Senior School
The Senior School at Portland Secondary College consists of students in Years 11 and 12 and is led by the Assistant Principal, the Year 11 and Year 12 Level Leader and VCE VM Manager. Students can undertake the Victorian Certificate of Education and the VCE Vocational Major. Students can also access Vocational Education and Training subjects as part of their program.
The Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) provides diverse pathways to further study or training at university or TAFE and to employment.
Each VCE study is designed to be a 2-year program, with Units 1 and 2 at a Year 11 standard and Units 3 and 4 at a Year 12 standard. Each VCE unit involves 50 hours of scheduled classroom instruction and 50 hours of self-directed learning for students.
A student must satisfactorily complete 16 units to be awarded their VCE, which must include three units from the English group (including a Unit 3-4 sequence) and at least three other sequences of Unit 3-4 studies.
At Portland Secondary College (PSC) it is expected that students will undertake 6 subjects (12 units) in Year 11 and 5 subjects (10 units) in Year 1 or a total of 22 units. Exceptions can be made to this through the senior sub-school AP.
Students must successfully undertake Unit 3 before commencing Unit 4 of a study. The levels of achievement obtained by students for Units 3 and 4 form the basis of a student’s Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR). Most universities require an ATAR for entrance to their courses for high school leavers (but not all).
Students who are interested in undertaking the VCE Vocational Major should see the information on the website under VCE Vocational Major.
Subjects on offer in the Senior School include:
- Art Creative Practice
- Art Making and Exhibiting
- Biology
- Business Management
- Chemistry
- Drama
- English/English as an Additional Language
- Food Studies
- Foundation Maths
- General Maths
- Health & Human Development
- History
- History – Ancient
- Indonesian
- Legal Studies
- Maths Methods
- Music Performance
- Outdoor & Environmental Studies
- Physical Education
- Physics
- Product & Design Technology (Textiles)
- Psychology
- Visual Communication & Design
Vocational Education & Training – may be accessed through SWTAFE
- Certificate III in Business
- Certificate II in Conservation Eco System Management
- Certificate II in Cookery
- Certificate III Early Childhood Education and Care
- Certificate II Electrotechnology (pre-vocational)
- Certificate II in Engineering Studies
- Certificate III in Health Services Assistance
- Certificate III in Makeup
- Project Ready (Certificate II in Active Volunteering)