VET and CAREERS

The importance of providing an education for life at St. Andrew's is central to all that we do. To this end, the careers advise and guidance at the College is extensive and specific to each student. Mr Brad Bowen provides this comprehensive guidance and he can be contacted on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Careers Update

Many students (and parents) are making times to meet with Mr Bowen to discuss future careers, course prerequisites and to enquire about other pathways into tertiary institutions that guarantee the ATAR (Australian Tertiary Acceptance Ranking) ranking required to get into the course. For example a Certificate III VET (Vocational Education and Training) course guarantees an ATAR ranking that is equivalent to an OP of 15/16. This course is  ideal for any student who believes that if they stay in the more traditional OP pathway they would receive an OP score less than 15 or 16. Many of our students from previous years who have completed a VET course are studying at a wide variety of tertiary institutions around Australia.

 

Mr Bowen has received information about the MedEntry exams that students can sit to help them with placements into many Health Services courses. Students who are interested in this should see Mr Bowen as soon as possible.

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Careers
Welcome to the Careers Section of the St Andrew's Anglican College website! Young people have so many wonderful educational and career opportunities to choose from that it can be difficult to determine what goals to set and pursue. Parents and students are encouraged to make use of the services of our two staff dedicated to assisting students to consider the possibilities that meet their ambitions and aptitude. Careers Coordinator: Mr Brad Bowen  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Vocational Education and Training Coordinator: Mr Dale Pound This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it St Andrew's Anglican College has an extensive Careers Program, which includes:

• career and self-exploration;
• setting career goals and determining pathways;
• investigating tertiary options, courses, prerequisite subjects and institutions;
• assisting students to develop a personal Senior Education and Training (SET) Plan;
• providing individual counselling sessions for Year 10 students and parents for senior subject selection;
• arranging visits to the school by professionals to discuss their careers;
• accompanying students to various career expos, University and TAFE open days; and on industry visits;
• Structured Workplace Learning for all Year 10 students (Term 4)
• establishing strong partnership links with various local community organisations; and
• providing information on university application and admission processes.

 

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Senior Education and Training Plan (SET Plan)
The centre piece of the careers program is the development of the Senior Education and Training Plan (SET Plan). Every Senior School student is required to create a formal document that maps out the future education and training that they need to undertake in order to pursue their career and life ambitions. In order to create this document, each student considers their interests, aptitudes, skills, knowledge and career aspirations in order to create a clear picture of the options available, and necessary pathways they must follow, in order to achieve their goals. This enables the student to gain an understanding of the educational and logistical factors that must be considered, such as which subjects they need to select for Year 11 and 12, the tertiary institutions that offer the types of courses they intend to study and where they are located. The SET Plan also helps students to decide upon a suitable Structured Work Experience Placement to undertake in Year 10.

The SET Plan is a 'living document' insofar as it is subject to revision and change, according to any changes in direction a student may wish to make. As part of this process, students are asked to create a personal profile on the Australian Government's My Future website (www.myfuture.edu.au). This profile brings together much of the information outlined above and provides students with both a range of relevant career options, as well as the means to further explore these possibilities on the website. Although the process of inputting their data is time-consuming, the quality of the information generated by the website is directly proportional to the effort students make to complete their profile.

Once completed and printed out, this personal profile comprises a major element of the SET Plan, as it enables the student to work backwards from their career goals to research the relevant education and training necessary to enter those occupations. When they have worked out the particular courses they wish to study, students may then identify any subject prerequisites for entering those courses which must be undertaken in Year 11 and 12, as well as the historic OP ranking needed to enter that course. Students are thereby better able to avoid a situation in which they attempt to apply for tertiary admission to a course, but have not studied the prerequisite subjects.

As an alternative, students may opt to complete their SET Plan using the career planning journal provided by the Queensland Studies Authority, available at: http://www.cis.qsa.qld.edu.au/ Vocational Education and Training

Our College also has an established partnership with Sunshine Coast Schools Industry Links Scheme (SCSILS) Inc. (http://www.scsils.com.au/home.html) This organisation provides invaluable assistance in finding work experience placements for our Year 10 students and arranges panels of professionals to visit our College to give our students an insight into their particular occupation. They can also assist students to secure a traineeship or apprenticeship. Their website has a range of useful links for those seeking more information.

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Vocational Educational and Training (VET)
Students interested in pursuing Vocational Education and Training can access a range of opportunities.  Here at St Andrew’s Anglican College (SAAC) we are dedicated to delivering the very best in quality training and assessment to our students.  SAAC is a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) which means we are able to deliver nationally recognised qualifications using the Australian Qualifications Framework.  SAAC also works in close partnership with various outside RTO’s to enable a more extensive VET programme.  Wanting to know more but not sure where to go next?  Please click here for further information.

VET Staff

Administrative Team

 

Mr Brad Bowen   :	Careers Advisor
Mr Dale Pound   :	VET Coordinator
Mrs Lizie Bray    :	VET Administrator

 

The following Certificates are offered as part of the school curriculum.  These courses and their trainers are outlined below.

Course	Trainer
Certificate II in Business	Amy Nieuwenhuis / Maree Bowen / Sheridan Sugden
Certificate III in Business	Sheridan Sugden
Certificate III in Children’s Services	Ola Goryl
Certificate I in Construction	Alex McConnell / Michael Bourke
Certificate III in Education Support	Nicola Britten
Certificate III in Fitness	Sally Powell
Certificate I in Hospitality	Kate Lewis
Certificate II in Information, Digital Media & Technology	Troy Bates
Certificate III in Information Technology	Troy Bates
Certificate IV in Interactive Digital Media	Troy Bates
Certificate II in Tourism	Sheridan Sugden
Certificate III in Tourism	Sheridan Sugden

Subject Selection Handbook
For a more detailed look at the subjects on offer please click here.

Student Handbook
For detailed student information, please click here.

School-based Traineeships and Apprenticeships

Students can also participate in school based traineeships and apprenticeships (SATs) as a further vocational option. SATs enable students to complete a formal qualification as well as undertake paid work in their chosen career field. SATs are available in a diverse range of fields including: Multimedia, Beauty, Hairdressing, Automotive, Engineering, Carpentry and Live Production. Students participating in this programme will spend one day per week for a minimum 12 month period 'on the job' and will undertake formal one-on-one training throughout that 12 month period. Successful completion of a SAT with at least a Certificate III level qualification will provide a Tertiary Entrance Rank which can be used to apply for further tertiary study. For further information click here.

LATEST NEWS IN VET

 

Click here for 2013 Sunshine Coast TAFE – Senior Phase of Learning Courses

 

Part of our Certificate III in Tourism and Certificate III in Business course the students attend work experience, which gives them valuable insight and experience in the workplace. We have had students offered part time positions following their placements.

 

Harry Blight Year 12 Tourism	Stephanie Sugden Year 12 Tourism	Tex Byrne Year 12 Tourism

 

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Downloadable Documents

Subject selection process overview (SAAC Powerpoint presentation)

Queensland Certificate of Education (SAAC Powerpoint presentation)

Queensland Core Skills Test (SAAC Powerpoint presentation)

OP (SAAC Powerpoint presentation)

To assist our current Year 10 students to formalise their subject selections for 2012, the College will be holding a subject selection evening in August, which will enable students and parents to discuss the individual subjects offered in Year 11 and 12 with the teachers involved in the delivery of those subjects. Following the success of last year's program we will again be offering our current Year 10's the opportunity to have individual counselling with our Careers Coordinator, Mr Brad Bowen, to assist in subject selection.

Parents are both welcome and encouraged to attend these sessions prior to the subject selection evening.

Understandably, this may all appear to be a very daunting process for students and parents to navigate through. Fortunately, help is at hand. One of the best places to start is the "Resources" section of the Career Advice Australia website http://www.careeradviceaustralia.gov.au/ which is an excellent starting point for students and parents to begin their investigation of the options open to young people. In order to assist our students to better understand some of the possibilities the future offers, each student in Year 10 is provided with a personal copy of The Job Guide (also available online at http://jobguide.thegoodguides.com.au). This publication contains a wealth of information, not only about individual occupations and further education and training, but also about the process of narrowing down to a manageable number of alternative pathways. Tertiary Study

Each student is provided with the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC) guide (http://www.qtac.edu.au). QTAC's role is to provide a centralised tertiary application system and to publish comprehensive information for prospective applicants. Of particular interest to those students currently in Year 10 and 11, QTAC publishes 'Tertiary Prerequisites 2011'. This publication provides an overview of the courses that institutions expect to be available in 2011 and provides details of the requirements for entry to those courses. The prerequisites listed are subjects that should be studied in Years 11 and 12 and are linked to the exit assessment levels required at the end of senior study.

A copy of the publication can be downloaded from http://www.qtac.edu.au/Schools_and_Institutions/prerequisites_2011.pdf Year 12 students should refer to 'Tertiary Prerequisites 2011' which can be downloaded fromhttp://www.qtac.edu.au/Schools_and_Institutions/prereq_2011_title.pdf Students who wish to apply for admission to universities in Australia should refer to the appropriate online admissions information site. Queensland http://www.qtac.edu.au/ Tasmania http://www.studentcentre.utas.edu.au/admissions/index.html(including the Australian Maritime College) Victoria http://www.vtac.edu.au/ NSW and ACT http://www.uac.edu.au/ SA and NT http://www.satac.edu.au/ Western Australia http://www.tisc.edu.au Sample Conversion Table: OP vs Tertiary Entrance Rank