Students

Click on this active link for our Student Handbook and Course Selection Web Page

We are proud of our achievements and the ways we value add to the lives and education of every young person who studies with us. The VCA Secondary School is ranked in the top state schools for VCE achievement. Our school remains a powerhouse of student achievement.

Could potential International Students please go to the ENTRY page which provides all the information you need and relevant links.

The student information on this page is being updated for 2010. It is relevant but still makes reference to 2009 and our former site.

Major awards 2009

The Principal's Award	Jessica Lindon
The Lenton Parr Academic Award	Cassandra Horsman
The Anne Woolliams Dance Award	Madeliene Graham
The John Hopkins Music Award	Alden Cai
Junior Academic Award	Luke Severn
Junior Dance Award	Calvin Richardson
Junior Music Award	Ziggy Johnston
Citizenship Award	Kate Walker
Dux of the School	Melina van Leeuwen
The Robert Salzer Voice Award	Georgia Wilkinson
Outstanding Solist	Nicholas Waters
Chamber Music Award	Olivia Halley and Melina van Leeuwen
Composers Award	Courtney Williams

We are very proud of our major award winners and these outstanding students are only a cross section of the amazing ability and capacity for hard work in our school. For list of nominations and other winners go to 'In View' from the Newsletters page.

I welcome your feedback and communication. Students may email me directly: principal@vcass.vic.edu.au or come to my room to speak to me. Appointments can be made to see me through Reception.

Colin Simpson
Principal

Starting at the VCA Secondary School

As part of the Year 7 Health course, the group looked back at what it was like starting here at the VCA Secondary School. We asked the Year 7s to write about how they were coping after a term and a bit. Here’s what they said:

Dance student “I thought it might be chaotic and hard having no bell. The first week was but then we all got used to it. Now I think it’s a good learning experience having to be responsible for always knowing where you are supposed to be and when you are supposed to be there. I think the academic side of the school is very strong. You might think you wouldn’t get enough teaching having only half a day of academic studies each day, but the small class sizes and the fact that everyone really wants to do their best easily makes up for it. And having such good teachers. Our school is in the Top 3 schools for VCE results. Does everybody know that? Some people might think the school is very competitive, and I suppose it is a bit, but in a nice way. Healthy competition is a good thing. All the people in this school are really nice, there are no bullies, and everyone helps the Year 7s.”

Music student “When I first came, I was worried about how much actual school work we would do, but I quickly realized it was the same amount as any other school. We don’t waste any time during the day. We don’t have regular assemblies, we don’t have half an hour in a home room in the mornings, like at my friends’ schools. We just come to school and get on with it. And we don’t waste time in class either. I really like that. I don’t know one person at this school who doesn’t like it here. I mostly do all my written homework on the train home, then I don’t worry about it all evening. I can practice violin when I get home. Last night I did three hours. It was easy to find someone at this school who gets the same train as me, we come and go as a group, with different people of different ages.”

Gym student “I was amazed how friendly the school is. And to discover there was only one Year 7 class with less than 20 students in it. That is the best. Here is my weekly routine. Monday Wednesday and Friday, I catch the train at 7.15 to Flinders Street, then I get to school at about 8, walking down St Kilda Road with my friends to school. I start school at 8.30 and finish academic classes at 12.35. Then I have lunch in the school café, then I catch the tram to Prahran, up High Street till I get to the gym. We go together. We do homework at the gym between 1.30 and 3. Then we train from 3 till 7. On Thursday and Tuesday, we start training at the gym at 9 a.m., and finish at 12, then we catch the tram to school for academic classes in the afternoon. Then we go back to the gym for more training between 4.20 and 7 pm. I do about 28 hours a week at the gym. But it’s so much fun! I just can’t believe how friendly everyone is at this school. The benefit is I can still do all my academic classes and keep up my gym training”

Dance student “I have made the best friends at VCASS. Most of the teachers are nice, and yes, the work is hard but that is what I expected. I like having only 19 in the Year 7 class, it makes it easier to learn and get teacher time if I need it. It was hard going from 4 hours a week dancing to more than 20, all of a sudden, but I can feel myself getting stronger and better. I have been so lucky to get into this school. I wouldn’t give it up for the world.”

Music student “The very worst part of the school so far was the audition. And that was only because I was so nervous before. After that everything else was easy. The second worst part is getting up at 6.30 every morning to come to school. The teachers are nice and the kids too (mostly).”

Gym student “I get up at 6 and get home some nights at 9.05. So it’s a long day. I thought the gymmies would stick with the gymmies, the dancers with the dancers, and the musicians with the musicians, but it hasn’t been like that at all. We do everything together, and I’ve made lots of friends. It has been OK getting the tram, we only got lost once, and then I used my mobile phone to ring my mum to sort it out.”

Dance student “ We get more attention from the teachers at this school than at any other school I’ve ever been to, and the older students really look after us. The boys and girls really get on well with each other. The thing I love most about this school is I can share my passion for dancing with loads of other people. Nobody at my old school understood. I didn’t know the teachers would be so friendly.”

Gym student “I’ve only been here a term already, and everyone knows my name, and I know theirs.”

Dance student “When I first came on Orientation Day in December I thought I would need a map to get around, it seemed so big. But the staff have all been very welcoming, they only make us do the things we need to do, and the academic is as strong as the specialist training we get. Public transport was a challenge to get used to, and sometimes there simply doesn’t seem to be enough time at lunchtime to pack up the academic books, get them back to my locker, get my lunch and eat it, and get changed ready for Dance classes in half an hour. Overall, though, VCASS is a great place for me. I have the opportunity to dance and keep up my academic work.”

Dance student “I still get very tired at night as we dance 4 hours a day and I’ve never danced that much before. I get up at 6.30 and catch the train with my friends from VCASS who live on the Broadmeadows line. When we first came here some people knew each other and others didn’t know anyone. I didn’t know anyone

Music student “I couldn’t come to orientation because we lived in Tamworth then, so I was a bit nervous on the first day because everyone knew someone and I didn’t. But it ended up going really good, and now I’ve got lots of friends”

Dance student “Coming to VCASS was a life changing experience for me. Getting up so early, warming up by 8 a.m, that’s not an ideal start to the day for me. But that’s the kind of commitment everyone here has. So don’t audition if you aren’t committed. Some people say because we dance half the day we can’t do as well at academic work, but it’s just not true. Everyone works twice as hard at their academic work too. It’s a really friendly place, as soon as you walk through the door you feel like you’re at home”

Year 9C Integrated Program Comments from students in 2009

I really liked what we did in IP this year. I really enjoyed going and visiting the kids at Port Philip Specialist School and I really think I gained a lot from the experience. Once I had stayed at Port Philip for a few weeks I really didn’t want to leave, I really felt like I had connected with some of the kids. I really liked playing the violin for them and I really felt that they enjoyed it too. I also really (really) enjoyed going to 'The Dwelling' Art exhibition at ACCA. I specifically like 'Opera for a small room' that was created by Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller. I really got into it.  Another great excursion we went on was when we went to Williamstown and took the ferry from Williamstown Marina to Southbank, it was a lot of fun. I think I have learnt a lot in I.P this year and I have really gained a lot from our excursions and various activities.

In Intergrated Program this year I have learnt a lot about the City of Melbourne, Mental Health, and History. In the second semester we went to Port Phillip Specialist School which was extremely confronting. Hugo and I helped out a class with six kids. They were the most intellectually and physically disabled of all the students. As confronting as it was, I learnt so much about mental health and now I am embarrassed to say that I used to laugh about things like that. Now I understand the gravity of the situation of a mentally disabled person and how they are effected. I learnt how you can teach a mentally ill person life skills by taking many small steps to make them as able as possible. In the second semester we also went to the Dali exhibition where we learnt about Surrealist Art and Salvadore Dali. In I.P this year I have learnt a lot and had a lot of fun. The experiences I have had with Port Phillip Specialist School has made me a more responsible and it has made me more aware about mental illness.

I really enjoyed the Port Phillip experience because at first it was out of my comfort zone and a bit daunting because I didn’t know what to do if they reacted to me strangly or what to do in general. After a while though, I felt like I had connected with them and it was like I was a part of something. I really enjoyed talking to them and helping them and I think it will help me in the future.  I think it is a very rewarding experience and I think everyone should do it. It brings out a humble side to you and it’s okay to be scared, but after visiting Port Phillip Specialist School, it shows you how fortunate you really are. The excursions that I probably felt were most tedious were probably the Art Exhibitions because I don’t really have an interest in it. I appreciate Art and I think it is great, but I just can’t stay in the same place for hours. It bores me and I don’t have a high patience level.

In I.P. Second Semester of this year we have done various subjects and participated in many activities. I think the most important activity of this semester was visiting the Port Philip Special School. It was a great experience for me and I really wanted to stay there for a bit longer, not just for 4 weeks. Because I really fell in love with those kids and I’d also like to play some of my pieces on the piano for them. Thanks for the music staff, we now preparing our special Outreach Concert for them, and I’m really exited about this concert. It’s going to be really good, because we have putted a lot of work into it! I hope they enjoyed! Also, I enjoyed “The Dwelling” exhibition at ACCA this Semester. It showed many aspects of the human mind (fear, illness, stress) and idea of 'Big Brother'. that someone can watch over us. I also can’t wait for our Magazine to be released, because it’s also going to be great when we put all of our pages together! I’ve learnt a lot this Semester in I.P and it’s been a great experience!

This year I have really enjoyed IP. My favorite activities would have to be the magazine and working with the children at Port Phillip Specialist. I think this program is really great because we have the whole morning to get work done and we don’t have to hold back. This year we have done a very wide range of activities whether it be going to an exhibition or helping out at the Special School. When I went to Port Phillip I realised how lucky we all are to be born healthy, and just by working and communicating with the children, it is a really amazing experience, it was also extremely fun! I also really appreciated going to the memorial service on Remembrance Day, I felt very honored to have been there, and it was really interesting to see it for myself. I’m going to miss IP next year.

This semester in the Integrated Program I have learnt a lot about myself through going to Port Phillip Specialist School. Nathan and I were put in a class with kids who couldn’t communicate or care for themselves so when I knew this, I knew it was going to be a confronting task. Through out the weeks we went to Port Phillip I got to see past the child’s disability and see the real person and how they were just kids wanting to have fun. Also through IP I experienced Surrealist Art through going to the Dali Exhibition, I enjoyed this because I love artwork that really makes you think. We also went through an interview process with Mr. Nucci for the 9C Magazine, which I thought was beneficial to us.

The biggest part of IP was going to Port Philip Specialist School. It was an amazing opportunity. The principal told us it could be confronting. We meet the teachers and students we were helping out. It was confronting! We had swimming with our class. It was great to see the faces fill with joy. I made great relationships with the kids. I made a great new friend named Josh. He would sit next to me and ask me to help him open his containers and drink bottle. One important celebration in IP was the opening of the new school, it was exciting! We also went on many excursions. We went to the Dali exhibition at the National Gallery, Pompeii at the Melbourne museum, and 'The Dwelling' at ACCA. We went to Williamstown Beach and to Jawbone Marine sanctuary too. It was really fun to go back of the ferry and to see the city from a different point of view.  We also worked on the 9C Magazine. We had job interviews with Mr. Nucci. I was nervous but I did okay, I just needed more confidence. I’m the sports editor. Overall IP is fun and you get to have great experiences!

I.P was a great experience for me and has taught me many to appreciate myself, the people around me and the different individual views on everyday living. The best experience I had this semester in I.P was going to Port Phillip Specialist School, where I met an extraordinary group of children who all had different disabilities but had the best personalities and different views on life. In my group was Hunter, Evan, Hannah, Bella R, Bella I, Orly, Livy and Monique. During the 4 weeks that I was there I got to know all them well and what they liked and disliked. At the end of the 4 weeks I didn’t want to leave because of the bond that I had with all of the children and how loyal they are to you. This semester we also went to many art exhibitions such as Dali and The Dwelling which was very different for me. I was so used to drawing manga and freestyle, seeing different styles of art are was amazing.  We went on a coastal excursion to Williamstown. I really enjoyed the excursion because it was on the beach, it was out of the crowded city and it was relaxing.

Doing Integrated Programs this year was really enjoyable. We did lots of activities witch we learnt many things on. The most major thing we did this semester for IP was visit Port Philip Special School every Wednesday for a short four weeks. About groups of two or three people were put in a small class of about eight kids. When Kent and I were put into a class we were quite nervous and weren’t quite unsure what to do but eventually we began to settle in. We learnt their names (Evan, Monique, Hunter, Bella .R, Bella, Hannah, and Livy) and began to understand what conditions they had. We would go around with them in all their classes for example drama, bike riding, and swimming and assisted them with anything they needed help with. Just as we felt we were really bonding with them our four weeks was at an end and everybody wished that we could stay a little longer.
We also did many other fun excursions for IP like going to “A Day in Pompeii”, and Williams town. So overall I had a very fun time doing Integrated Programs this year and I learnt many new things.

Semester 2 of I.P has been really enjoyable. We spent four Wednesdays at the Port Phillip Specialist School where we helped out with the students and tried to incorporate our specialties into their learning. We went to plenty of Art Exhibitions such as Dali, Pompeii and The Dwelling. I found Dali the most interesting. I feel particularly honoured to be a part of the memorial service on the 11th of Nov. Tara and I were privileged enough to lay the wreath on behalf of our school, it was quite a moving moment. I especially enjoyed the interview process of the IP magazine. We had to create a CV and an application letter and were interviewed by Mr. Nucci. It was dealt with very realistically and I feel a lot more confident about applying for jobs in the real world. At this point in time we are still producing the magazine but so far this has also been a great part of IP. Each of us is contributing to different aspects of the magazine and we all have different roles. It’s very professional! I am sad that IP is not available to year 10, as it has been a favourite subject of mine this year.

We have had a lot on in I.P. this semester. My highlight of the term would have to be assisting the staff and helping out at Port Phillip Specialist School. At first I was very nervous because I didn’t know how to react towards special children. My first day was the hardest, when Bella and I entered the room there was a child lying down on the floor, we were later told she had had an epileptic fit. Everything got easier from then on I began to understand their condition and I formed a very close relationship with two children in particular. I also played the cello for them, which they loved. This term we have gone to many exhibitions as well; Dali, Pompeii and The Dwelling, all of which I have enjoyed. In term 4 we started the Year 9C I.P. magazine, I am looking forward to seeing the finished product. I’m glad the year is nearly over but I am quite upset that I.P. is nearly all over.

This semester of I.P. has been interesting and educational the biggest let down was that we didn’t get to spend longer at Port Phillip Specialist school because just as we were starting to really get to know the kids, we had to say goodbye for the last time. Port Phillip was really confrontational it showed me a different side of things and really just how lucky I am. I found it hard sometimes to talk to the kids there, but after a while it became a lot easier.
Some of the exhibitions we went were a bit of disappointment because we didn’t always get enough time to see everything and I wasn’t very interested in some of the subjects and on the others I wasn’t able to go. The excursion we went to for I.P to Williamstown was one of the high points for me. It was a good day and the weather held out for most of the day and the fish n chips were amazing! Unfortunately I didn’t actually learn a whole lot, but I still enjoyed the experience greatly.

We are very proud of this community based work.

Colin Simpson
Principal