I first engaged with VicSRC in October of last year, and I got to see first-hand the positive impact student voices make. As a Year 10 student studying an alternative pathway like VET, this pathway has opened new doors for me, and it is crucial these different perspectives are included in all aspects of education for the benefit of all Victorian secondary school students.
I am a panellist for the Senior Secondary Pathways Reform Student Advisory Panel with VicSRC, and being on this panel this year has been an enlightening and educational experience in countless different ways.
When the applications first opened for the panel late last year, I imagined myself getting the opportunity to speak to the Department of Education directly about how to make sure senior secondary education was benefitting all students in the state, regardless of the pathway they choose for Year 11 and 12. I pictured the change I could make for future senior secondary students, and how I could help to reduce the stigma associated with alternative pathways. To me, applying was non-negotiable.
In 2020 I was a Year 7 student, and shaping my high school experience during the pandemic was not an easy feat. The pandemic resulted in me being significantly disengaged from school, affecting my school attendance. Because of my attendance, I was informed by my school last year that I would have to repeat Year 10 on a three-year VCE plan.
While this was not news I had ever hoped to hear, I was so incredibly grateful when the school let me know that I would still be given the opportunity to undertake the first year of my dream VET course, which I otherwise would not have been able to undertake as a Year 10 student. My school listened to my educational needs, and we were able to determine a pathway that works for me and allows me to achieve my goals. It is this experience that I bring to the Senior Secondary Pathways Reform Student Advisory Panel.
My school listened to my educational needs, and we were able to determine a pathway that works for me and allows me to achieve my goals.
Through being a panellist, I have had the incredible opportunity to engage with various senior staff and policy makers from the VCAA and the Department of Education alongside a group of 11 other incredible student panellists, and together we have given our expertise, insight and own lived experience to help ensure the ongoing senior secondary education reforms will support the best interests of all Victorian secondary school students. Personally, the most incredible part of being a panellist has been the connections I have made with my fellow panellists and how immersed and passionate I get in each meeting. I am living out my passions, dreams, and most importantly, advocating for students one meeting at a time.
This panel is incredibly vital in the encouragement of student voice through bringing together a group of senior secondary students who share a diverse range of experiences at school. One of the accomplishments we made in our very first meeting was when the VCAA agreed to seek to change the names of the VCE VM’s core subjects after we provided feedback that the current names came across as “primary-school level”, proving not only how necessary the panel is, but also demonstrating how willing the Victorian Department of Education is to listen to students on these reforms.
This year I am a first year VET student studying a Certificate III in Community Services, and it is a highlight of my year. As a student who has always struggled with the coursework that senior secondary education requires, having the opportunity to undertake a TAFE certificate showed me that there are endless opportunities out there for students even if they don’t wish to get an ATAR and go to university immediately following secondary school. Since the announcement, I have known that the new Vocational Major certificate was where my passions and educational desires lay.
There are endless opportunities out there for students even if they don’t wish to get an ATAR
After completing my VET certificate and graduating secondary school, I hope to use my VET qualification to pathway into studying a Diploma of Youth Work at TAFE, then later using that to pathway into Youth Work studies at university.
As stated in VicSRC’s 2023 Congress Report, “students want to work with schools and teachers to find new ways to celebrate a more diverse range of career pathways and outcomes.” Our work on this panel is directly supporting VicSRC’s goals and implementing the change students like my past self-wish to see.
As a panel, we have the opportunity to guide the Department of Education through their ongoing senior secondary schooling reforms that will not only affect students like me, but all Victorian students of the future, and that is the heart of what student voice is all about.