KERANG Christian College is set to offer its students VCE classes.
Currently the school offers classes from Prep to Year 10, but was recently granted permission to proceed with Year 11 and senior secondary VCE by the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA).
Principal Michael Bond said he was thrilled.
“We are very excited about this,” he said.
“We believe offering Prep to VCE at one school is exactly what many families in our community are looking for.
“The college is preparing to offer a broad range of subjects throughout secondary school and into VCE and aims to prepare our students for a broad range of post school pathway options.”
The school — which was a primary school for 27 years — has been introducing a new year level each year for the past four years.
“The plan to expand Kerang Christian College towards VCE has been in the works for almost eight years,” Mr Bond said.
He thanked some of the staff for their “leadership and dedication” towards the successful completion of the application.
“There has been a great deal of work completed to achieve this registration,” he said.
“I’d say everything is going to plan and is falling into place really well.”
The college has recruited staff with VCE teaching and leadership experience during the past few years in preparation for offering VCE studies in 2015.
A new secondary school wing is also under construction which will offer a state-of-the-art video conferencing facility.
This facility will allow students and teachers to work collaboratively with other schools and resource providers.
Mr Bond said there is the potential for students to study VCE courses via video conference in subject areas not available at the college.
The technology also provides scope for unique “virtual excursions”, such as allowing students to interact with a diver on the Great Barrier Reef, or speak to an astronaut in the US.
At this stage, 19 VCE subjects will be offered.
Mr Bond said the expansion benefited the region in many ways.
