WORKCO Limited, in partnership with Horsham Primary School – Rasmussen Road Campus are piloting their own Primary Vocational Education and Careers program. The program is loosely based on a Danish model, 'Retention Vocational Education in Denmark- A best practice study' by the Danish Ministry of Education and is also based on the 2006 Try-a-trade held in Melbourne, where it was observed that many primary school aged children participated and were engaged by hands on learning.

The aim of the Primary Vocational Education and Careers Program is to increase the literacy and numeracy skills of students and reduce attrition rates, by introducing them to a vocational education curriculum. This will provide students with practical experience in technical and trade based areas and demonstrate future employment opportunities. The pilot project is being trialed at Horsham Primary School (Rasmussen Road Campus) and involves fifty students in years four, five and six. The school campus is located in a predominately low socio-economic area of Horsham, with 27% of enrolments being Koorie. Many students are living in single parent disadvantaged homes, with many of these parents being second or third generation unemployed.

The outcomes of the program include:

• An introduction for school students to a vocational education curriculum
• Giving student's experience of technical and trades based employment opportunities
• Increasing school retention, therefore encouraging students to be competent at basic literacy and numeracy skills needed to complete their secondary education
• Increasing each student's educational opportunities will provide them with the skills required to complete an apprenticeship or traineeship at a later time, if they are interested in this career path
• With an introduction to trades based employment at a young age, the Primary Vocational Education and Careers Program will also assist to reduce Australia's increasing skills shortage levels

The Primary Vocational Education and Careers program will cover five technical and one commercial entryway.

The Technical Entryways are:

• Building and Construction
• Engineering Trades
• Automotive
• Agriculture, Horticulture and Land Management
• Service Industries including Food Production

The Commercial Entryway is:

• Business, Information and Communication Technology and Multimedia

These six entryways have been linked with the current Vocational Education and Training in Schools (VETiS) courses which are being taught in Year 10 in secondary schools the Wimmera and Southern Mallee Local Learning and Employment Network (LLEN) region.

Students participate weekly in practical hands on classes in the six identified entryways, to learn basic skills in trade areas. By giving students experience in different vocational education programs, it will assist them to make more informed choices about future education and careers. Each class will be tailored to the different age groups in primary schools. These classes will meet many of the criteria for students learning outcomes, based on the Victorian Essential learning Standards (VELS) curriculum areas:

• Thinking Processes: Creativity
• Personal Learning: Management Personal Learning, The Individual learner
• Interpersonal Development: Building Personal Relationships
• Design, Creativity and Technology: Investing and Designing, Producing, Analysing and Evaluating

Learning Outcomes of Students (curriculum VELS)

The Primary Vocational Education and Careers program uses an integrated Curriculum model to assist schools to effectively implement the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS) in an innovative manner that will enhance student engagement in learning. The VELS strands, domains and dimensions listed below are incorporated into the programs integrated curriculum based on the six entryways. Each entryway integrates appropriate domains and dimensions of each of the three VELS Strands. At the completion of each entryway, students present their work to parents in a learning portfolio.

VELS Strands, Domain and Dimensions:

Physical, Personal and Social Learning - Interpersonal Development - Working in teams

Discipline Based Learning - The Arts - Creating and making, English- Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking,

Mathematics - Measurement, chance and data, Working mathematically, Science- Science at work

Interdisciplinary Learning - Design, Creativity and Technology, Investigating and Designing, Producing, Analysing and Evaluating, Information and Communications

Technology - ICT for Creating, ICT for communicating, Thinking Proccesses– Reasoning, processing and inquiry, Creativity, Reflection, evaluation and metacognition

Each of the three VELS strands are incorporated into each of the projects students undertake, however the dimensions and domains chosen for each project depend on the nature of the project. All the VELS Domain and Dimensions listed above are covered during the course of the program.

Latest News…

The pilot project – One year on.

The WORKCO Limited Primary Vocational Education and Careers Program piloted in 2010 at Horsham North Primary School (now Horsham Primary School—Rasmussen Road Campus). The program has resulted in an increase in literacy and numeracy, as seen in On Demand testing results, and students writing ability as shown weekly in school newsletter reports.

Additional outcomes have included:

Immediate Skills

Students have gained self esteem, improved ideas about future employment prospects and are talking about careers with their peers. Team work has improved both while completing the project and also in regular classes. Engagement of students in school overall has vastly increased, with students talking about the tasks, working on tasks and reducing discipline issues.

Career Links

Students have learnt to make informed decisions regarding the entryways taught and their areas of preference for future careers. The entryways are aligned to the Vocational Education and Training in Schools (VETiS) subjects available. In Year 10 students will have the knowledge to make informed decisions on VET placements and educational opportunities.

Pre-Vocational Skills

• Team Work
• Common Goals
• Problem Solving and persistence
• Communication Skills—speaking, questioning, listening, writing/recording, following instructions
• Time Management
• Organisational Skills
• Prioritising Skills
• Workplace Safety
• Self Motivation

Community Connections

The visits to industry have given students community connections. Students have been exposed to qualified or educated adults from similar backgrounds and involved with a wide range of volunteers in the program. Students are developing relationships with good role models and exposing them to people who are involved in their community. The program has offered parents an option for their children to attend a school which offers life skills—this has increased enrolments in prep for the 2011 year.

Influences in the School

The program has also seen influences in other areas of the school. Prep and Years 1 and 2 are completing discovery based learning activities which focus on teamwork, reporting and persistence, listening and speaking. The middle years (grades 3 and 4) are undertaking introductory skills through small projects in woodwork, bike maintenance and cooking classes in preparation for the project in the senior years.