General News
16 November, 2025
College building links with community
STUDENTS from Stawell Secondary College had an opportunity this year to attain a formal qualification and to build links in the community this year through an innovative hands-on initiative.
The VCE Vocational Major is a vocational and applied learning program within the Victorian Certificate of Education, designed to be completed over a minimum of two years.
With VCE VM, students have greater choice and flexibility to pursue their strengths and interests, preparing students to move into apprenticeships, traineeships, further education and training, university (via non-ATAR pathways) or directly into the workforce.
Stawell Secondary College teacher Helen Giles coordinates the school’s VM program, and she was beaming with pride last week talking about the great work students had done in the community this year.
“This year we’ve started doing the Certificate III in Active Volunteering, so we’ve had kids this year in the community, they have to do 20 hours,” said Mrs Giles.
“We’ve had students at The Salvos, we’ve had them at the community garden, at two different schools in the reading programs and with Adoptable Pets.”
She said other areas where the students jumped in to help included lunchtime meal deliveries at Eventide Homes, helping with the basketball association and getting involved with the Freeza youth committee.
Mrs Giles said that there’s already examples in the community of just how effective the VM program can be.
“As part of their curriculum, the students have project work and, in the past, I’ve sent them off to schools to do reading programs,” she said.
“As a consequence of reading programs as the school every week, we’ve now got five past VM students all working as teacher aids in the primary schools, so that to me is win-win and just goes to show what volunteering can lead to.”
Mrs Giles said Northern Grampians Shire Council contributed to the establishment of a market garden at the college.
“Council gave us some money to build a market garden, so now we’ve been collaborating with Greenfingers, and with an artist whole do a mosaic next year, so it’s the beginning of new relationships,” she said.
Watching students thrive in practical situations is something profoundly meaningful for Mrs Giles.
“For some of these kids, sometimes it’s what they look forward to the most, that opportunity to feel valued,” she said.
“Then at the end after they’ve completed their modules and the 20 hours volunteering, they get their certificate.”
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