Senior Secondary Schools provide Year 11 and Year 12 education services to young students to support their achievement of the Tasmanian Certificate of Education (TCE), and supported pathways for their entry into the workforce or further education and training. Two senior secondary schools occur in the Northern Region, namely Launceston College and Newstead College. These schools provide students with pastoral care together with a diverse selection of academic and vocational courses, the latter of which may be provided in partnership with TasTAFE or other providers. During 2013, the administration of the Tasmanian Academy moved to the Early Years and Schools Division. This transition involved college principals and senior officers and was part of a strategy to support curriculum continuity for Kindergarten to Year 12. The Tasmanian Academy, which was a collective name for the eight senior secondary colleges, is no longer in use (as of Term 1, 2013), and colleges are now referred to as senior secondary schools (as of Term 1, 2013).
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Year 11 and 12 Education in Rural and Regional Areas:
The Department of Education is committed to providing high quality education and training to Year 11 and 12 students in rural and regional areas that is aligned to employment opportunities, attainment of qualifications, or pathways to higher or further education. In 2012/13, the department continued to consult and work towards improving the provision and quality of education in rural and remote communities. Options for Year 11 and 12 students include:
- Enrolling on-campus in a senior secondary school for the full-range of academic, general and vocational courses
- Accessing the Flexible Learning Network (FLN) that allows courses to be delivered through a senior secondary school via distance education
- A combination of traditional study on-campus and study by distance through the FLN to benefit from both options
- Accessing Year 11 and 12 programs through combined schools programs
- Enrolment through the Tasmanian eSchool, which provides learning in real-time regardless of the students geographic location
- Accessing VET through the TasTAFE, which provides services to most individual and combined schools programs and colleges
- Accessing industry aligned VET qualifications through the new and innovative trade training centres located in many rural and regional areas of Tasmania.
The merger of the Tasmanian Polytechnic merge and The Skills Institute to form TasTAFE was completed and is fully operational for 2014. TasTAFE offer a range of flexible and supported learning options available around the state to ensure that education and training programs suit individual learning styles, interests and business training needs. These options include online, workplace, self-paced, distance and evening classes, as well as onsite-training for business clients and apprentices. TasTAFE is the largest registered training organisation in Tasmania, and is proud to deliver more than 500 nationally accredited and industry-endorsed qualifications from Certificate I to Advanced Diploma level, to short courses and pre-vocational/pre-employment foundation programs.
TasTAFE have the following goals:
- To engage with students who require support to gain vocational ready skills
-To deliver vocational qualifications to students who wish to advance their career opportunities
- To create a more rewarding and sustainable future for the community
- To assist employers to lift the productivity of their workforces through skill development.
TasTAFE further offers training for Australian Apprenticeships and this is available to anyone of working age who has completed a minimum of year 10 and can be completed as full-time, part-time, or school-based. Training may be held in the workplace or at TasTAFE training facilities located across Tasmania. TasTAFE offer apprenticeship training in the following industry sectors:
Agriculture, Air Conditioning, Automotive, Beauty, Business, Community Services, Construction, Cookery, Decorating, Electrical, Furniture, Gas, Glazing, Hairdressing, Health, Hospitality, Information and Communication Technology, Instrumentation, Laboratory Operations, Logistics, Manufacturing, Metals, Mining, Plumbing, Refrigeration, Signwriting, Telecommunications, Tourism, Transport, Wine.
Australian School-based Apprenticeships provide an opportunity for students to start a career as a paid employee while still completing their education. Approved School-based Apprentices undertake two or three TQA accredited subjects as well as a Nationally recognised VET qualification while working and studying. Over the past two years the Department of Education (DoE) has undertaken considerable work to repackage an reposition Australian School-based Apprenticeships and Traineeships (ASbA) to: support retention and attainment; skills development of young people; and improve industry workforce planning and development to support economic growth. This work has included a major review and analysis of the delivery and management of ASbA in Tasmania from 2001-2011. The review has informed and driven the development of the Department of Educations Smart Workforce Development - Tasmanian Strategy 2013-2015. The ASba Strategy aims to improve the matching of career pathways with part time employment while increasing retention and attainment so that maximum outcomes can be achieved for the student, industry and the economy. The Department of Educations Australian School-based Apprenticeship and Traineeship strategy 2013-2015 supports the Tasmanian Economic Development Plan and Tasmanias economic development priorities over the next ten years. In particular it targets and supports employment, education and training in key industry sectors including Aquaculture, Agriculture, Tourism and Hospitality and Transport and Logistics. The strategy also focuses on supporting Tasmanian enterprises to develop and implement a best practice approach towards youth engagement, retention, attainment and workforce development, and employment to meet the skills needs of the future.
The difference between an ASbA and Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Schools is that an ASbA is employment based, and VET in schools is not.
Trade Training Centres (Round Five initiatives will be known as Trade Skill Centres under the new government http://education.gov.au/trade-training-centres-schools-program), are designed to provide practical training to build skills for transition into employment. The Program is to provide $2.5 billion from 2008 to 2018 to enable eligible secondary schools across Australia to seek funding for Trade Training Centres (TTCs). The Program will allow secondary students from Years 912 to access vocational education and training through TTCs to give students a broader range of options to help improve Year 12 or equivalent attainment and enhance pathways into vocational careers. The trades offered through each trade training centre aligns with identified skill shortages within the region. Trade Training Centres have also been established through partnerships between local industries and Independent and Catholic Schools.
The Taste of Polytechnic Program (TOP) was designed to provide year 10 students with practical learning experiences and pathways to a range of industry areas. This assists students and parents in making informed choices about future careers and can also be used as a pathway into an apprenticeship or traineeship. TOP programs differed in the way they operated across the State, and with the change to TasTAFE, this program is being reviewed in terms of how it will be funded and further detail was not yet available for the 2014 Environmental Scan at time of printing.
The University of Tasmania (UTAS) offers a tertiary educational pathway and is an international university based in Tasmania. UTAS Tasmanian campuses are located in the North, South and North West of the State. UTAS offers a range of study options and the following is a list of the main course streams offered:
?- Arts
- Australian Maritime College
- Business
- Education
- Health Science
- Law
- Science, Engineering and Technology
The study areas are offered across undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications and include Bachelor, Bachelor Combined, Bachelors Honours, Associate Degree, Enabling course, Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma, Advanced Diploma, Diploma, Postgraduate Undergraduate. UTAS also offers a Graduate Certificate in Business. This offers students the chance to put their own work and/or life experiences into action. Students can draw on their own career or life milestones to use towards assessment items in certain units. Several units are delivered via intensive mode and/or small workshop groups, helping to provide more flexibility towards work and life commitments.
The Riawunna Centre provides a welcoming space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to meet, study and access academic and pastoral support and assistance.
The Riawunna Centre offers:
- Cultural support;
- academic support and advice;
- pastoral care - personal support;
- access to the Murina Pathways Program, an alternate entry program (detailed tutorial assistance through the Indigenous Tutorial Assistance Scheme (ITAS);
- advice and assistance in applying for bursaries, scholarships and cadetships ;
- access to UTAS services, such as counselling services, health centre and academic a resource library and computer room;
- tutorial rooms and study spaces;
- a student common room for relaxation and study;
- a contact point for students, staff and community members;
- career choices support and employment options assistance.
As well, The Riawunna Centre:
- Organises an annual Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Symposium;
- Coordinates the delivery of Cultural Awareness workshops and Cultural Competency;
- Provide the University with information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander .
The Riawunna Centre also supports the University of Tasmania to:
- Implement the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Strategic Education Plan; skills and learning; Programs for staff and students; peoples, their Cultures and Knowledge Systems.
- Implement the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment Strategy (ATSIES)
(ATSISP) to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to enrol, participate and achieve; to employ and support more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff across the University;
- Implement a whole of University approach to Reconciliation;
- Develop support programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in
- Organise Cultural activities across all campuses.
Murina is a preparation program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students who are thinking of doing university studies and who feel they might need some extra learning and support before they begin their degree studies. Murina is designed to help beginning students in two ways. First, Murina offers taster units to familiarise students with the types of teaching and learning they will encounter in degree subjects. Second, Murina helps to build learning, communication, writing and computer skills and gets students ready for university study. Murina students study the units they need in their own tailored pathway. They can take one or more Murina units, as well as University Preparation Units (UPP) to build skills and confidence. faculties and divisions;They may also be eligible to undertake first year Associate Degree units if their enrolment is accepted.
The Cross-Cultural Support Service assists students from a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) background and university staff who are working with them. CALD students can be citizens or permanent residents of Australia and many are voluntary migrants, while some have entered Australia on Humanitarian Visas.
Skills Tasmania is Tasmania's State Training Authority, developing strategies and providing support, advice, opportunities and funding to deliver quality training to meet the needs of Tasmanians and Tasmanian industries.
City Campus located in Launceston at the Inveresk Precinct uses Big Picture Education design principles. City Campus is a small school, offering intensive learning support. There is a maximum of 150 students enrolled in Grades 9-12. City Campus is supported by and connected to the local high schools, colleges, polytechnics, academies and the university. City Campus is partnered with Big Picture Education Australia and provides highly personalised learning.
The Tasmanian eSchool is the DoEs online learning provider, offering educational programs and online courses for students from Kindergarten to Year 10 (K-10) based on the Tasmanian and Australian Curriculum. It is available to all students who satisfy certain enrolment criteria, meaning that the Tasmanian eSchool is their base school. Students may be enrolled in the Tasmanian eSchool either full time or on a dual basis with another school. Students in other schools who require access to a wide range of online courses for curriculum enrichment and extension are also taught by Tasmanian eSchool teachers. All students are taught using Blended Learning, which mixes a range of learning opportunities, e.g. online, face-to-face, community and home to achieve curriculum diversity and promote student enthusiasm.
Recover, Assess, Design, Assist, Reconnect (RaDAR) or the Virtual School is an initiative of the Department of Education, Tasmania who work closely with secondary schools and young students who may have fallen off the Radar. This includes students who are enrolled and have not attended, at all, or over an extended period of time. Teachers at RADAR will design a personalised learning plan for a student which takes into account their interests and abilities and then work closely with them with a view to students eventually returning to mainstream schooling.
Studentworks enables students to receive accreditation for industry recognised workplace competencies, which they demonstrate as part of responsible work practices. The students are enrolled through the Department of Education where attendance is classified as school attendance and is complementary to formal classroom education. Students undertake an intensive practical education which results in both academic and VET qualifications.
Pregnancy or parenting are not considered to be valid reasons for a school aged student to be exempted from enrolment. Schools are responsible for establishing strategies to ensure that pregnant and parenting students are supported in continuing their education. Pregnant or parenting students are at risk of leaving education and are among the most vulnerable students in relation to retention. Pregnant students are entitled to enrol with Distance Education if this is medically/psychologically the best option for them. It is the school's role to facilitate any enrolment with Distance Education. Schools and Learning Services can provide support to a pregnant or parenting student by:
- nominating a case manager (eg a social worker, grade co-ordinator or key teacher) to support the student
- developing flexible programs to accommodate the student's educational needs and actively promoting to the student the importance of completing school
- providing students with advice about school based support staff to help them make informed decisions about their future
- ensuring that professional development, training and appropriate resources are available to staff to assist them in supporting the student
- ensuring that curriculum content and teaching practices reflect and support this policy
- developing links with other government and community agencies to ensure that the health, welfare, financial, social and childcare needs of pregnant and parenting students are met in ways which increase the chances of them completing their education
- developing and promoting a policy to retain pregnant and parenting students in education
- developing processes to monitor educational provisions and outcomes for pregnant and parenting students
- if necessary, in the last few weeks of the student's pregnancy, seek advice from her doctor in relation to her participation at school
- any other means considered to be appropriate to an individual student's circumstances.
Guaranteeing Futures is the DoE's long-term initiative which provides programs and activities to support students in making a successful transition from compulsory schooling to further education, training or employment. Guaranteeing Futures teams operate in each region to provide pathway planning and transition support that assists young people to explore their unique set of needs and capabilities by identifying their strengths, interests, goals and aspirations.
The Australian Apprenticeships Access Program provides vulnerable job seekers who experience barriers to entering skilled employment with nationally recognised pre-vocational training, support and assistance. The Access Program is delivered locally by brokers and providers who work closely with employers to deliver training that meets industry needs. The program is provided at no cost to participants and assists them to find and keep an Australian Apprenticeship, or to enter employment or further education or training. The Program includes a minimum of 150 hours of nationally recognised, accredited pre-vocational training linked to an Australian Apprenticeship pathway and delivered by Registered Training Organisations. Following the training period participants receive individualised intensive job search assistance for up to 13 weeks. Participants who gain an apprenticeship or other employment or commence in further education or training, along with their employers, receive at least 13 weeks of post-placement support.
The above information was supplied to The Examiner
