Community VCAL

Overview

Context

Community Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (Community VCAL) refers to the entire delivery of the VCAL:

• by an external provider
• that is registered with the Victorian Registrations and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) or with the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) (as applicable)
• that has been authorised by the Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority (VCAA) to deliver the VCAL on behalf of a government school
• at an external location to students who have been assessed as eligible to participate

Community VCAL delivery is often tailored to the needs of students who have become disengaged from mainstream schooling or are at risk of disengaging from mainstream schooling. In Community VCAL, students are enrolled at a government school (home school) but the program is delivered by another education provider external to the school site.

A small number of Victorian government schools have entered into contracts with Non-School Senior Secondary Providers (NSSPs) registered with the VRQA and authorised by the VCAA to deliver VCAL and Community VCAL, under which the ‘home’ school holds the student’s enrolment but the NSSP delivers the entire of the student’s Community VCAL.

This guidance sets out the legal, regulatory, financial and policy obligations of home schools. It is important for all principals and relevant coordinators in home schools to have procedures in place to ensure that the home school is discharging its obligations to students enrolled in the home school but undertaking Community VCAL with an NSSP.

There are regulatory obligations that schools must also comply with to ensure that requisite records are kept in relation to a student’s enrolment, attendance and other issues.

In order to allow a student to undertake their Community VCAL entirely at a NSSP, the home school must take reasonable steps to ensure that the policies and procedures of the Department and school are being followed, for example the Department’s policies in the Policy and Advisory Library (PAL) relating to

• enrolment
• duty of care
• supervision
• excursions
• attendance
• student welfare
• maintenance of records and reporting

Obligations of both home schools and NSSPs will be outlined in detail in Appendix A of the completed Community VCAL contract.