VET in Schools Excellence Awards
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The VET in Schools Excellence Award recognise an outstanding training* program which delivers vocational education and training to secondary school students. The program may be coordinated by secondary schools, industry groups, or by way of partnerships between schools, industry and Group Training Organisations, Local Community Partnerships or any other variation.
Eligibility
The nominated program must:- be based on Training Packages or industry/enterprise competency standards;
- lead to qualifications or Statements of Attainment under the Australian Qualifications Framework;
Nominees will be one or more organisations involved in the training programme.
Nominees are required to submit written evidence (12pt font) not exceeding 20 A4 pages including attachments) against the Selection Criteria below. The elements within the criteria should be the focus of your application, however any relevant evidence may be provided so long as it does not exceed the required page limit.
Organisations may self nominate or be nominated for this category.
The winner of this category may be eligible to represent the ACT at the Australian Training Awards
Selection Criteria
Section A
Provide an overview of the training* program(s) including its objectives, a description of the environment in which it operates and any specific challenges which were encountered in the implementation of the training program.
Section B: Applications will be judged against the following criteria.
Criteria 1: Meeting student needs.
Criteria 2: Strategic planning processes.
Criteria 3: Industry and community support.
Criteria 4: Sustainability and evaluation of the program.
Guidelines for Addressing the Selection Criteria
When developing your application against the award criteria, you may wish to take into account some of the considerations outlined below, if they are relevant to your organisation. Theses suggestions are not additional criteria, but are provided to give clarification of what may be relevant to include when writing against the award criteria.
How the program meets the needs of the students.
Consider:
- Details of specific teaching and learning environments, including any unique and/or innovative aspects.
- The outcomes of the program, including details of qualifications achieved by students and whether they are endorsed by State/Territory Boards of Studies.
- Integration of on-the-job and off-the-job training, including any links with school assessment tasks.
- How the program caters for all students including those with special needs, such as indigenous students, students with a disability, students from a non-English speaking background, students in remote areas, gifted and talented students.
- Any strategies in place to encourage participation by all students and support from parents and the wider school community.
- Implementation of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in your training program e.g.: e-learning.
Strategic Planning processes
Consider:
- Details of the external environment in which the organisation operates and its relationship to state/territory and national policies and priorities.
- Systems and processes for planning and communicating purpose, vision and goals, values, core business strategies, and creating alignment across the whole organisation.
Effective industry/community support
Consider:
- Any unique and/or innovative aspects of partnerships and relationships with external organisations.
- Whether there are formal and informal agreements to facilitate partnerships and provide financial or in-kind contributions to the program including industry engagement.
- How the program meets the needs of partner organisations and/or the community.
- Any strategies underway to foster new partnerships and strengthen existing partnerships, including their impact or level of success.
- Actions taken to raise awareness of the program in the general community and to build relationships with the general community.
- Evidence of recognition or acknowledgment by those involved or by third parties.
- Any support evident from the rest of the school community.
Sustainability and evaluation
Consider:
- Systems and processes for continuous improvement, including evaluation and review
- Capacity for further development or broader application, or replication at other sites.
- Any plans in place to ensure long term sustainability.
* denotes nationally recognised training, ie: training which is based on a National Training Package or Accredited Course and results in a formal qualification or Statement of Attainment by a Registered Training Organisation. This includes Australian Apprenticeships.
