Work Type: Fixed-term - Part-time
Salary: Salary not specified
Grade: Education Support - Level 1, Range 3
Occupation: Education and training
Location: Melbourne - Northern suburbs
Reference: 1505715
1. Demonstrated capacity to plan, implement and evaluate high-quality careers and pathways programs that meet the diverse needs of Senior School students, supporting successful transitions to further education, training, or employment.
2. High-level interpersonal and communication skills, with a proven ability to build positive and productive relationships with students, parents/carers, school staff, employers, tertiary providers, and other external organisations.
3. Proven ability to design, deliver, and manage careers and pathway programs that meet the needs of Senior School students in a hybrid (in person and online) learning environment, ensuring equitable access and engagement for all learners.
4. Demonstrated understanding of, and experience in applying, the theoretical frameworks and best-practice approaches that underpin career development, including familiarity with VTAC, VET, and structured workplace learning processes.
5. Demonstrated organisational and teamwork skills, including the ability to maintain accurate records, work collaboratively within a multidisciplinary team, and contribute to a school culture that values student agency, inclusion, and wellbeing.
Role Purpose
The Careers Practitioner (Senior School) plays a key role in supporting Years 11 and 12 students to make informed decisions about their future pathways. Working collaboratively with students, parents/carers, and staff, this position provides expert advice, guidance, and resources related to career development, tertiary pathways, and employment opportunities. The role contributes to the broader VSV mission of preparing students for successful transitions beyond school through personalised, flexible, and informed career education.
Duty statement:
The Careers Practitioner (Senior School) will:
¿ Provide individual career and pathway counselling and support to students (and parents/carers) in Years 11 and 12. Provide the opportunity to increase the students.
¿ Assist Year 11 and 12 students in developing and maintain Career Action Plans.
¿ Collect and disseminate careers information to senior school students, parents/carers and teachers and contribute to newsletters when required.
¿ Deliver relevant careers and pathways information sessions for students, staff, and families.
¿ Provide students and parents/carers with support and guidance related to VTAC applications and post Year 12 transitions to further education, training and employment.
¿ Liaise with the VET Coordinator to support Senior School students in the VET program at VSV, including Structured Workplace Learning
¿ Assist in the maintenance of careers information on the VSV website and The Lounge.
¿ Establish and build relationships with employers and employer organisations, relevant industry bodies, community organisation and tertiary institution.
¿ Attend external professional development, membership association meetings and relevant conferences/seminars
¿ Deliver professional learning where appropriate for VSV staff online in staff and senior school meetings as well as off-line.
¿ Perform other duties as negotiated with the Leading Teacher for Transitions and Pathways and Principal.
Colleagues/Teams:
The Careers Practitioner (Senior School) will:
¿ Work closely with the LT Transition and Pathways, and the Senior School Leaders
¿ Attend leadership meetings as required
¿ Liaise with teaching staff as required
¿ Maintain ongoing communication with parents, students and employers and the wider education community.
Reporting/Accountability:
The Careers Practitioner (Senior School):
¿ May complete a performance and development plan to ensure accountability
¿ Ensure that all careers information is current and up to date.
¿ Regular meetings and discussions will underpin all aspects of the provision of careers advice and the newsletter publication.
Outcome measures:
The Careers Practitioner (Senior School) will improve student learning outcomes by:
¿ Formulating and undertaking DET performance and development
¿ Providing high quality, timely advice and information on career options for students to ensure effective careers choices
¿ Evaluating the effectiveness of the careers and work education programs together with employers, parents, students and teachers
Individuals with the aptitude, experience and/or qualifications to fulfill the specific requirements of the position.
The department is committed to diversity and inclusion and developing a workforce that is representative of the community we service. We value diversity and inclusion in all forms - culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, LGBTIQA+, disability and neurodiversity. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for roles within the Department. The Department recognises that the provision of safe, respectful and inclusive workplaces is essential to high performance and promotes flexible work and diversity across all schools and Department workplaces. It is our policy to provide reasonable adjustments for staff with disability (see Workplace adjustment guidelines).
Additional support and advice on the recruitment process is available to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander candidates from the Koorie Outcomes Division (KOD) via [email protected]
Applicants seeking part-time employment are encouraged to apply for any teaching service position and, if they are the successful candidate, request a reduced time fraction. Such requests will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis and will be subject to the operational requirements of the school.
Victorian government schools are child safe environments. Our schools actively promote the safety and wellbeing of all students, and all school staff are committed to protecting students from abuse or harm in the school environment, in accordance with their legal obligations including child safe standards. All schools have a Child Safety Code of Conduct consistent with the department's exemplar available at:
https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/child-safe-standards/policy
The department's employees commit to upholding the department's Values: Responsiveness, Integrity, Impartiality, Accountability, Respect, Leadership and Human Rights. The department's Values complement each school's own values and underpin the behaviours the community expects of Victorian public sector employees, including those who work in Victorian Government Schools. Information on the department values is available at:
https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/values-department-vps-school-employees/overview
VSV employs a hybrid rostering system of remote and onsite work. The successful applicant will be required to work onsite at Virtual School Victoria, 315 Clarendon Street, Thornbury on their rostered onsite day(s).
The successful applicant must have current Working with Children Check and hold a current Victorian drivers licence.
Virtual School Victoria utilises its own Student Database, in conjunction with CASES21 Administration. Training will be provided.
Prospective applicants are advised to visit the Virtual School Victoria website www.vsv.vic.edu.au
Applications should be prepared in a standard font, preferably Arial or Calibri, at size 11 or 12. Pages should be single sided and have well delineated sections using clear headings. Applicants are advised to include:
1. A cover sheet providing the name of the applicant, record number (where applicable), home and email address, telephone number and a telephone number where the applicant can be contacted during business hours.
2. A specific response to each of the five selection criteria of no more than one page per criterion.
3. A separate curriculum vitae that is a summary of experience and qualifications.
4. The names of three referees including contact details, work and mobile phone numbers, email address, current position and relationship to the applicant, and a short explanation as to which selection criteria each referee can best comment on
Late applications will not be considered.
Virtual School Victoria (VSV) is the state's leading virtual school, offering 280 semester-based courses online, including VCE subjects. With an annual enrolment in excess of 7000 students from Foundation to Year 12, VSV is the largest state government school in Victoria. Around 2700 students are enrolled full time, while around 4300 students, most in Year 11 and 12, complete subjects with VSV while based in other schools.
The VSV student cohort is both diverse and unique. We provide education to:
¿ school-based students who do not have access to the courses they need in their own school
¿ children and young people with chronic physical and mental health circumstances that make it difficult for them to attend mainstream schooling
¿ young people involved in elite level sports and performing arts
¿ children and young people who are travelling within Victoria, around Australia or overseas
¿ young adults wanting to complete their education in a way that they find engaging
¿ remote, rural and regional children and young people who, due to distance, cannot attend a local school.
In addition to offering a host of teaching and learning courses approved by the VCAA, our specialist teachers provide students with individualised learning and support. VSV teachers are dedicated to building the confidence and resilience of each and every student. Like any school, our teachers regularly support and interact with students, but they do so in a different way to most schools: they do so virtually.
A Learning Advisor role is undertaken by all teachers as a core element of their teaching position at VSV. The overall aim of the role is to connect with and encourage students to belong to the VSV school community in order to optimise their student engagement, learning and wellbeing outcomes. Building positive relationships with students, their family support network and, where appropriate, their health practitioner, in an encouraging, friendly and supportive manner is crucial when teaching in a virtual school. The Learning Advisor role also involves team teaching the Social & Emotional Learning (SEL) program to students in Year 7 to Year 10.
VSV¿s four core school values of Growth, Empathy, Respect and Collaboration guide our vision and underpin our interactions with students, parents/carers and staff. VSV is committed to providing a supportive and inclusive learning environment using a trauma informed approach based on the Making SPACE for Learning model. SPACE is an acronym for the 5 basic principles of trauma informed practice at VSV. These elements help teachers respond to the needs of all students but especially for those who have experienced trauma.
Learning and Teaching at Virtual School Victoria is informed by the Pedagogical Model for Online Learning and Quality Assurance Frameworks for Course Development and Teaching Online. A recent School Review confirmed our pedagogical model and quality assurance frameworks strengthened the school¿s role as a system leader and built on our goal of consistently providing high-quality and targeted teacher practice. Authentic, real-time, interactive learning is a key to teaching at VSV. Teachers develop engaging learning materials and utilise VSVOnline, our Moodle based Learning Management System, to create synchronous and asynchronous collaborative teaching and learning opportunities for students.
VSV students learn by taking part in online collaborative and interactive activities, communicating and interacting with other students and by receiving personalised support and feedback from their teachers. Students participate in active learning targeted to their needs. Teachers use purposeful ongoing assessment strategies to ensure continuous student progress. Data forms an important component in this process and guides personalisation and changes to student learning programs.
Our vision is to see VSV as a system leader in online, virtual and blended learning: sharing our knowledge and expertise, and leading system conversations around digital learning. VSV aims to lead a community of practice that will evolve and strengthen digital learning in Victoria, and positively influence and support other schools to develop in this space.
Currently VSV is implementing the Government¿s Expanding the VCE into Rural and Regional Victoria Initiative. As a result, VSV now delivers all of the VCAA VCE Studies Units 1 - 4. VSV delivers the Victorian High Ability Program (VHAP) which is an intensive 10 week online course to high performing students in Years 5 ¿ 8 as part of the Department of Education¿s Student Excellence Program. VSV also operates Bellum Bellum, a regional hub offering blended learning opportunities to VCE students in the Gippsland Region. The Virtual Tutor Program is also delivered by VSV, this program offers small group targeted tutoring support to students based in other Victorian schools.
VSV has a large Education Support staff which includes teams in Administration, Enrolment, Online Team, Wellbeing and Inclusion.
The VSV staff work mostly in teams. As such it is important that all staff demonstrate effective teamwork. In particular, staff must be collaborative, cooperative and recognise the value of others¿ contributions with a view to delivering the best outcomes for students and VSV as a whole.