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| Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) :: The Young People |
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Who are the young people in the program?
"I wasn't really doing anything, I had left school in Year 11, worked in a café and left, so I started VCAL at Changing Lanes."
Forty-one young people were identified and enrolled in the program in 2004. Of those all but two were already out of school. While in the first year almost all the students were not transferred from the local schools but were already out of school, this profile has changed in the second year with the program taking students who want to transfer from the local schools. While the program does not want to be a 'dumping ground' for the kids that the schools find too difficult, it also acknowledges that some young people in the area need an alternative to mainstream schooling and that this program can provide this.
In the first year of operation, some of the young people had not been in school for three years. 17 of the students were girls; 12 were Indigenous students. Their ages ranged from 14 to 17 years. Most of the young people were on youth allowance. Of the young people enrolled, approximately 75% had dealings with Juvenile Justice and the police. In addition, 50% lived out of home, four were young parents and seven of the young people had part-time jobs. Most of those jobs were in the fast food industry and some of the young people worked up to 20 hours per week.
In the second year of operation, the profile of the students has changed. Many have transferred from a mainstream school setting. Overall there are younger students in the program but many are still living out of home and have had dealings with Juvenile Justice and the police. |
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Darren is sixteen. He started at Changing Lanes in 2005. He came to the Bairnsdale area from Melbourne about five years ago. He moved down here with his mum to stay with his grandparents so that he wouldn't get into so much trouble as if he stayed in Melbourne. He said all, of the young people his age that he knows that are still in Melbourne and into drugs and not going to school.
He has been kicked out of one secondary school in the Bairnsdale area and gone to another but didn't feel like he belonged, didn't like the people and got into fights. He then went to Adult Community Education for a year and did a few courses but didn't want to stay there either. His brother was coming to Changing Lanes so he thought he would give it a go. Before he came to Changing Lanes he said he was an angry person.
He has found Changing Lanes much better than school. It is more laid back and he doesn't have to do things straight away. He is given time to do the work and can chill out and listen to music if he gets angry and then is able to get support from the coordinator. The Coordinator is always there to help when there is a problem. The Coordinator doesn't just let him do what he wants but talks to him if he doesn't want to do something and explains how he needs to do certain things to get to where he wants to be.
He likes being with other students who also come from where he is coming from. They have a similar way of having lived life. It is different and harder than most people. But it is really important to him that the teachers understand the background that he comes from.
He would like to be a guitarist in a band and go to music school or TAFE but it is too expensive and he has trouble with traditional school learning and can't read music. He thinks he will stay at Changing Lanes until the end of the year but if he manages to get an apprenticeship as a chef at the local hotel he will leave. |
Tracey started Year 11 at the local Secondary School. She left half way through and got a job at the local café. After three months she didn't like that much so she left and stayed at home. She was excited when she heard about the VCAL program. It was something new and it meant she could a Year 12 Certificate without going back to mainstream school.
She wants to get a year 12 Certificate so that she can apply to TAFE to do a jewellery or silver smithing certificate. She knows that she needs a folio and a pass at Year 12 to do this. At the moment she sells jewellery at the local markets so she would like to be able to develop her expertise in this area for her future work prospects. |
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