & NUM)
Personal Development Skills (PDS)
Work Related Skills (WRS)
Industry Specific Skills (IND)
Students wishing to complete a VCAL program must undertake a VET course in order to gain a satisfactory completion.
In order to complete a VCAL certificate students must commit to the following program structure:
3 Days at school (Literacy, Numeracy, WRS , PDS, IND and VCE)
1 day VET program (Certificate II level or higher)
1 day of work placement (on the job training)
As part of your VCAL program, you will participate in projects and activities in your community or school that will help develop your teamwork skills, self-confidence and other skills important for life and work. For example, you may work with the local council to enhance parklands. The learning you gain from being involved in such a project can be counted towards the VCAL. Due to this reason all VCAL excursions are compulsory unless a medical certificate is provided.
Students who start their VCAL and then decide they would like to complete their VCE, are able to transfer between certificates in year 11 only. Any VCE studies successfully completed as part of the VCAL program will count towards the VCE. This will however, be at the Principal’s discretion via written communication.
A Certificate and Statement of Results will be issued to students who successfully complete their VCAL.
Who is the VCAL suited to?
VCAL could be considered by students who
Are interested in apprenticeships or traineeships
Do not want to go to university straight after year 12
Do not require an ATAR score
Want a year 11 and/or year 12 Certificate
Want to stay at school to complete their secondary education
Are more attuned to applied ‘hands on’ learning
May want to go out to work when they finish school
Wish to pursue Higher Education at TAFE providers in the future
Want to develop more confidence in the workplace
Want to gain maturity before they take future steps
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Commitment to the Program
VCAL students need to be committed to their individual program. Where students are experiencing any difficulties in any area it is very important to make contact with their Sub School Leader without delay. Students could be jeopardising their VCAL certificate if there is an unresolved problem in any area.
VCAL Design
The VCAL is accredited at three levels. The three levels will ensure that there are achievable learning targets for a range of students.
Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning- Foundation
Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning- Intermediate
Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning- Senior
VCAL Curriculum Strands:
Literacy
The purpose of the VCAL Literacy strand is to develop literacy skills and knowledge that allow effective participation in the four main social contexts in which we function in Australian society:
family and social life
workplace and institutional settings
education and training contexts
community and civic life
Numeracy
Underpinning the VCAL Numeracy strand is the concept that skills development occurs best when it takes place within social contexts and for social purpose. Like the VCAL Literacy Skills strand, the purpose of the VCAL
Numeracy Skills Units is to develop skills and knowledge that allow effective participation in the four main social contexts in which we function in Australian society:
family and social life
workplace and institutional settings
education and training contexts
community and civic life
Personal Development Skills
The purpose of the Personal Development Skills strand is to develop knowledge, skills and attributes that lead towards:
the development of self
social responsibility
building community
civic and civil responsibility, e.g. through volunteering and working for the benefit of others
improved self-confidence and self-esteem
valuing civic participation in a democratic society
Work Related Skills
The purpose of the Work Related Skills (WRS) strand is to develop employability skills, knowledge and attitudes valued within the community and work environments as a preparation for employment.
The Work Related Skills units are designed to:
integrate learning about work skills with prior knowledge and experiences
enhance the development of employability skills through work related contexts
develop critical thinking skills that apply to problem solving in work related contexts
develop planning and work related organisational skills
develop OH&S awareness
develop and apply transferable skills for work related contexts
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Industry Specific Skills
A student must complete a VET program to satisfactorily complete this area of study. The range of VET options is extensive. Some examples are Automotive, Engineering, Building and Construction, Hospitality, Retail, Multimedia,
Information Technology, Agriculture, Horticulture, Warehousing and Hair and Beauty.
Industry and Enterprise (VCE) (Intermediate level only)
This is a VCE subject that will run alongside VCAL Work related Skills. Industry and Enterprise investigates work and its place in work settings, industries and society. The study explores the vocational, economic, social and cultural aspects of work and encourages students to undertake a theoretical and practical investigation of these aspects throughout the four units. A key feature of VCE Industry and Enterprise is the structured workplace learning that students are required to undertake.
VCE Elective (Intermediate level only)
Students completing VCAL will need to choose a VCE Unit 1 subject that will run for one year; Unit 2 may be completed the following year. Subjects that may be offered are: Information Technology, Product Design &
Technology and Studio Art.
Part-Time Work
Students should inform the VCAL coordinator if they are in part-time work arrangements. There are occasions when part-time work can contribute to credit towards the VCAL or VCE. Each case is different and needs to be individually assessed. To have the best possible chance for success in year 11 and 12 it is strongly recommended that part time work should not exceed 15 hours per week.
Possible Intermediate VCAL student Time Table Week 1
Session Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
1 VCE Subject Literacy VCE Subject
2
3
4
Literacy
Numeracy
Pastoral Care
VET
(All day)
Structured
Workplace
Learning
(All day)
Personal
Development
Literacy
Numeracy
Pastoral Care
Personal
Development
Numeracy
Students wanting to study at university immediately after completing their Year 12 are advised to undertake a VCE program. Students can however articulate from some TAFE programs to university degree programs if they meet the eligibility criteria.
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Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE)
The VCE is designed as a two year (four semester) course during which students usually complete twenty to twenty-two semester-length units of study. Each unit involves one hundred hours of study, of which approximately sixty are provided in formal classroom situations. Clearly, a substantial amount of work, both assessed and nonassessed is necessary outside of class time.
Satisfactory completion of the VCE
Over the two years, the minimum requirements state that students must satisfactorily complete a minimum of 16 units, including at least:
Three units of an English (Units 1, 2, 3 and 4) of which units 3 and 4 much be completed
Three unit 3 and 4 sequences in addition to English.
At Alkira Secondary College students may obtain their VCE by developing a course that may include:
VCE subjects offered at the College
A VET subject offered at the college or other registered training organisation
A study through Distance Education
A University subject as recognised by the VCAA (Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority)
Students at Alkira Secondary College are required to select a minimum of 12 units in year 11 and a minimum of 10 units in year 12
University subjects
It is possible for talented students to undertake a first year university subject. These subjects can be credited towards a student‘s ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank) as a sixth VCE subject.
Students must make an application directly to the university on the correct forms at the end of year 11. They must be very strong academically across the board and must also be completing the appropriate Unit 3 & 4 subject. For example, if a student studies first year Biology at Melbourne University, they must also be studying Unit 3 & 4
Biology.
Acceptance into any University subject is at the discretion of the University. These subjects are not taught at the college. Parents will be asked to pay the associated fees plus any other expenses attached to the course.
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Accounting VCE
Accounting is the process of recording, reporting, analysing and interpreting financial data and accounting information which is then communicated to internal and external users of this information. It plays an integral role in the successful operation and management of businesses.
VCE Accounting focuses on small business. Unit 1 begins with a small service business, allowing students to develop knowledge and skills in accounting without the complexities of accounting for trading businesses or large organisations. Units 2, 3 and 4 then focus on a single activity trading business where students build on and extend their accounting skills.
Unit 1: Establishing and operating a service business
This unit focuses on the establishment of a small business and the accounting and financial management of the business. Students are introduced to the processes of gathering and recording financial data and the reporting and analysing of accounting information by internal and external users. The cash basis of recording and reporting is used throughout this unit.
Using single entry recording of financial data and analysis of accounting information, students examine the role of accounting in the decision-making process for a sole proprietor of a service business.
Unit 2: Accounting for a trading business
This unit extends the accounting process from a service business and focuses on accounting for a sole proprietor of a single activity trading business. Students use a single entry recording system for cash and credit transactions and the accrual method for determining profit. They analyse and evaluate the performance of the business using financial and non-financial information. Using these evaluations, students suggest strategies to the owner on how to improve the performance of the business.
Students develop their understanding of the importance of ICT in the accounting process by using a commercial accounting software package to establish a set of accounts, record financial transactions and generate accounting reports.
Unit 3: Recording and reporting for a trading business
This unit focuses on financial accounting for a single activity trading business as operated by a sole trader and emphasises the role of accounting as an information system. Students use the double entry system of recording financial data and prepare reports using the accrual basis of accounting. The perpetual method of stock recording with the First In, First Out (FIFO) method is used.
Unit 4: Control and analysis of business performance
This unit provides an extension of the recording and reporting processes from Unit 3 and the use of financial and non-financial information in assisting management in the decision-making process. The unit is based on the double entry accounting system and the accrual method of reporting for a single activity trading business using the perpetual inventory recording system.
Students investigate the role and importance of budgeting for the business and undertake the practical completion of budgets from cash, profit and financial position. Students interpret accounting information from accounting reports and graphical representations, and analyse the results to suggest strategies to the owner on how to improve the performance of the business.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 school-assessed coursework: 25%,
Unit 4 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Examination: 50%
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Australian and Global Politics VCE
VCE Australian and Global Politics is the study of contemporary power at both national and global levels. Through this study students explore, explain and evaluate national and global political issues, problems and events, the forces that shape these and responses to them. In units 1 and 2 students examine the way politics is practised in
Australia and the opportunities for young Australians to participate. They evaluate Australian democratic practices against particular ideas and principles that include representation, respect for rights, and tolerance of diversity and freedom of speech. In units 3 and 4 students examine the interconnectedness of twenty-first century global citizens and the impact of globalisation on culture, language, human rights and the environment. They explore the nature of global crises such as environmental degradation, war and terrorism, and the effectiveness of responses and proposed solutions by key global actors.
Unit 1: The National Citizen
In this unit students are introduced to the study of politics as the exercise of power by individuals, groups and nation-states. Students consider key concepts related to power and influence, types of power, political ideology and values, political involvement and active citizenship. Students examine the reasons why people seek political power, the characteristics of successful political activists and leaders, and the political ideas that motivate them.
The ways in which political power is exercised and how that power is challenged and resisted by others is explored.
Students also examine the role and influence of social and political movements as methods of organising political ideas and action.
Unit 2: The Global Citizen
This unit focuses on the contemporary international community. Students examine their place within this community through considering the debate over the existence of the ‘global citizen’. They explore the myriad ways their lives have been affected by the increased interconnectedness – the global threads – of the world through the process of globalisation. Students consider the extent to which the notion of an international community exists, and investigate its ability to manage areas of global cooperation and respond to issues of global conflict and instability.
Unit 3: Global Actors
In this unit students investigate the key global actors in twenty-first century global politics. They use contemporary evidence to analyse the key global actors and their aims, roles and power. They develop an understanding of the key actors through an in-depth examination of the concepts of national interest and power as they relate to the state, and the way in which one Asia-Pacific state uses power within the region to achieve its objectives.
For the purposes of this study, the term ‘non-state actors’ covers a range of global actors: altruistic nongovernments organisations (NGOs), for example Amnesty International and Greenpeace; organised religions; terrorist movements and organised crime syndicates.
Unit 4: Global Challenges
In this unit students investigate key global challenges facing the international community in the twenty-first century. They examine and analyse the debates surrounding two ethical issues, which are underpinned by the contested notion of global citizenship. They then evaluate the effectiveness of responses to these issues. Students also explore the context and causes of global crises, and consider the varying effectiveness of responses and challenges to solving them.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Unit 4 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Examination: 50%
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Biology VCE
Biology is the study of living things from familiar, complex multicellular organisms that live in the many different habitats of our biosphere to single celled micro-organisms that live in seemingly inhospitable conditions. It is a study of the dynamic relationships between living things, their interdependence, their interactions with the nonliving environment and the processes that maintain life and ensure its continuity. Biology enables students to understand that despite the diverse ways of meeting the challenges of survival, all living things have many structural and functional characteristics in common.
Unit 1: Unity and Diversity
In this unit students examine the cell as the structural and functional unit of the whole organism. Students investigate the needs of individual cells, how specialised structures carry out cellular activities and how the survival of cells depends on their ability to maintain a dynamic balance between their internal and external environments.
Unit 2: Organisms and their Environment
The rich diversity of Australian ecosystems provides a variety of contexts for students to study the relationships between living things and their environment. Students investigate particular sets of biotic and abiotic factors that operate in different places in the biosphere, and how these factors influence the kinds of organisms that live there.
Students examine how organisms in their particular habitats are part of the integrated and naturally self-sustaining systems in which energy flows and matter is cycled between the living and non-living components of the environment.
Unit 3: Signatures of Life
In this unit students consider the molecules and biochemical processes that are indicators of life. They investigate the synthesis of biomolecules and biochemical processes that are common to autotrophic and heterotrophic life forms. Students consider the universality of DNA and investigate its structure; the genes of an organism, as functional units of DNA and code for the production of a diverse range of proteins in an organism.
Unit 4: Continuity and Change
In this unit students examine evidence for evolution of life forms over time. Students explore hypotheses that explain how changes to species have come about. In addition to observable similarities and differences between organisms, students explore the universality of DNA, and conservation of genes as evidence for ancestral lines of life that have given rise to the present biodiversity of our planet.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 school-assessed coursework: 20%
Unit 4 school-assessed coursework: 20%
Examination: 60%
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Business Management VCE
VCE Business Management examines the ways in which people at various levels within a business organisation manage resources to achieve the objectives of the organisation. Students develop an understanding of the complexity, challenges and rewards that come from business management and gain an insight into the various ways resources can be managed in small, medium and large-scale organisations. The study recognises that there is a range of management theories. In each unit students examine some of these theories and, through exposure to real business scenarios and direct contact with business, compare them with management in practice. Students will develop knowledge and skills that enhance their confidence and ability to participate effectively, as socially responsible and ethical members of the business community, and as informed citizens, consumers and investors.
Unit 1: Small Business Management
Small rather than large businesses make up the large majority of all businesses in the Australian economy. It is the small business sector that provides a wide variety of goods and services for both consumers and industries, such as manufacturing, construction and retail. This, combined with employment opportunities, makes the small business sector a vital component in the success, growth and stability of Australia. Small businesses are tangible to students as they are visible and accessible in daily life. This unit provides an opportunity for students to explore the operations of a small business and its likelihood of success.
Unit 2: Communication and Management
This unit focuses on the importance of effective communication in achieving business objectives. Students investigate communication both internal and external to the business. They develop knowledge of aspects of business communication and are introduced to skills related to its effective use in different contexts. The vital functions of marketing and public relations are considered, with students developing an understanding of the important role these functions play in the ultimate success of a business.
Unit 3: Corporate Management
In this unit students investigate how large-scale organisations operate. Students examine the environment (both internal and external) in which large-scale organisations conduct their business, and then focus on aspects of individual business’ internal environment and how the operations of the business are managed. Students develop an understanding of the complexity and challenge of managing large-scale organisations and have the opportunity to compare theoretical perspectives with practical applications.
Unit 4: Managing People and Change
This unit continues the examination of corporate management. It commences with a focus on the human resource management function. Students learn about the key aspects of this function and strategies used to most effectively manage human resources. The unit concludes with analysis of the management of change. Students learn about key change management processes and strategies and are provided with the opportunity to apply these to a contemporary issue of significance.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 school-assessed coursework: 25%,
Unit 4 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Examination: 50%
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Chemistry VCE
Studying Chemistry at Alkira can enrich students’ lives through the development of particular knowledge, skills and attitudes, which enable them to become scientifically capable members of society. Chemistry permeates numerous fields of endeavour, including: agriculture, art, biochemistry, dietetics, engineering, environmental studies, food, forensic science, forestry, horticulture, law, medicine, oceanography, pharmacy, sports science and winemaking.
Unit 1: The Big ideas of Chemistry
The story of chemistry begins with the building of the Periodic Table. The Periodic Table provides a unifying framework for studying the chemistry of the elements using their chemical and physical properties to locate their position. The electron configuration of an element, its tendency to form a particular bond type and its ability to behave as an oxidant or reluctant can all be linked to its position in the Periodic Table. A study of the internal structure of the atom, the models for metallic, ionic and covalent bonding and the use of polymers.
Unit 2: Environmental Chemistry
Students explore the special properties (chemical and physical) of water which make it so important to living things and relate the properties to chemical bonding characteristics. Students investigate chemical reactions that take place in aqueous solution by conducting practical activities on precipitation, acid-base reactions and redox reactions such as corrosion. They use full and ionic equations to represent the reactions and calculate the amount of reactants and products involved. They look into the interaction between living things and gases of the atmosphere and the kinetic molecular theory to explain and predict the behaviour of gases. They perform calculations using the gas laws and investigate the vital roles of oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen through studies of the carbon and nitrogen cycles.
Unit 3: Chemical Pathways
In this unit students investigate the scope of techniques available to the analytical chemist. Chemical analysis is vital in the work of the forensic scientist, the quality control chemist at a food manufacturing plant, the geologist in the field, and the environmental chemist monitoring the health of a waterway. Students investigate organic reaction pathways and the chemistry of particular organic molecules. A detailed knowledge of the structure and bonding of organic chemicals is important to the work of the synthetic organic chemist.
Unit 4: Chemistry at Work
Students focus on the factors that affect the rate and extent of a chemical reaction. They study energy profiles and how equilibrium law is applied to homogeneous equilibria. They conduct experiments to investigate the effect of temperature, concentration of reagents, pressure and catalysts on the position of equilibrium of a reaction, and apply Le Chatelier’s Principle to explain their results. Students evaluate the extent of the reserves of some of these resources, how each resource is used and the advantages and disadvantages of their continued use. Students conduct experiments using calorimeters to measure the energy of chemical reactions.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 school-assessed coursework: 20%
Unit 4 school-assessed coursework: 20%
Examination: 60%
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Chinese Second Language VCE
The study of Chinese develops students’ ability to understand and use a language which is spoken by about a quarter of the world’s population. It is the major language of communication in China, Taiwan and Singapore, and is widely used by Chinese communities throughout the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia. The study of
Chinese provides access to an important cultural and linguistic heritage. In conjunction with other skills, the ability to communicate in Chinese may provide opportunities for employment in areas such as tourism, technology, finance, services and business.
The areas of study for a language comprise themes and topics, grammar, text types, vocabulary and a variety of kinds of writing. They are common to all four units of the study, and provide the opportunity for the student to build upon what is familiar, as well as develop knowledge and skills in new and more challenging areas. There are three prescribed themes: “The individual”,” The language-speaking communities” and “The changing world”.
Unit 1:
On completion of this unit the student should be able to:
establish and maintain a spoken or written exchange related to personal areas of experience.
listen to, read and obtain information from spoken and written texts.
produce a personal response to a text focusing on real or imaginary experience
Unit 2:
On completion of this unit the student should be able to:
participate in a spoken or written exchange related to making arrangements and completing transactions.
listen to, read, and extract and use information and ideas from spoken and written texts, and translate from characters into English.
give expression to real or imaginary experience in spoken or written form.
Unit 3:
On completion of this unit the student should be able to:
express ideas through the production of original texts.
analyse and use information from spoken texts.
exchange information, opinions and experiences.
Unit 4:
On completion of this unit the student should be able to:
analyse and use information from written texts, and translate part of the text/s into English.
respond critically to spoken and written texts which reflect aspects of the language and culture of Chinesespeaking communities.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Unit 4 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Examinations: oral component: 12.5% written component: 37.5%
Additional information: Chinese Second Language is designed for students who will, typically, have studied the language for at least 200 hours prior to the commencement of Unit 1.
It is possible, however, that some students with less formal experience will also be able to meet the requirements successfully.
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Drama & Theatre Studies VCE: Drama (Year A)
The study of Drama focuses on the creation and performance of characters, narratives and stories. Students draw on a range of content and use role and expressive skills to create, embody and present dramatic works. They analyse the development of their performances and explore the actor–audience relationship. Students develop an understanding of dramatic elements, stagecraft and theatrical conventions appropriate to performance styles from a range of cultural contexts. They view and analyse performances by professional and other drama practitioners.
Unit 1: Dramatic Storytelling
This unit focuses on creating, presenting and analysing a devised performance that includes real or imagined characters, based on personal, cultural and/or community experiences and stories. Students examine storytelling through the creation of solo and/or ensemble devised performance/s and manipulate expressive skills in the creation and presentation of characters. They develop an awareness and understanding of how characters are portrayed in naturalistic and non-naturalistic performance style/s. Students also gain an awareness of how performance is shaped and given meaning. They investigate a range of stimulus material and learn about stagecraft, theatrical conventions and performance styles from a range of social and cultural contexts. This unit also involves analysis of a student’s own performance work and analysis of a performance by professional and other drama practitioners.
Unit 2: Creating Australian Drama
This unit focuses on the use and documentation of the processes involved in constructing a devised solo or ensemble performance. Students create, present and analyse a performance based on a person, an event, an issue, a place, an art work, a text and/or an icon from a contemporary or historical Australian context. Students use a range of stimulus material in creating performance and examine performance styles from a range of cultural and historical contexts. Theatrical conventions appropriate to the selected performance styles are also explored.
Student’s knowledge of how dramatic elements are enhanced or manipulated through performance is further developed in this unit.
Unit 3: Ensemble Performance
This unit focuses on non-naturalistic drama from a diverse range of contemporary and/or cultural performance traditions. Non-naturalistic performance styles and associated theatrical conventions are explored in the creation, development and presentation of an ensemble performance. Collaboration to create, develop and present ensemble performance is central to this performance. Students use and manipulate dramatic elements, expressive skills and performance styles to enhance performance. They select stagecraft and theatrical conventions as appropriate to the performance. Students also document and evaluate stages involved in the creation, development and presentation of the ensemble performance.
Unit 4: Solo Performance
This unit focuses on the use of stimulus material and resources from a variety of sources to create and develop character/s within a solo performance. Students complete two solo performances. For a short solo performance they develop practical skills of researching, creating, presenting, documenting and analysing a solo performance work. In the development of a second solo performance, they devise, rehearse and perform an extended solo performance in response to a prescribed structure published by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment
Authority. The processes involved in the creation and presentation of character/s in solo performance are analysed and evaluated.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Units 3 and 4 school-assessed coursework:
End of year performance examination:
40%
35%
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Additional information: Drama and Theatre Studies will be offered as a combined course of study to be run over two years in Year 11 and Year 12. Students who enroll in Drama and Theatre Studies will complete the Drama unit in either Year 11 or Year 12 and the Theatre Studies unit in the subsequent or previous year.
VCE Drama & Theatre studies classes will run as composite year level groupings.
End of year written examination: 25%
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Drama & Theatre Studies VCE: Theatre Studies (Year B)
In VCE Theatre Studies students interpret playscripts and produce theatre for audiences. Through practical and theoretical engagement with playscripts from the pre-modern era to the present day, students gain an insight into the history and rich possibilities of playscript-based theatrical production and develop understanding and appreciation of the role and place of the practitioner in theatre. Theatre practitioners develop, create and craft productions through research, contextualisation, visualisation and the application of stagecraft. The study covers roles in theatre practice including actor, director, designer, theatre technologist and theatre administrator/manager.
Unit 1: Pre-modern Theatre
In this area of study students explore playscripts from the pre-modern era of theatre, that is, works prior to the
1920s. Students study playscripts from at least three distinct theatrical periods. They learn about contexts, cultural origins, theatrical styles, use of stagecraft and performance possibilities for each of the selected playscripts.
Through practical workshops students gain knowledge of how these periods have shaped and contributed to the world of pre-modern theatre.
Unit 2: Modern Theatre
In this unit students study theatrical styles and stagecraft through working with playscripts in both their written form and in performance with an emphasis on the application of stagecraft. Students work with playscripts from the modern era, focusing on works from the 1920s to the present. They study theatrical analysis and production evaluation and apply these skills to the analysis of a play in performance. Theatrical movements in the modern era include Epic Theatre, Constructivist theatre, Theatre of the Absurd, Political theatre, Feminist theatre,
Expressionism, Eclectic theatre (contemporary theatre that incorporates a range of theatrical styles), Physical theatre, Verbatim theatre, Theatre in Education.
Unit 3: Playscript Interpretation
In this unit students develop an interpretation of a playscript through the stages of the theatrical production process: planning, development and presentation. Students specialise in two areas of stagecraft, working collaboratively in order to realise the production of a playscript. They use knowledge they develop from this experience to analyse the ways stagecraft can be used to interpret previously unseen playscript excerpts. Students also attend a performance selected from the prescribed VCE Theatre Studies Unit 3 Playlist published annually in the VCAA Bulletin VCE, VCAL and VET, and analyse and evaluate the interpretation of the playscript in the performance.
Unit 4: Performance Interpretation
In this unit students study a scene and associated monologue from the Theatre Studies Stagecraft Examination
Specifications published annually by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, and develop a theatrical treatment that includes the creation of a character by an actor, stagecraft possibilities, and appropriate research.
Students interpret a monologue from within a specified scene using selected areas of stagecraft to realise their interpretation. Students’ work for Outcomes 1 and 2 is supported through analysis of a performance they attend selected from the prescribed VCE Theatre Studies Unit 4 Playlist published annually in the VCAA Bulletin VCE, VCAL and VET.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Units 3 and 4 school-assessed coursework: 45%
End of year Stagecraft examination: 25%
End of year written examination: 30%
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English VCE
The English language is central to the way in which students understand, critique and appreciate their world and to the ways in which they participate socially, economically and culturally in Australian society. The study of English encourages the development of literate individuals, capable of critical and imaginative thinking, who possess the artistic appreciation and creativity of language.
VCE English at Alkira Secondary College will focus student skills in exploring and analyzing the power of language, through a variety of set texts and responding with reinforced interpretation.
Unit 1:
The focus of this unit is on the reading of a range of set texts, particularly narrative and persuasive texts, in order to comprehend, appreciate and analyse the ways in which texts are constructed and interpreted. Students will develop competence and confidence in creating written, oral and multimodal texts. The outcomes include; Reading and Responding [analysing and providing a written/verbal interpretation of a novel chosen by the College];
Creating and Presenting [analysing set texts, representative to the context Exploring and presenting themes and ideas and the theme: ‘Identity and Belonging’ ] and Using Language to Persuade [the use of language in the presentation of a point of view. Students read and analyse the language of published work, where the purpose of the author is to persuade the audience to their contention].
Unit 2:
The ‘Outcomes’ of Unit 2 are the same as Unit 1, where students will be assessed on their knowledge and application to Reading and Responding, Creating and Presenting and Using Language to Persuade. Students are provided with an expanded range of text types and genres in order to analyse the ways in which structures and features are used by authors of texts to construct meaning, convey ideas and values, which are open to a myriad of interpretations. The students will draw on ideas and /or arguments suggested by the chosen context to create written and verbal responses. All tasks will discuss and analyze student interpretation about form, purpose, language, audience and context.
Unit 3:
The focus of this unit is on reading and responding [both orally and in writing] to a range of texts. Students analyse how the authors create meaning and the different ways in which texts can be interpreted. They develop competence in creating written responses by exploring ideas suggested by their reading within the chosen
‘Context’ and the ability to explain choices they have made.
Unit 4:
The focus of this unit is on reading and responding [in writing] to a range of texts in order to analyse their construction and provide an interpretation. Students create written or multimodal texts suggested by their reading within the chosen ‘Context’ and explain creative choices they have made in relation to form, purpose, language, audience and context.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment
Unit 3 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Unit 4 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Examination: 50%
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English as an Additional Language [EAL] VCE
The English language is central to the way in which students understand, critique and appreciate their world and to the ways in which they participate socially, economically and culturally in Australian society. The study of English encourages the development of literate individuals capable of critical and imaginative thinking, who possess the artistic appreciation and creativity of language. EAL students at the VCE level will focus their skills in exploring and analyzing the power of language, through a variety of set texts and responding with reinforced interpretation.
Unit 1:
Eligibility for English as an Additional Language (EAL) status at Unit 1 is a matter for school decision. Across the
Unit 1 and 2 sequence, EAL students must read and study at least three set texts. For the achievement of Outcome
1 Reading and Responding [EAL students must analyse and providing a written/verbal interpretation of texts chosen by the College] and Outcome 2 Creating and Presenting [EAL students must read and study a range of shorter texts selected by the school] and Outcome 3 Language Analysis [the use of language in the presentation of a point of view] students read and analyse the language of published work, where the purpose of the author is to persuade the audience to a particular point of view.
Unit 2:
The ‘Outcomes’ of Unit 2 are the same as Unit 1, where students will be assessed on their knowledge and application to Reading and Responding, Creating and Presenting [In Unit 2, students should read and study a range of shorter texts selected by the school. At least one set text in each unit should be an imaginative print text such as a novel, a play or a collection of short stories or poetry] and Using Language to Persuade. Students are provided with a variety of text types and genres in order to analyse the ways in which structures and features are used by authors of texts to construct meaning, convey ideas and values, which are open to a myriad of interpretations. The
Students will draw on ideas and /or arguments suggested by the chosen context to create written and verbal responses. All tasks will discuss and analyze student interpretation about form, purpose, language, audience and context.
Unit 3:
The focus of this unit is on reading and responding [both orally and in writing] to a range of texts. Students analyse how the authors of texts create meaning and the different ways in which texts can be interpreted. They develop competence in creating written texts by exploring ideas suggested by their reading within the chosen ‘Context’ and the ability to explain choices they have made.
Unit 4:
The focus of this unit is on reading and responding [in writing] to a range of texts in order to analyse their construction and provide an interpretation. Students create written or multimodal texts suggested by their reading within the chosen ‘Context’ and explain creative choices they have made in relation to form, purpose, language, audience and context.
Across the Units 3 and 4 sequence, EAL students must read and study at least three selected texts. For the achievement of Outcome 1 in each unit, EAL students must read and study one selected text from VCAA Text List 1.
For the achievement of Outcome 2 (Unit 3) students must read and study at least one selected text from VCAA Text
List 2. For the achievement of Outcome 2 (Unit 4) students should read and study a range of shorter texts selected by the school. At least one of the selected texts in each unit should be an imaginative print text such as a novel, a play or a collection of short stories or poetry.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Unit 4 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Examination: 50%
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English Literature VCE
The study of literature encourages independent and critical thinking. It focuses on the enjoyment and appreciation of reading that arises from discussion, debate and the challenge of exploring the meanings of literary texts.
Students reflect on their individual analysis, interpretation and that of others. Students focus on the ‘meaning’ that is derived from the relationship between the text, the context in which it was produced and their life experience.
Various texts will be studied: contemporary, social and cultural; where students consider the complexity of language and to recognize the influence of contexts and form.
Unit 1:
This unit focuses on the various ways literary texts represent human experience and the reading practises students develop to deepen their understanding of a text. Students respond to a range of texts personally, critically and creatively; inviting them to question ideas and concerns of the text. Students also inform their understanding with knowledge of the conventions associated with different forms of text [For example- prose, poetry, and drama and / or non-print texts].
There are five areas in which students need to demonstrate achievement:
1. Readers and their responses 2. Ideas and concerns in texts 3. Interpreting non-print texts
4. The text, the reader and their contexts 5. Comparing texts
Unit 2:
The focus of this unit is on students’ critical and creative responses to texts. Students deepen their understanding to aspects of texts, such as the narrative, characters, the language and its structure. They explore the ideas and concerns of the text, specifically the way in which the represented culture can influence their interpretations and shape meanings. Students make comparisons between texts and identify some of the relationships that exist through features such as: language, characterisation and ideas.
There are five areas in which students need to demonstrate achievement:
1. Readers and their responses 2. Ideas and concerns in texts 3. Interpreting non-print texts
4. The text, the reader and their contexts 5. Comparing texts
Unit 3:
This unit focuses on the ways writers construct their work and how meaning is created for and by the reader.
Students consider how the form of text such as, poetry, prose, drama, non-print or a combination of these, affects meaning and generates different expectations in readers, the ways the text represent views and values and comment on human experience and its social, historical and cultural context.
Unit 4:
The unit focuses on students’ creative and critical responses to texts. Students consider the context of their responses to texts as well as the concerns, the style of the language and point of view in their re-created or adapted work. In their responses, students develop an interpretation of a text and learn to synthesise the insights gained by their engagement with various aspects of a text into a lucid, substantiated response.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Unit 4 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Examination: 50%
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Environmental Science VCE
Environmental Science provides the opportunity for students to understand the structure, function and diversity of natural ecosystems on this planet and evaluate the impacts of human activities on them. Students examine strategies to maintain and protect the ecological health of the environment while meeting the needs and desires of human populations. Environmental Science investigates the interactions between natural and human systems. This study examines the application of environmental science to ecologically sustainable development and environmental management. Students should understand the values and attitudes that underpin environmental decisions and reflect on effective ways for modifying behaviour of individuals and groups for positive environmental outcomes.
Unit 1: The Environment
This unit focuses on the environment and its components. The function of ecosystems and the interactions in and between the ecological components will be investigated. The unit presents opportunities to consider the effects of natural and human-induced changes in ecosystems.
Unit 2: Monitoring the Environment
This unit focuses on the characteristics of environmental indicators and their use in monitoring programs.
Environmental indicator data will be defined, collected and interpreted.
Unit 3: Ecological issues: Energy and Biodiversity
This unit focuses on two major ecological issues which provide challenges for the present and the future. The consequences on the atmosphere of natural and enhanced greenhouse effects, and issues of biodiversity and its significance in sustaining ecological integrity, will be examined.
Unit 4: Ecological Sustainability
This unit focuses on pollution and its relationship to the health of humans and the environment. It advances further understanding of managing the environment to ensure development meets human needs while maintaining ecological integrity of the environment.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Unit 4 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Examination: 50%
25
Food and Technology VCE
VCE Food and Technology focuses on the importance of food in our daily lives from both a theoretical and practical point of view. The study enables students to apply their theoretical understanding of the relationship between food and technology as they develop skills in food preparation.
Unit 1: Food safety and properties of food
In this unit students study safe and hygienic food handling and storage practices to prevent food spoilage and food poisoning and apply these practices in the preparation of food. They consider the selection and use of tools and equipment. Students examine the links between classification of foods and their properties, examine changes in properties of food when different preparation and processing techniques are used and apply this knowledge when preparing food. They investigate quality and ethical considerations in food selection and use the design process to meet the requirements of design briefs.
Unit 2: Planning and preparation of food
In this unit students investigate the most appropriate tools and equipment to produce optimum results, including the latest developments in food technology. They research, analyse and apply the most suitable food preparation, processing and cooking techniques to optimise the physical, sensory and chemical properties of food. Students work both independently and as members of a team to research and implement solutions to a design brief, taking into account nutritional considerations, social and cultural influences and resource access and availability. Students also explore environmental considerations when planning and preparing meals.
Unit 3: Food preparation, processing and food controls
In this unit students develop an understanding of food safety in Australia and the relevant national, state and local authorities and their regulations. They investigate the causes of food spoilage and food poisoning and apply safe work practices while preparing food. Students also demonstrate understanding of key foods, analyse the functions of the natural components of key foods, learn about primary and secondary processes and food preservation and apply this information in the preparation of foods. Students devise a design brief from which they develop a detailed design plan, evaluation criteria and conduct research and establish an overall production timeline to complete the set of food items for implementation in Unit 4 in their SAT.
Unit 4: Food product development and emerging trends
In this unit students develop individual production plans for the proposed four to six food items and implement the design plan they established in Unit 3. In completing this task, students apply safe and hygienic work practices using a range of preparation and production processes, including some which are complex. They use appropriate tools and equipment and evaluate their planning, processes and product. Students also examine food product development and investigate issues underpinning the emerging trends in product development. They also investigate food packaging, packaging systems and marketing.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 & 4 school-assessed coursework: 30%
Unit 3 & 4 school-assessed task: 40%
Examination: 30%
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Geography VCE
The study of Geography is a structured way of exploring, analysing and understanding the characteristics of places that make up our world. Geographers are interested in key questions concerning places and geographic phenomena: What is there? Where is it? Why is it there? What are the effects of it being there? How is it changing over time and how could, and should, it change in the future? How is it different from other places and phenomena? How are places and phenomena connected?
Unit 1: Hazards and Disasters
In this unit students undertake an overview of hazards before investigating two contrasting types of hazards and the responses to them by people. Hazards represent the potential to cause harm to people and or the environment whereas disasters are judgments about the impacts of hazard events. Hazards include a wide range of situations including those within local areas, such as fast moving traffic or the likelihood of coastal erosion, to regional and global hazards such as drought and infectious disease. Students examine the processes involved with hazards and hazard events, including their causes and impacts, human responses to hazard events and interconnections between human activities and natural phenomena. This unit investigates how people have responded to specific types of hazards, including attempts to reduce vulnerability to, and the impact of, hazard events. Students undertake compulsory fieldwork in this unit and report on fieldwork. W When choosing to undertake this subject please take into consideration that there be an additional cost.
Unit 2: Tourism
In this unit students investigate the characteristics of tourism, with particular emphasis on where it has developed, it’s various forms, how it has changed and continues to change and its impacts on people, places and environments. They select contrasting examples of tourism from within Australia and elsewhere in the world to support their investigations. Students undertake compulsory fieldwork in this unit and report on fieldwork. When choosing to undertake this subject please take into consideration that there be an additional cost.
Unit 3: Changing the land
This unit focuses on two investigations of geographical change: change to land cover and change to land use. Land cover includes biomes such as forest, grassland, tundra and wetlands, as well as land covered by ice and water.
Land cover is the natural state of the biophysical environment developed over time as a result of the interconnection between climate, soils, landforms and flora and fauna and, increasingly, interconnections with human activity. Natural land cover has been altered by many processes such as geomorphological events, plant succession and climate change. People have modified land cover to produce a range of land uses to satisfy needs such as housing, resource provision, communication, recreation and so on. Students undertake compulsory fieldwork in this unit and report on fieldwork. When choosing to undertake this subject please take into consideration that there be an additional cost.
Unit 4: Human population – trends and issues
In this unit students investigate the geography of human populations. They explore the patterns of population change, movement and distribution, and how governments, organisations and individuals have responded to those changes in different parts of the world. In this unit, students study population dynamics before undertaking an investigation into two significant population trends arising in different parts of the world. They examine the dynamics of populations and their economic, social, political and environmental impacts on people and places.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Unit 4 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Examination: 50%
27
Health and Human Development VCE
The study, Health and Human Development, is based on the premise that health and human development needs to be promoted at an individual level, and within group and community settings at national and international levels, to maximise global development potential. This underpins the structure of the four units of Health and Human
Development. The study also promotes the understanding that nutrition plays a major role in influencing both health status and individual human development.
Unit 1: The Health and Development of Australia’s Youth
This unit focuses on the health and individual human development of Australia’s youth. For the purposes of this study, ‘youth’ is defined as twelve to eighteen years of age; however, it should be acknowledged that some agencies may use differing age classifications for the stage of youth. There are many factors that influence health and individual human development of youth, including the importance of nutrition for the provision of energy and growth as well as food behaviours and their impact on youth health and individual human development.
Unit 2: Individual Human Development and Health Issues
Individual human development is perceived as involving a series of orderly and predictable changes, which can be classified as physical, social, emotional and intellectual. Over the lifespan, individuals accumulate life experiences that affect both their health and individual human development. This unit focuses on the lifespan stages of childhood and adulthood.
Unit 3: Australia’s Health
Regardless of how health is measured, health is not shared equally by all Australians. This unit focuses on the levels of health experienced by different groups, which can be attributed to biological, behavioural and social determinants of health.
Unit 4: Global Health and Human Development
This unit takes a global perspective on achieving sustainable improvements in health and human development. In the context of this unit human development is about creating an environment in which people can develop to their full potential and lead productive, creative lives in accord with their needs and interests.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Unit 4 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Examination: 50%
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History - Revolutions VCE
The study of VCE History assists students to understand themselves, others and their world, and broadens their perspective by examining people, groups, events, ideas and movements. Through studying VCE History, students develop social, political, economic and cultural understanding. They also explore continuity and change: the world is not as it has always been, and it will be subject to change in the future. In this sense, history is relevant to contemporary issues. It fosters an understanding of human agency and informs decision making in the present.
Unit 1: Twentieth century history 1918–1939
In Unit 1 students explore the nature of political, social and cultural change in the period between the world wars.
World War One is regarded by many as marking the beginning of twentieth century history since it represented such a complete departure from the past and heralded changes that were to have an impact for decades to come.
The post-war treaties ushered in a period where the world was, to a large degree, reshaped with new borders, movements, ideologies and power structures. These changes affected developments in Europe, the USA, Asia,
Africa and the Middle East. Economic instability caused by the Great Depression also contributed to the development of political movements. Despite ideals about future peace, reflected in the establishment of the
League of Nations, the world was again overtaken by war in 1939.
Unit 2: Twentieth Century History 1945–2000
In Unit 2 students explore the nature and impact of the Cold War and challenges and changes to existing political, economic and social arrangements in the second half of the twentieth century. The establishment of the United
Nations in 1945 was intended to take an internationalist approach to avoiding warfare, resolving political tensions and addressing threats to human life and safety. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted in 1948 was the first global expression of human rights. Despite internationalist moves, the second half of the twentieth century was dominated by the competing ideologies of democracy and communism, setting the backdrop for the
Cold War.
Unit 3: Revolutions - Russia
Revolutions in history have been reconsidered and debated by historians. Revolutions share the common aim of breaking with the past by destroying the regimes and societies that engender them and embarking on a program of political and social transformation. As processes of dramatically accelerated social change, revolutions have a profound impact on the country in which they occur, as well as important international repercussions. The ideologies of the Russian Revolution have had an important impact on the development of socialist democracies across the world.
Unit 4: Revolutions – China
Unit 4 follows on from Unit 3 with an in-depth study of the Chinese Revolution. Students develop their historical thinking, critical analysis and logical reasoning as they compare and contrast two similar historical events. The study of the Chinese Revolution considers the way modern China emerged from a dynastic culture to a Communist country and will relate that past to China’s current global position. Both the Chinese and Russian Revolutions had long term impacts on the 20th century and knowledge of these events will help students contextualise the political and economic events of the 21st century.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Unit 4 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Examination: 50%
29
Information Technology VCE
Information Technology encompasses information systems and how people interact with information technology to create structured information and to connect with others to exchange information. Information Technology equips students with appropriate knowledge and skills to use ICT responsibly and to make informed personal and workplace choices about developments in this exciting field. Students are encouraged to orient themselves towards the future, with an awareness of the technical and societal implications of ICT.
Unit 1: IT in Action
This unit focuses on how individuals and organisations use, and can be affected by, information and communications technology (ICT) in their daily lives. Students acquire and apply a range of knowledge and skills to manipulate different data types such as numeric, text, sound and images (still and moving) to create solutions that can be used to persuade, educate, inform and entertain. Students also explore how their lives are affected by ICT, and consider strategies for managing how ICT is applied. Students examine how networked information systems allow data to be exchanged locally and within a global environment, and explore how mobile devices, such as phones, are used within these networks
Unit 2: IT Pathways
This unit focuses on how individuals and organisations use ICT to meet a range of purposes. Students apply a range of knowledge and skills to create solutions, including those that have been produced using a programming or scripting language, to meet users’ needs. In this unit, students apply all stages of the problem-solving methodology when creating solutions. Students analyse data from large repositories and manipulate selected data to create visualisations. Students develop skills in using programming or scripting language software and they investigate careers that involve the use of these skills. Working in teams is an important and effective strategy for solving problems, and this strategy is applied when students solve problems for clients in the community.
Unit 3: Software Development
Unit 3 focuses on programming as a strategy for solving problems for specific users in a networked environment.
When programming students are expected to have an overview of the problem-solving methodology and a detailed understanding of the stages of analysis, design and development. Students will focus on the analysis stage of the problem-solving methodology, which involves students developing and applying knowledge and skills in determining the requirements of solutions, identifying relevant factors that should be taken into account when designing the solutions, and in scoping the solutions.
Unit 4: Software Development
This unit focuses on how the information needs of individuals, organisations and society are and can be met through the creation of purpose-designed solutions in a networked environment. Students continue to study the programming language selected in Unit 3. In this unit students are required to engage in the design, development and evaluation stages of the problem-solving methodology. Students will focus on the design and development stages of the problem-solving methodology when solving problems suitable for use with mobile devices. Students also focus on the final stage of the methodology, evaluation.
Units 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Unit 4 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Examination: 50%
30
Legal Studies VCE
VCE Legal Studies investigates the ways in which the law and the legal system relate to and serve individuals and the community. This knowledge is central to understanding the workings of contemporary Australian society. Legal
Studies examines the processes of law-making, dispute resolution and the administration of justice in Australia.
Students develop an understanding of the impact of the legal system on the lives of citizens, and the implications of legal decisions and outcomes on Australian society. The study provides students with an appreciation of how individuals can be involved in decision-making within the legal system, encouraging civic engagement and helping them to become more informed and active citizens.
Unit 1: Criminal Law in Action
Students examine the need for laws in society. They investigate the key features of criminal law, how it is enforced and adjudicated and possible outcomes and impacts of crime. Through a consideration of contemporary cases and issues, students learn about different types of crimes and explore rights and responsibilities under criminal law.
Students investigate the processes and procedures followed by courts in hearing and resolving criminal cases. They explore the main features and operations of criminal courts and consider the effectiveness of the criminal justice system in achieving justice.
Unit 2: Issues in Civil Law
Students examine the rights that are protected by civil law, as well as obligations that laws impose.
They investigate types of civil laws and related cases and issues and develop an appreciation of the role of civil law in society and how it affects them as individuals. The unit also focuses on the resolution of civil disputes through judicial determination and alternative methods in courts, tribunals and independent bodies. Students examine these methods of dispute resolution and evaluate their effectiveness. Individuals can influence a change in the law by taking a case to court. Students focus on cases that have had a broader impact on the legal system and on the rights of individuals.
Unit 3: Law Making
In this unit students develop an understanding of the institutions that determine our laws, and their law-making powers and processes. They undertake an informed evaluation of the effectiveness of law-making bodies and examine the need for the law to keep up to date with changes in society. Students develop an understanding of the importance of the Constitution in their lives and on society as a whole, and undertake a comparative analysis with another country. They learn of the importance of the role played by the High Court of Australia in interpreting and enforcing the Constitution. Students investigate the nature and importance of courts as law-makers and undertake an evaluation of their effectiveness as law-making bodies.
Unit 4: Resolution and Justice
Students examine the institutions that adjudicate criminal cases and civil disputes. They also investigate methods of dispute resolution that can be used as an alternative to civil litigation. Students investigate the processes and procedures followed in courtrooms and develop an understanding of the adversary system of trial and the jury system, as well as pre-trial and post-trial procedures that operate in the Victorian legal system. Throughout this unit, students examine current or recent cases to support their learning, and apply legal principles to these illustrative cases.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 school-assessed coursework: 25%,
Unit 4 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Examination: 50%
31
Mathematics VCE (Year 11 options)
Foundation Mathematics Unit 1 & 2
Foundation Mathematics provides for the continuing mathematical development of students entering VCE, who need mathematical skills to support their other VCE subjects, including VET studies, and who do not intend to undertake Unit 3 and 4 studies in VCE Mathematics in the following year . In Foundation Mathematics there is a strong emphasis on using mathematics in practical contexts relating to everyday life, recreation, work and study.
Students are encouraged to use appropriate technology in all areas of their study. These units will be especially useful for students undertaking VET studies.
Areas of Study:
Space, shape and design
Patterns and number
Handling data
Measurement
General Mathematics Unit 1 & 2
General Mathematics provides courses of study for a broad range of students and may be implemented in a number of ways. Some students will not study Mathematics beyond Units 1 and 2, while others will intend to study
Further Mathematics Units 3 and 4. Others will also be studying Mathematics Methods (CAS) Units 1 and 2 and intend to study Mathematical Methods (CAS) Units 3 and 4 and, in some cases, Specialist Mathematics Units 3 and
4 as well.
Areas of Study:
Arithmetic
Data analysis and simulation
Algebra
Graphs of linear and non-linear relations
Decision and business mathematics
Geometry and trigonometry
Mathematical Methods (CAS) Unit 1 & 2
Mathematical Methods (CAS) Units 1 and 2 are designed as preparation for Mathematical Methods (CAS) Units 3 and 4. Students are expected to be able to apply techniques, routines and processes involving rational and real arithmetic, algebraic manipulation, equation solving, graph sketching, differentiation and integration with and without the use of technology, as applicable. Students should be familiar with relevant mental and by hand approaches in simple cases.
Areas of Study:
Functions and graphs
Algebra
Rates of change and calculus
Probability
Additional information:
1. There are no prerequisites for entry to Units 1 & 2, although a Year 10 grade of at least C across most Mathematics Dimensions is strongly recommended.
2. Students enrolling in Mathematical Methods (CAS) Units 1 & 2 are strongly advised to have completed
Year 10 Advanced Maths with a VELS grade of C or better in all mathematics dimensions.
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Mathematics VCE (Year 12 Options)
Further Mathematics Unit 3 & 4
Further Mathematics consists of a compulsory core area of study ‘Data analysis’ and then a selection of three from six modules in the ‘Applications’ area of study. Unit 3 comprises the ‘Data analysis’ area of study and one of the selected modules from the ‘Applications’ area of study. Unit 4 comprises the two other selected modules from the
‘Applications’ area of study.
Areas of Study:
Data Analysis – core material
Applications – module material. The school will select three of the following modules:
Module 1: Number patterns, Module 2: Geometry and trigonometry, Module 3: Graphs and relations,
Module 4: Business-related mathematics, Module 5: Networks and decision mathematics, Module 6:
Matrices
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 school-assessed coursework: 20%
Unit 4 school assessed coursework: 14%
Two end-of-year examinations: 66%
Mathematical Methods (CAS) Unit 3 & 4
Assumed knowledge and skills for Mathematical Methods (CAS) Units 3 and 4 are contained in Mathematical
Methods Units (CAS) Units 1 and 2.
Areas of Study:
Functions and graphs
Algebra
Calculus
Probability
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Units 3 school-assessed coursework: 20%
Unit 4school assessed coursework: 14%
Two end-of-year examinations: 66%
Specialist Mathematics VCE Unit 3 & 4
Students must have completed Mathematical Methods (CAS) Units 3 & 4, or be completing it at the same time as
Specialist Mathematics to be able to undertake this subject .
Mathematical Methods unit 3 & 4 contain assumed knowledge and skills for Specialist Mathematics, which will be drawn on as applicable in the development of content from the areas of study and key knowledge and skills for the outcomes.
Areas of Study:
Functions, relations and graphs
Algebra
Calculus
Vectors
Mechanics
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 school-assessed coursework: 14%
Unit 4 school-assessed coursework: 20%
Two end-of-year examinations: 66%
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Media Studies VCE
VCE Media gives students the opportunity to study and produce audio visual media such as film and animation, print-based media such as magazines and photography, and interactive digital media such as computer games and social media. VCE Media is a theoretical and practical study that places the student in the role of both media creator and media analyst. Students consider media texts, technologies and processes from various perspectives.
They examine industry production and distribution, audience reception and the media's impact on society. This study is integrated with students' own individual and collaborative design and production of actual media products.
Unit 1: Representation & Technologies of Representation
Students develop an understanding of the relationship between the media, technology and the representations present in media forms. They study the relationships between media technologies, audiences and society. Students develop practical and analytical skills, including an understanding of the contribution of codes and conventions to the creation of meaning in media products, the role and significance of selection processes in their construction, the role audiences play in constructing meaning from media representations, and the creative and cultural impact of new media technologies.
Unit 2: Media Production & the Media Industry
Students produce their own media products. They develop their understanding of the specialist production stages and roles within the collaborative organization of media production. Students participate in specific stages of a media production, developing practical skills in their designated role. Students also develop an understanding of media industry issues and developments relating to production stages and roles and the broader framework within which Australian media organisations operate.
Unit 3: Narrative & Media Production Design
Students develop and understanding of film, television or radio production and story elements, and learn to recognize the role and significance of narrative organization in these texts. Students also develop practical skills through undertaking exercises related to aspects of the design and production process. They complete a media production design plan for their own media product. They present the relevant specifications as a written planning document, with visual representations that employ media planning conventions appropriate to the media form in which the student chooses to work.
Unit 4: Media Process, Social Values & Media Influence
Students make their media product which realizes the production design plan completed during Unit 3.
Organisational and creative skills are refined and applied throughout each stage of the production process.
Students analyse the relationship between media texts, social values and discourses in the media. The nature and extent of media influence, the relationship between the media, media audiences and media regulation are also critically analysed in this unit.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 school-assessed coursework: 8%
Unit 4 school-assessed coursework: 12%
Units 3 & 4 school assessed task: 35%
Examination: 45%
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Music Performance VCE
Music is an integral part of all cultures and societies, both contemporary and historical. The study of music develops students’ understanding of artistic processes and contributes to the development of the aesthetic, cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains. VCE Music offers students opportunities to engage in the practice of performing, creating and studying music that is representative of diverse genres, styles and cultures. Students can specialise in one or more approaches to the study of music, depending on their VCE program overall and the post-VCE pathways they may be interested in following. Music Performance is a largely practical subject however the completion of a significant written component is essential.
Unit 1: Musicianship Skills
This unit focuses on building performance and musicianship skills. Students present performances of selected group and solo music works using one or more instruments. They study the work of other performers and explore strategies to optimise their own approach to performance. They identify technical, expressive and stylistic challenges relevant to works they are preparing for performance and practise technical work to address these challenges. Students study aural, theory and analysis concepts to develop their musicianship skills and apply this knowledge when preparing and presenting performances.
Unit 2: Performance development
In this unit students build their performance and musicianship skills. They present performances of selected group and solo music works using one or more instruments. Students study the work of other performers through listening and analysis and use specific strategies to optimise their own approach to performance. They also study strategies for developing technical and expressive performance skills. They develop skills in performing previously unseen music and study specific concepts to build their musicianship knowledge and skills. Students also devise an original composition or improvisation.
Unit 3: Developing a Diverse Repertoire
This unit prepares students to present convincing performances of group and solo works. In this unit students select a program of group and solo works representing a range of styles and diversity of character for performance.
They develop instrumental techniques that enable them to interpret the works and expressively shape their performances. Students develop skills in unprepared performance, aural perception and comprehension, transcription, music theory and analysis. The focus for analysis in Area of Study 3 is works and performances by
Australian musicians
Unit 4 Music performance
In this unit students refine their ability to present convincing performances of group and solo works. Students select group and solo works that complement works selected in Unit 3. They further develop and refine instrumental and performance techniques that enable them to expressively shape their performance and communicate their understanding of the music style of each work. Students continue to develop skills in aural perception and comprehension, transcription, theory, analysis and unprepared performance.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Units 3 & 4 school-assessed coursework: 30%
External end-of-year performance examination: 50%
External end-of-year aural and written examination: 20%
Additional information: All students are recommended to own their chosen instrument as practice at home is an imperative component to this subject. Students who have not undertaken Music/My Band
Year 9 & 10 elective are strongly advised against taking VCE Music Performance as they will not possess essential foundation skills. It is recommended that students attain three or more years’ experience playing an instrument/the ability to sing with technical correctness to enroll in VCE Music Performance.
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Music Investigation VCE (Units 3 & 4 only)
Music Investigation Units 3 and 4 involves both performance research in a Focus Area selected by the student and performance of works that are representative of that Focus Area. Students’ research of music characteristics and performance practices representative of the Focus Area underpins the Investigation, composition/arrangement/improvisation and Performance areas of study. Aural and theoretical musicianship skills are developed across all areas of study.
Students use a work they have selected from a prescribed list as a starting point, and design an investigation into a specific area of music which becomes their Focus Area. This Focus Area is the basis for study of repertoire, performance, technique and general musicianship. Students should select a Focus Area that is of particular interest to them and that complements their experience and abilities as a performer. The Focus Area should also provide scope for students to develop their performance expertise and musicianship. The repertoire associated with the
Focus Area needs to be broad enough for the student to build a performance program that meets the requirements of Unit 3 Outcome 3 and Unit 4 Outcome 3. Works selected for the performance program should allow students to demonstrate interpretive mastery of the repertoire as well as highly developed technical skills on their chosen instrument/s.
Unit 3
In this unit students select a work from a prescribed list as the basis for an investigation of a Focus Area. They explore the Focus Area through three complementary areas of study: Investigation, composition/arrangement/improvisation and Performance. Area of Study 1, Investigation involves research into background contextual issues relevant to performance practice, critical listening to recordings of performances and examination of texts including musical scores. Area of Study 2, Composition/ arrangement/improvisation involves applying these research findings to create a folio of exercises, sketches or recorded improvisations that demonstrate understanding of the characteristics of the Focus Area. Students plan, rehearse and perform a program of works that are representative of the Focus Area and in doing so develop relevant instrumental and performance techniques and apply performance practices. Together, these areas of study require students to apply extensive skills in performance, aural awareness, transcription, music theory and analysis.
Unit 4
In this unit students continue the exploration within the Focus Area they began in Unit 3. In Unit 4 the Investigation involves the preparation of program notes to accompany their end-of-year performance program. In Area of Study
2, the Composition/improvisation/arrangement involves creating and performing a composition, improvisation or arrangement that draws on musical characteristics of the Focus Area. This composition, arrangement or improvisation builds on and extends exercises completed in Unit 3. Students rehearse and perform works for inclusion in a performance program of works that relates to the Focus Area. They develop mastery of relevant instrumental techniques and apply advanced performance conventions to realise their intended interpretations of each work. They continue to use skills in aural awareness, transcription, music theory and music analysis to support their work.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 School-assessed Coursework: 25 per cent
Unit 4 School-assessed Coursework: 25 per cent
External end-of-year performance examination: 50 per cent
Additional information: Students who wish to take Music Investigation should be aware that this course of study is only available for Unit 3 and Unit 4. Those with an interest in a two year music program should enroll in Music Performance at Unit1 and Unit 2.
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Outdoor and Environmental Studies VCE
VCE Outdoor and Environmental Studies is concerned with the ways humans interact with and relate to outdoor environments. ‘Outdoor environments’ include environments that have minimum influence from humans, as well as those environments that have been subject to different levels of human intervention. The study enables students to make critically informed comment on questions of environmental sustainability and to understand the importance of environmental health, particularly in local contexts.
Unit 1: Exploring Outdoor Experiences
This unit examines some of the ways in which humans understand and relate to nature through experiences of outdoor environments. The focus is on individuals and their personal responses to and experiences of outdoor environments. Students are provided with the opportunity to explore the many ways in which nature is understood and perceived. Students develop a clear understanding of the range of motivations for interacting with outdoor environments and the factors that affect an individual’s access to outdoor experiences and relationships with outdoor environments.
Unit 2: Discovering Outdoor Environments
This unit focuses on the characteristics of outdoor environments and different ways of understanding them, as well as the human impacts on outdoor environments. In this unit students study nature’s impact on humans, as well as the ecological, social and economic implications of human impact on outdoor environments. Students develop a clear understanding of the impact of technologies and changing human lifestyles on outdoor environments. They develop the practical skills required to minimise human impact on outdoor environments.
Unit 3: Relationships with Outdoor Environments
The focus of this unit is the ecological, historical and social contexts of relationships between humans and outdoor environments in Australia. They also examine the dynamic nature of relationships between humans and their environment. Students are involved in one or more experiences in outdoor environments, including in areas where there is evidence of human interaction. Through these practical experiences students are provided with the basis for comparison and reflection, and opportunities to develop theoretical knowledge and skills about specific natural environments.
Unit 4: Sustainable Outdoor Relationship
In this unit students explore the sustainable use and management of outdoor environments. Students examine the importance of developing a balance between human needs and the conservation of outdoor environments and consider the skills needed to be environmentally responsible citizens. They investigate current agreements and environmental legislation, as well as management strategies and policies for achieving and maintaining healthy and sustainable environments in contemporary Australian society.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Unit 4 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Examination: 50%
Additional Information: At Alkira, Units 1 and 2 are only offered at Year 10, and Units 3 and 4 are only available at Year 11. Field trips are compulsory and may include some of the following activities: bush walking, rock climbing, surfing, cycling and ecological and naturalistic pursuits.
The activities offered each year vary according to staff expertise, availability and cost.
Each unit carries a levy. In addition to this, Outdoor and Environmental Studies students must meet the cost of practical activities and trip. Unit 1 &2: $700, 9 days (3 trips) Unit 3 & 4: $625, 7 Days (2 trips)
Students will be required to have access to appropriate lace up, leather walking boots, polypropylene thermal underwear, a 3‐season sleeping bag and personal sleeping mat.
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Physical Education VCE
VCE Physical Education examines the biological, physiological, psychological, social and cultural influences on performance and participation in physical activity. It focuses on the interrelationship between motor learning and psychological, biomechanical, physiological and sociological factors that influence physical performances, and participation in physical activity. The study of physical activity and sedentary behaviour is significant for the understanding of health, wellbeing and performance of people.
Unit 1: Bodies in Motion
In this unit students explore how the body systems work together to produce movement and analyse this motion using biomechanical principles. Through practical activities students explore the relationships between the body systems and physical activity. They are introduced to the aerobic and anaerobic pathways utilised to provide the muscles with the energy required for movement and the basic characteristics of each pathway. In Area of Study 3, there are two detailed studies: Technological advancements from a biomechanical perspective and Injury prevention and rehabilitation. Students select one of these detailed studies to explore in greater depth.
Unit 2: Sports Coaching and Physically Active Lifestyles
This unit explores a range of coaching practices and their contribution to effective coaching and improved performance of an athlete. The way in which a coach influences an athlete can have a significant effect on performance. Students are introduced to physical activity and the role it plays in the health and wellbeing of the population. Through a series of practical activities, students gain an appreciation of the level of physical activity required for health benefits and investigate how participation in physical activity varies across the lifespan. In Area of Study 3, there are two detailed studies: decision making in sport and promoting active living. Students select one of these detailed studies to explore in greater depth.
Unit 3: Physical Activity Participation and Physiological Performance
This unit introduces students to an understanding of physical activity and sedentary behaviour from a participatory and physiological perspective. Students apply various methods to assess physical activity and sedentary levels, and analyse the data in relation to adherence to the National Physical Activity Guidelines. Students study and apply the social-ecological model to identify a range of Australian strategies that are effective in promoting participation in some form of regular activity. Students investigate the contribution of energy systems to performance in physical activity. Students explore the multi-factorial causes of fatigue and consider different strategies used to delay and manage fatigue and to promote recovery.
Unit 4: Enhancing Performance
Improvements in performance, in particular fitness, depend on the ability of the individual or coach to gain, apply and evaluate knowledge and understanding of training. Students undertake an activity analysis. Using the results of the analysis, they then investigate the required fitness components and participate in a training program designed to improve or maintain selected components. Athletes and coaches aim to continually improve and use nutritional, physiological and psychological strategies to gain advantage over the competition. Students learn to critically evaluate different techniques and practices that can be used to enhance performance, and look at the rationale for the banning or inclusion of various practices from sporting competition.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Unit 4 school-assessed coursework: 25%
Examination: 50%
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Physics VCE
Physics is a theoretical and empirical science, which contributes to our understanding of the physical universe from the minute building blocks of matter to the unimaginably broad expanses of the Universe. This understanding has significance for the way we understand our place in the Universe. This study is designed to enhance the scientific literacy of students in the specialised area of physics. Scientifically literate physics students demonstrate interest in and understanding of the Universe, engage in debates about the nature of evidence, theories and models, and appreciate the value of physics in society. They can describe and use theories and models, propose and investigate hypotheses, collect data, analyse the limitations of that data, draw conclusions, make recommendations, and select and use a range of appropriate technologies and mathematical techniques.
Unit 1: Physics as a Human Endeavour
This unit focuses on Physics as a human endeavour. Observations and ideas about the physical world related to aspects of energy are organised and explained through the use of conceptual models. The detailed studies provide opportunities to explore the application of energy concepts and models in nuclear energy, sustainable energy sources, flight, space and medical contexts. Students undertake regular experimental work in the laboratory starting with simple observations and measurements. The use of simple mathematical modelling is introduced to organise first-hand and second-hand data in order to make predictions and link concepts..
Unit 2: Motion and Light
This unit focuses on the application of models to more complex phenomena – motion and light – developed within contexts that are familiar to students and relevant to their experiences. Newtonian ideas of motion are extended to include a range of movements and more abstract ideas, while the wave and particle models of light provide a framework for exploring light phenomena in real world applications. The detailed studies provide opportunities to explore motion and/or light in nuclear, sustainable energy, flight, space and medical contexts. Unit 2 consists of two prescribed areas of study: Motion and Wave-like properties of light; and a third area of study to be chosen from one of six detailed studies: Astronomy, Astrophysics, Energy from the nucleus, Investigations: Flight,
Investigations: Sustainable energy sources and Medical physics. The detailed study chosen in Unit 2 must be a different detailed study from that chosen in Unit 1.
Unit 3: Motion in one and two dimensions; and Electronics and Photonics.
Unit 3 consists of two prescribed areas of study: Motion in one and two dimensions; and Electronics and photonics.
A detailed study is to be chosen in either Unit 3 or Unit 4 from one of six detailed studies: Einstein’s special relativity, Materials and their use in structures, Further electronics, Synchrotron and its applications, Photonics, and Sound. This unit focuses on the ideas that underpin much of the technology found in areas such as communications, engineering, commerce and industry. Motion in one and two dimensions is introduced and applied to moving objects on Earth and in space. Circuit models are applied to further aspects of electricity and electronics, and the operation and use of photonic devices are introduced. The detailed studies offer examples of theoretical and practical applications of these technologies.
Unit 4: Electric Power and Interactions of Light and Matter.
Unit 4 consists of two prescribed areas of study: Electric power and Interactions of light and matter. A detailed study is to be chosen in either Unit 3 or Unit 4 from one of six detailed studies: Einstein’s special relativity,
Materials and their use in structures, Further electronics, Synchrotron and its applications, Photonics, and Sound.
This unit focuses on the development and limitations of models in explaining physical phenomena. A field model of electromagnetism is applied to the generation of electricity, and the development of models that explain the complex interactions of light and matter are considered. The detailed studies provide examples of innovative technologies used for research and communication.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 school-assessed coursework: 20%
Unit 4 school-assessed coursework: 20%
Examination: 60%
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Product Design and Technology VCE
Designers play an important part in our daily lives. They determine the form and function of the products we use.
They transform ideas into drawings and plans for the creation and manufacture of useful products that fulfill human needs and wants. In recent history the use of resources to create an ever-increasing array of products has given designers an increased responsibility to think sustainably. Students develop an understanding of the consequences of product design choices. They develop the necessary skills to critically analyse existing products and to develop their own creative solutions.
Unit 1: Product Re-Design and Sustainability
This unit focuses on the analysis, modification and improvement of a product design with consideration of the materials used and issues of sustainability. Finite resources and the proliferation of waste require sustainable product design thinking. Knowledge of material use and suitability for particular products is essential in product design. Additionally, knowledge of the source, origin and processing of materials is central to sustainable practices.
Students consider the use of materials from a sustainable viewpoint. Sustainable practices claimed to be used by designers are examined.
Unit 2: Collaborative Design
In this unit students work in teams to design and develop an item in a product range or contribute to the design, planning and production of a group product. They focus on factors including: human needs and wants; function, purpose and context for product design; aesthetics; materials and sustainability; and, the impact of these factors on a design solution. Students also examine the use of ICT to facilitate teams that work collaboratively but are spread across the globe. In this unit students are able to gain inspiration from an historical and/or a cultural design movement or style and its defining factors such as ideological or technological change, philosophy or aesthetics.
Unit 3: Applying the Product Design Process
In this unit students are engaged in the design and development of a product that meets the needs and expectations of a client and/or an end-user, developed through a design process and influenced by a range of complex factors. These factors include the purpose, function and context of the product; human-centred design factors; innovation and creativity; visual, tactile and aesthetic factors; sustainability concerns; economic limitations; legal responsibilities; material characteristics and properties; and technology.
Unit 4: Product Development and Evaluation
In this unit students learn that evaluations are made at various points of product design, development and production. In the role of designer, students judge the suitability and viability of design ideas and options referring to the design brief and evaluation criteria in collaboration with a client and/or an end-user. Comparisons between similar products help to judge the success of a product in relation to a range of product design factors. The environmental, economic and social impact of products throughout their life cycle can be analysed and evaluated with reference to the Product design factors.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 school-assessed coursework: 12%
Unit 4 school-assessed coursework: 8%
Unit 3 & 4 school-assessed task: 50%
Examination: 30%
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Psychology VCE
Psychology is the scientific study of mental processes and behaviour in humans. Biological, behavioural, cognitive and socio-cultural perspectives inform the way psychologists approach their research into the human condition.
Through VCE Psychology at Alkira, students explore complex human behaviours and thought processes. They develop empathetic understandings and an understanding of mental health issues in society. Students apply psychological principles to everyday situations such as workplace and social relations. Psychology provides students with a sophisticated framework for understanding the complex interactions between biological, behavioural, cognitive and socio-cultural factors that influence thought, emotions and behavior.
Unit 1: Introduction to Psychology
In this unit students are introduced to the development of psychology from its philosophical beginnings to a scientific study of the human mind and behaviour. Students explore the scope of psychology, its specialist disciplines such as neuropsychology, cognitive, social and human developmental psychology, and its fields of application. Students consider influences on perception and human behaviour from biological, behavioural, cognitive and socio-cultural perspectives.
Unit 2: Self and Others
In this unit students study how a persons’ attitude and behaviour affect the way they view themselves and the way they relate to others. Understanding what influences the formation of attitudes of individuals and behaviours of groups can inform and contribute to explanations of individual aggression or altruism, the positive and negative power of peer pressure and responses to group behaviour. Differences between individuals can also be ascribed to differences in intelligence and personality, but conceptions of intelligence and personality and their methods of assessment are contested.
Unit 3: The Conscious Self
This unit focuses on the study of the relationship between the brain and the mind through examining the basis of consciousness, behaviour, cognition and memory. Students study the structure and functioning of the human brain and nervous system, and explore the nature of consciousness and altered states of consciousness including sleep.
Unit 4: Brain, Behaviour and Experience
This unit focuses on the interrelationship between learning, the brain and its response to experiences, and behaviour. The overall quality of functioning of the brain depends on experience, and its plasticity means that different kinds of experience change and configure the brain in different ways. Students investigate learning as a mental process that leads to the acquisition of knowledge, development of new capacities and changed behaviours. Understanding the mechanisms of learning, the cognitive processes that affect readiness for learning, and how people learn informs both personal and social issues.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 school-assessed coursework: 20%
Unit 4 school-assessed coursework: 20%
Examination: 60%
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Sociology VCE
Sociology focuses on the study of human behaviour and social interaction to understand how societies are organised, develop and change. There is no single sociological perspective; rather, there are several theories that offer different ways of understanding human society. Sociologists use these theories and frameworks in a complementary way to attempt to objectively examine social issues and explain concepts.
Unit 1: Youth & Family
This unit uses sociological methodology to explore the social categories of youth and adolescence and the social institution of family. Sociologists draw on methods of science to understand how and why people behave the way they do when they interact in a group. Sociology attempts to understand human society from a holistic point of view, including consideration of its composition, how it is reproduced over time and the differences between societies. When sociologists investigate a topic, they attempt to do so with a reflective, critical mindset.
Sociologists are guided by theories, or frameworks, to explain and analyse how social action, social processes and social structures work.
Unit 2: Crime & Deviance
In this unit students explore the concepts of deviance and crime. The study of these concepts from a sociological perspective involves ascertaining the types and degree of rule breaking behaviour, examining traditional views of criminality and deviance and analysing why people commit crimes or engage in deviant behaviour. It also involves consideration of the justice system, how the understanding of crime and deviance has changed over time, and the relationship between crime and other aspects of a society, such as age and socioeconomic status.
Unit 3: Culture & Ethnicity
This unit explores expressions of culture and ethnicity within Australian society in two different contexts –
Australian Indigenous culture, and ethnicity in relation to migrant groups. Culture and ethnicity refer to groups connected by shared customs, culture or heritage. Students learn how these classifications can define inequality and opportunity, shape cultural activities and provide a sense of purpose.
Unit 4: Community, social movement & social change
In this unit students explore the ways sociologists have thought about the idea of community and how the various forms of community are experienced. They examine the relationship between social movements and social change.
In Area of Study 1 students examine the changing definitions and experiences of community and the challenges posed by political, social, economic and technological change. Students examine a range of theoretical understandings of the concept of community with particular reference to the theories of Tonnies and Castells.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 & 4 school assessed coursework: 25%
Unit 4 school Assessed coursework: 25%
Examination: 50%
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Studio Arts VCE
VCE Studio Arts encourages and supports students to recognise their individual potential as art makers and presents a guided process to assist their understanding and development of art making. The study establishes effective art practices through the application of an individual design process to assist the student’s production of a folio of artworks in a variety of possible mediums: painting, drawing, mixed media, photograph, printmaking or sculpture. Students’ research focuses on the visual analysis of artworks and investigates how artists have interpreted sources of inspiration and influences in their art making. Students also examine how artists have used materials, techniques and processes to create aesthetic qualities.
Unit 1: Artistic Inspiration and Techniques
This unit focuses on using sources of inspiration and individual ideas as the basis for developing artworks and exploring a wide range of materials and techniques as tools for communicating ideas, observations and experiences through art making. Students also explore and research the ways in which artists from different times and cultures have interpreted and expressed ideas, sourced inspiration and used materials and techniques in the production of artworks.
Unit 2: Design Exploration and concepts
This unit focuses on students establishing and using a design process to produce artworks. The design process includes the formulation and use of an individual approach to locating sources of inspiration, experimentation with materials and techniques, and the development of aesthetic qualities, directions and solutions prior to the production of artworks. Students also develop skills in the visual analysis of artworks. Artworks made by artists from different times and cultures are analysed to understand the artists’ ideas and how they have created aesthetic qualities and identifiable styles.
Unit 3: Studio Production and Professional Art Practices
For this study, the design process is individually determined by the student. A design brief records trialling, experimenting, analysing and evaluating their aims and ideas. From this process students can develop directions for the development of finished artworks completed in Unit 4 in any medium: photography, mixed media, painting, printmaking or sculpture. Students also investigate and analyse artists’ source of inspiration, and examine their use of materials and techniques. They explore professional art practices of artists and students will visit at least two different exhibition spaces in their current year of study.
Unit 4: Studio Production and Art Industry Contexts
This unit focuses on the production of a cohesive folio of finished artworks. To support the creation of the folio, students present visual and written documentation explaining how selected potential directions generated in Unit
3 were used to produce the cohesive folio of finished artworks. This unit also investigates aspects of artists’ involvement in the art industry, focusing on a variety of exhibition spaces and the methods and considerations involved in the preparation, presentation and conservation of artworks.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 school assessed task: 33%
Unit 4 school assessed task: 33%
Examination: 34%
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Systems Engineering VCE
VCE Systems Engineering involves the design, creation, operation and evaluation of integrated systems, which mediate and control many aspects of human experience. Integral to Systems Engineering is the identification and quantification of systems goals, the development of alternative system designs concepts, trial and error, design trade-offs, selection and implementation of the best design, testing and verifying that the system is well built and integrated, and evaluating how well the completed system meets the intended goals.
Unit 1: Introduction to mechanical systems
This unit focuses on engineering fundamentals as the basis of understanding underlying principles and the building blocks that operate in simple to more complex mechanical devices. While this unit contains the fundamental physics and theoretical understanding of mechanical systems and how they work, the main focus is on the construction of a system. The constructed operational systems demonstrate selected theoretical principles studied in this unit. In this unit, students are introduced to the systems engineering process. They are introduced to the fundamental mechanical engineering principles, including recognition of mechanical subsystems and devices, their motions, the elementary applied physics, and the related mathematical calculations that can be applied to define and explain the physical characteristics of these systems.
Unit 2: Introduction to electrotechnology systems
In this unit students study fundamental electrotechnology engineering principles. Through the application of their knowledge and the systems engineering process, students produce operational systems that may also include mechanical components. In addition, students conduct research and produce technical reports. While this unit contains fundamental physics and theoretical understanding of electrotechnology systems and how they work, student focus remains on the construction of electrotechnology systems. The construction process draws heavily upon design and innovation. Electrotechnology is experiencing rapid developments and changes through technological innovation. The contemporary design and manufacture of electronic equipment involves increased levels of automation and inbuilt control through the inclusion of microcontrollers. In this unit students explore some of these new and emerging technologies.
Unit 3: Integrated systems engineering and energy
In this unit students study the engineering principles that are used to explain the physical properties of integrated systems and how they work. Through the application of their knowledge, students design and plan an operational, mechanical-electrotechnology integrated and controlled system. They learn about the technologies used to harness energy sources to provide power for engineered systems. Students commence work on the design, planning and construction of one substantial controlled integrated system. Students learn about sources and types of energy that enable engineered technological systems to function. Comparisons are made between the impacts of the use of renewable and non-renewable energy sources. Students learn about the technological systems developed to capture and store renewable energy and technological developments to improve the credentials of non-renewables.
Unit 4: Systems control and new and emerging technologies
In this unit students complete the production work and test and evaluate the integrated controlled system they designed in Unit 3. Students investigate new and emerging technologies, consider reasons for their development and analyse their impacts. Students use their investigations, design and planning to continue the fabrication of their mechanical-electrotechnology integrated and controlled system using the systems engineering process. They use project and risk management methods through the construction of the system and use a range of materials, tools, equipment, and components. In the final stages of the systems engineering process, students test, diagnose and analyse the performance of the system. They evaluate their processes and the system.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment
Unit 3 & 4 School-assessed Coursework: 20%
Unit 3 & 4 School-assessed Task: 50%
Examination: 30%
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Visual Communication and Design VCE
Visual Communication is a bridge between an idea and its intended audience as seen in architecture, industrial design, multimedia design, advertising and graphic design. The production of visual communications involves the application of a design process in which final presentations are developed in response to needs identified in an initial brief. The design process provides a defined, yet flexible approach, to the development, evaluation and refinement of visual communication solutions. The vocabulary and grammar of visual communication is based on understanding and applying drawing and drawing conventions, design elements and design principles. The study also provides the opportunity for students to develop an informed, critical and discriminating approach to visual communications encountered in everyday life.
Unit 1: Visual Communication
The main purpose of this unit is to enable students to develop an understanding of instrumental drawing methods including relevant Australian standards conventions and freehand drawing including drawing from direct observation. It also introduces students to the diversity of visual communication and the role of the design process in visual communication production. Students explore the use of elements and principles of design in the analysis and production of visual communication.
Unit 2: Communication in Context
Unit 2 enables students to develop and refine practical skills by generating images and developing them through freehand drawing, instrumental drawing and the use of information and communications technology. The design process is used to facilitate explore and experiment and to show how information and ideas are communicated.
Unit 3: Visual Communication Practice
In Unit 3 students develop an understanding of visual communication production through the application of the design process to satisfy specific communication needs. Students consider existing visual communication and analyse and evaluate examples and will also investigate the production of visual communications in a professional setting to examine the nature of professional practice in the design and production of visual communications.
Unit 4: Designing to a Brief
The main purpose of this unit is to enable students to apply their knowledge of the components of the design process in the preparation of one design brief. Students apply their practical skills to the development and production of two distinct final visual communication presentations through application of the design process as based on the requirements of the brief.
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment:
Unit 3 school-assessed coursework: 33%
Unit 4 school-assessed task: 33%
Examination: 34%
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Vocational Education and Training (VET) [$]
Vocational Educational Training is a subject that students may complete as part of VCE or VCAL.
Recognition of Vocational Education and Training (VET) within the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) and
Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) ensures that students who complete all or part of a nationally recognised VET qualification will receive credit towards satisfactory completion of the VCE or VCAL.
VCE students:
The study score can contribute directly to the ATAR as one of the students primary four scaled studies or as the fifth or sixth study.
It is important to note that the Units 3 and 4 sequences of VCE VET programs are not designed as stand-alone studies. Students are strongly advised against undertaking the Units 3 and 4 sequence without first completing
Units 1 and 2.
The following VET programs have a study score available to students undertaking the relevant Units 3 & 4 sequence:
Business
Community Services
Dance
Engineering Studies
Equine Industry
Financial Services
Furnishing
Hospitality
Information Technology
Integrated Technologies
Interactive Digital Media
Laboratory Skills
Music
Sports and Recreation
VET subjects which may be offered at Alkira Secondary College: (dependant on interest and facilities)
Certificate II Business
Certificate II Dance
Certificate II in Hairdressing
Certificate III in Mandarin
Certificate II/III Sport and Recreation
VET subjects offered by Cranbourne cluster (Lyndhurst SC, Cranbourne SC, and Chisholm TAFE Cranbourne)
Certificate II in Automotive Studies (22015VIC)
Certificate II in Building & Construction (Partial Completion) (21844VIC)
Certificate II in Business (BSB20107)
Certificate III in Children’s Services (CHC30708)
Certificate II in Dance (21764VIC)
Certificate II in Electrotechnology (UEE22010)
Certificate II in Engineering Studies (22019VIC)
Certificate II in Hospitality (Kitchen Operations) (SIT20307)
Certificate II/III in Information Technology (ICAU20105/ ICAU30105)
Certificate III in Music (Technical Production) (CUS30209)
Certificate II in Plumbing
Certificate II/III in Sport & Recreation (SIS20310/SIS30510)
Important information:
All VET programs are subject to changes in the Training package.
All course costs will be finalised at a later date.
Courses running and course locations will be dependent upon student numbers. This information will be confirmed later this year. Students will be notified as soon as possible.
Updated information can be obtained for Chisholm TAFE courses run or auspice through them on their website.
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Certificate II Business (Administration)
Certificate II in Business is an entry level qualification which provides students with the knowledge and skills to enhance their employment prospects in a business or office environment. The certificate provides an understanding of business fundamentals within the Australian context and will assist students to gain employment opportunities in an entry level administrative or customer service role.
Deliver a service to Customers
Contribute to health and safety to self and others
Work effectively in a business environment
Process and maintain workplace information
Handle mail
Communicate in the workplace
Produce simple work processed documents
Create and use spreadsheets
Participate in environmentally sustainable work practices
Organise and complete daily work activities
Work effectively with others
Use business technology
Certificate II Dance
Two Year Course
The VCE VET Dance program provides students with the opportunity to acquire and develop the skills, knowledge and confidence to work in a range of areas within the live performance industry. Basic dance techniques that allow students to undertake specific dance styles will be developed through the units of competency undertaken in Units
1 to 4 of the selected program. VCE VET Dance can be delivered through a wide variety of dance styles including jazz, ballet, cultural, contemporary, street, social and tap. Students will learn the fundamental skills in a range of dance disciplines and a pathway to further education and training in the live performance industry.
Units of Competence for this program are:
Develop basic dance techniques
Follow safe dance practices
Develop a basic level of physical condition for dance performance
Work effectively with others
Perform basic jazz technique
Perform basic contemporary dance techniques
Perform basic street dance technique
Certificate III in Mandarin
Certificate III in language qualification is nationally recognised certificate which focus on delivering practical language skills. The competencies are focused on everyday communication, in both social and vocational settings so students gain an understanding of what it is like to use the language. In this way they learn through doing. On successful completion of Certificate III in Mandarin, VTAC may award students a 10% increment of the average of the primary four scaled studies towards their Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR).
Topics that will be covered are:
Job interview
Recreation and leisure
Travel experience
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Certificate II in Hairdressing
Two Year Course
This course is designed for people who want to learn about hairdressing prior to commencing an apprenticeship in the trade. The effective combination of theory and practical skills introduced within this program can provide students with a head start to a career in hairdressing. At the completion of the second year, students will receive a
Certificate II in Hairdressing. Graduates who go on to commence an apprenticeship will be starting as a second year apprentice.
Units of Competence for this program are:
Apply salon safety procedures
Communicate in the workplace
Work effectively in a retail environment
Merchandise products
Recommend hair, beauty and cosmetic products and services
Sell products and services
Participate in environmentally sustainable work practices
Conduct financial transactions
Perform shampoo and basin services
Perform head, neck and shoulder massage
Greet and prepare clients for salon services
Apply hair colour products
Dry hair to shape
Apply hair braiding techniques
Rinse and neutralise chemically restructured hair
Maintain and organise tools, equipment and work areas
Certificate III Sport and Recreation
Certificate III in Sport and Recreation provides students with the skills and knowledge to work in the Sport and
Recreation industry. In Units 1 and 2, students can choose from a range of electives to create a program of their choice, including teaching the fundamental skills of athletics, basketball, gymnastics or squash and implementing sports injury prevention. Units 3 and 4 offers scored assessment and includes core units such as conduct basic warm-up and cool-down programs, plan and conduct sport and recreation sessions and undertake a risk analysis of activities
Organise personal work priorities and development
Follow work health and safety policies
Develop and extend critical and creative thinking skills
Respond to emergency situations
Apply First Aid
Use social media tools for collaboration and engagement
Provide Customer Service
Develop and update knowledge of coaching practices
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School-based Apprenticeships and Traineeships
A student may choose to undertake a vocational training program within a part-time employment arrangement.
This is referred to as a School-based Apprenticeship or Traineeship. The student will be required to enter into a formal training contract.
The School-based Apprenticeship or Traineeship comprises:
enrolment in the VCE or VCAL at school
enrolment with a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) in a structured vocational training program that leads to a vocational qualification
part-time paid work under an industrial agreement that recognizes School-based Apprenticeships and
Traineeships
at least one timetabled day spent on the job or in training during the normal school week
at least seven hours of employment and six hours of training undertaken per week.
Alkira Sports Academy Program
The College recognises the extra demands on our elite athletes as they complete a VCAL or VCE program. Year 11
Sports Academy students will be required to attend timetabled Personal Fitness and Training program before school at 7:30am to 8:45am on the selected days. During these training sessions students will be able to further develop their strength and conditioning for their sport based upon their personal strengths and weaknesses.
Students will also be guided and continually supported through their completion of either VCE or VCAL.
Sports Academy students completing a VCE or VCAL pathway are required to choose a VET Sport and Recreation or
VCE Physical Education as part of their program.
Headstart
In 2011 the College Council approved a Curriculum Planning and Leadership team recommendation to implement a
Headstart program to provide an opportunity for our students to begin their academic year up to four weeks early; starting in late November. The College has been impressed with the success of similar programs in many Colleges and recognises the positive impact on student learning, motivation, organisation and overall transition.
For 2016 our students will begin formal programs late in November. A fully resourced three week lesson sequence including an assessment and homework program and will be developed for all areas of study.
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Frequently Used Acronyms
ATAR Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (formerly ENTER)
DEECD Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
ESL English as a Second Language
GAT General Achievement Test
LOTE Languages Other Than English
MIPs Managed Individual Pathways
RTO Registered Training Organisation
TAFE Technical and Further Education
VCAA Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority
VCAL Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning
VCE Victorian Certificate of Education
VET Vocational Education and Training
VTAC Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre
Glossary
Assessment task
A task set by the teacher to assess students’ achievements of unit outcomes for Schoolassessed Coursework (Outcomes).
Australian Tertiary
Admission Rank (ATAR):
The overall ranking on a scale of zero to 99.95 that a student receives based on his/her study scores. The ATAR is calculated by VTAC and used by universities and TAFE institutes to select students for courses. Formerly known as Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank (ENTER).
Authentication The process of ensuring that the work submitted by students for assessment is their own.
Award level In the VCAL there are three award levels: Foundation, Intermediate and Senior.
External assessments set and marked by the VCAA. All VCE Units 3 and 4 studies have at least
Examinations one examination. Performance and written examinations are held in October and November
General Achievement
Test (GAT)
Graded Assessment each year.
A test of knowledge and skills in writing, mathematics, science and technology, humanities and social sciences and the arts.
All VCE studies have three Graded Assessments for each Units 3 and 4 sequence, except for scored VCE VET programs, which have two. Each study includes at least one examination, most have School-assessed Coursework, and some have School-assessed Tasks.
School-assessed
Coursework
A school-based assessment that is reported as a grade for VCE Units 3 and 4 School-assessed
Coursework consists of a set of assessment tasks that assess the student’s level of achievement of VCE Units 3 and 4 outcomes.
A school-based assessment for a VCE Units 3 and 4 sequence set by the VCAA and assessed by
School- assessed Task
Strand teachers in accordance with published criteria. Schools’ assessments of tasks are subject to moderation by a panel appointed by the VCAA.
Semester
One half of the academic year. VCE and VCAL units are designed to be completed in one semester.
Sequence VCE Units 3 and 4 are designed to be taken as a sequence.
The VCAL contains four curriculum strands: literacy and numeracy skills, industry specific skills, work-related skills and personal development skills.
A score from zero to 50 which shows how a student performed in a VCE study, relative to all
Study score other Victorian students enrolled in that same study in a result year. It is based on the student’s results in school-based assessments and examinations.
Encompasses the non-examination Graded Assessments managed by schools. The three
School-based assessment current forms of school-based assessment are School-assessed Coursework, School-assessed
Tasks and the Externally assessed Task (music only).
VCE/VCAL Certificate Awarded to students who meet the requirements for graduation of the VCAL and/or VCE.
VTAC Guide The VTAC publication that lists the courses available for application.
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