Well I am back after a few days playing with violets. Good to see all the discussion on sustainability. Have had lots of requests for more info on the Skills Auction - maybe we could make it a National event to support Voc Ed Programs (like Clean up Australia and Red Nose Day). If you would like more info, email your name & address & I will get you a little package of info in the mail. By the way the Skills Auction was an Andrew FitzSimons idea (part of wanting to turn Tumut into a Skilful Town). Andrew is one of those wonderful rare visionaries who motivate the rest of us into action.

Now on to my second essential ingredient - a committed and structured Voc Ed Faculty within the school. It has to start at the top. We have a very supportive Principal in Jim McAlpine, another one of those rare beings who has put his head on the chopping block on several occasions in support of Voc Ed and lived to reap the rewards for students. We also have a Voc Ed Manager, responsible at Executive level, who makes sure our Voc Ed Program gets equal say when decisions on timetabling, resourcing etc. are being made. We have a complete Voc Ed Faculty who meet on a regular basis. This includes the Voc Ed Manager, Careers Advisor, all teachers of Voc Ed Courses and the Voc Ed Coordinators. Everyone has defined responsibilities but work together to ensure best outcomes for students. We also start work education in Year 7 with structured careers classes, a careers expo for Years 7 & 8 where students attend a series of mini workshops presented by a local representative/practitioner of each vocational area, leading up to Year 10 where all students work on goal setting and career planning, and produce a Personal Portfolio prior to starting Work Experience. Voc Ed is now an integral part of our school and I believe that this level of communication and participation is essential to the smooth running and sustainability of our Voc Ed Program.

You might notice I mentioned Voc Ed Cordinators (plural) when talking about our Voc Ed Faculty. Another step towards sustainability has been the sharing of this role. It allows my counterpart, Ann Linnegar, and I to both work flat out during the busy times, share our expertise & bounce ideas. Between us, we equal one full time coordinator, but in reality, the program probably gets one and a half coordinators. Under another hat, I also share the coordination of Voc Ed across the Riverina Highlands with another member of our IAG, Janet Dobbie. Janet and I have expertise in different areas and it has worked well combining our strengths in this role. Picking up on Merran's suggestion that the profile tends to be coordinating a large number of schools, we have our own variation of this to allow for the geographic isolation of the four schools in the Riverina Highlands and the individual needs of each different community. An in school coordinator at each of the four locations working 1 to 2 days per week, with Janet and I working the equivalent of half a day each per week to maintain quality and provide support for each school. This flexible arrangement was considered more sustainable in the long term as the Tumut Industry Advisory Group was prepared to support each of the other schools in the Riverina Highlands but not take complete responsibility for them post ASTF.

I am sure there are lots of different structures and arrangements that are working well for other programs. Lets have a bit of feedback on what works well for you.

Anna Cutler
Voc Ed Coordinator
Tumut High School

To view all of the interaction with the online guest browse the voced-coord archives from August 10 - 31, 1998.

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First published September 10, 1998. Last modified October 28, 1999.