The Victorian Pathways Certificate (VPC) is a new program available to senior school students who are not able to access the Vocational Major course. Some students who complete the VPC have disability, while others may have experienced barriers to their learning in their time at school. The focus of the VPC is on practical, real world knowledge and skills which help young people prepare for life beyond school. Because it's a brand new course, things are still evolving as schools work out the best ways to teach VPC, and teachers discover how to align activities, resources, texts and learning experiences to a brand new set of learning outcomes.
If you are teaching the VPC for the first time or you’re looking for some new ideas, let’s explore four top tips to help you get ready for VPC in 2025:
Age appropriate texts and resources for the Victorian Pathways Certificate
One of the challenges of teaching VPC is finding resources which suit older students who may have developing literacy and numeracy skills. Content that is a good fit with this student cohort can include real world texts such as the Public Transport Victoria website, Behind the News High School, Better Health Channel or Beyond Blue.
When I develop print and go resources, I focus on activities which are low text with teen friendly images and contexts that suit older students. I try to avoid distracting elements on a page or slide so students can focus their attention on the learning task itself.
Here's an example from Literacy for My Future (aligned to Literacy Unit 3)
Sometimes teachers turn to printables which are designed for younger students, simply because they can’t find anything else – and it’s no surprise that most teachers don’t have the time or energy to make everything themselves from the ground up. There’s no other subject where teachers are expected to develop differentiated content to suit a range of learning levels for every single activity they teach during the week. Buying in resources means there’s more time available for all those other important tasks like supporting students, providing individual guidance, marking, assessments and excursion planning.
Problem solving focus a must for the Victorian Pathways Certificate
Giving students in VPC the chance to identify problems and solve them is an important focus of the course. Problem solving is one of the employability skills and it helps to use a structured approach so students learn to:
Identify the problem
Think about the possible solutions
Weigh up the pros and cons
Choose the best solution
Reflect on what has worked well and what could change
Problem solving can be built into many activities, from solving transport problems when planning a trip through to working out savings in a personal savings plan, giving directions using a modified map or finding the right equipment for a recreation activity.
I love using task cards to teach problem solving, so students can work on an approach using a written action plan then apply those same skills to a real world context. For VPC students, having lots of chances to practice their skills in a safe, supportive environment is key to success – before they apply those same skills in a community or workplace setting.
Here's how you could set up a workplace problem solving task cards activity to prompt a discussion with your VPC learners:
Work readiness skills
Focusing on the world of work is another important area within the VPC. Students participate in Work Related Skills so they can identify the skills and knowledge they need to find and keep work. I love working with resources that serve as a basis for students to apply their own thinking, ask questions and engage with the activity. Task cards are great for this because they can be used as an open ended prompt or as a closed task, depending on what suits the learners best. The work related skills subject is also a handy time to support communication and teamwork skills, and to spend time researching job interviews, resumes, individual student interests and skill sets which can be applied to work. For some students, focusing explicitly on oral language needed for job interviews or workplace conversations can be important, so they understand the inferred meaning in questions and can use a suitable greeting and closing to a work conversation.
Here's an example that works well for students with ASD, who may prefer independently practicing job interview skills like greetings, closings and interpreting body language before they attempt a mock interview with peers or a teacher.
Contextualising the learning
It’s a very real consideration when you decide to buy or use a resource that it needs to be in context for your students and learning situation. Context is king when it comes to working with students who have additional learning needs.
This could look like:
Teaching the vocabulary which has meaning in their local community
Inviting a speaker from a local business to talk to the group
Visiting recreation venues in the community
Finding local public transport information
Here’s how I would do this with a health literacy activity:
Match the learning outcomes to the activity (PDS 1.2 describe the principles of health and wellbeing and the key indicators of self-care; create tools and/or strategies for practicing self-care; Literacy 1.2 engage with, understand and create a range of digital texts for different audiences and purposes)
Use the slideshow to introduce health literacy and fake news
Facilitate discussions about fake news and the CRAAP model for reviewing online information
Guide students through the slideshow and activities
Apply the learning to a mini project related to personal interests and needs
Visit a local community health setting
Notice how we don't begin with the application to a local context, but we do make sure the learning circles back to that point?
A course such as VPC caters well to a range of student needs, interests and abilities, but it can be demanding for teachers. Contextualising the learning doesn’t mean you need to reinvent the wheel completely. Joining professional learning communities, engaging with other teachers and buying resources that you can use as a basis for locally relevant activities can all reduce your workload. With a student cohort that is likely to include a range of literacy and numeracy skill levels and many different interests and preferences for the future, it is simply not possible to make everything from scratch.
If you are getting ready to plan for 2025 in VPC, you might like to explore some tailor made employability skills, literacy, numeracy and work readiness resources to take the hard work out of planning and preparing lesson content.
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