Post by: vox nihili on July 27, 2016, 05:49:26 pm
VCESS standards for VCE summer school. Basically it's a two week summer school for VCE students (both 11s and 12s) from disadvantaged backgrounds. It takes place during the summer break and is run by the student union, with the help of more than 100 volunteer tutors.
Why should I get involved?
There is no greater predictor of educational achievement than one's socioeconomic background. All sorts of disadvantage, be they financial, the loss of a loved one or ESL status can have a huge impact on one's education and the opportunities that come with it. I personally believe that that's really shit and that we should do something about it. VCESS gives you an opportunity to do just that.
Not only is it great to be able some truly brilliant kids who haven't really been given the opportunities they deserve, it is also a really great programme personally. Some of the many reasons:
- The opportunity to work with a really great team of people and make new friends
- There are heaps of opportunities to improve your tutoring skills and the support there to help you do that
- VCE students are absolutely hilarious and getting to work with them is great
How do I sign up?
You can access all the info about VCESS at their website. Here you'll find info about what roles are available, what they entail and a lot more about what the programme aims to achieve.
Final word
I just want to make it really clear that I don't have any connexion with the student union or the 2017 programme itself, beyond having been part of the programme the last couple of years. My intention in posting this is to, hopefully, convince some of the wonderful souls on AN to get involved in a programme that has been a really important part of my uni experience.
VCESS cannot be recommended enough. Please do sign up and if you have any questions, feel free to post and no doubt some of the many past-participants will be able to answer them for you :)
Post by: Joseph41 on July 27, 2016, 05:50:39 pm
Recommended.
EDIT: And I don't go to UoM; that's not a prerequisite!
Post by: vox nihili on July 27, 2016, 06:20:21 pm
Great thread. I was involved last year, and it really has been one of the better things I've done with my time.
Recommended.
EDIT: And I don't go to UoM; that's not a prerequisite!
Really important guys! You don't have to be from UniMelb to apply. We've had people from here, there and everywhere in previous years and it's been great :D
Post by: pi on July 27, 2016, 07:46:54 pm
Just a random question: Do most people only take one class?
Yup. Sometimes a tutor may take 2 or 3 classes, but they usually go with 1 subject per tutor :)
Post by: vox nihili on July 27, 2016, 08:15:37 pm
This program was amazing! I was a spesh tutor for 3 years (and tutored some people who are active on AN today) and gave some talks on life as a medical student! Really fun and not a huge commitment either. Please post any questions you have in this thread :)
Yup. Sometimes a tutor may take 2 or 3 classes, but they usually go with 1 subject per tutor :)
I'm awaiting your return next year tyvm
Also, just to add. As pi said, most only do the one subject; however, there are plenty of other opportunities to get involved and you really shouldn't hesitate to apply for them, even if it's your first year. Biggest mistake I made first year was to only apply to tutor. My next year, when I had more responsibilities and thus was more involved was a heap better :)
Post by: mtse on July 27, 2016, 09:41:51 pm
Collect all the t-shirts :')
I was a spesh tutor for 3 years (and tutored some people who are active on AN today)^^^ taught by pi for an hour = life changing XP
Post by: auds on July 29, 2016, 01:07:57 am
Post by: Joseph41 on July 29, 2016, 08:43:39 am
Will they definitely reject me if I can't make either the tutor camp or tutor training day? :/
Nope! I was overseas for both, and it was fine.
Post by: vox nihili on July 29, 2016, 07:36:45 pm
Will they definitely reject me if I can't make either the tutor camp or tutor training day? :/
Just flag it with them though. I've also missed training and camp both times I've been there and, although that certainly wasn't ideal, they were cool about it and made sure I got appropriate training :)
Post by: Maths Forever on July 29, 2016, 09:05:07 pm
Sorry about all the questions!
Thanks :)
Post by: pi on July 29, 2016, 09:23:56 pm
Where do you usually tutor your class and where is the training day usually held? Is it on the University of Melbourne campus? Also, how many students are allocated to one class?
Sorry about all the questions!
Thanks :)
All classes and most other activities (beach day and optional social tutor pub seshes are exceptions) are at the UoM Parkville campus. My classes had less than 10 people per class, but I know some classes were a little larger (esp English and Methods). Classes were held in rooms with whiteboards (enough so that students could work off them if they wanted), traditional tables and chairs, and projector capabilities. Teaching material (including theory and questions) and whiteboard markers were provided, with the former being provided weeks in advance in hard-copy and often also soft-copy form. Training day is also held on campus at Union House.
Post by: Maths Forever on July 29, 2016, 09:51:54 pm
All classes and most other activities (beach day and optional social tutor pub seshes are exceptions) are at the UoM Parkville campus. My classes had less than 10 people per class, but I know some classes were a little larger (esp English and Methods). Classes were held in rooms with whiteboards (enough so that students could work off them if they wanted), traditional tables and chairs, and projector capabilities. Teaching material (including theory and questions) and whiteboard markers were provided, with the former being provided weeks in advance in hard-copy and often also soft-copy form. Training day is also held on campus at Union House.
Great! Thanks :)
Post by: auds on July 30, 2016, 01:23:25 am
Post by: vox nihili on July 30, 2016, 12:23:41 pm
What kind of workshops have been run before? If I'm interested in running one, would I be expected to come up with the workshop theme too??
You don't have to run a workshop, but if you offer to run one, yes it's expected that you'd come up with something. We've literally had anything and everything over the years, like:
-how to study VCE
-introduction to x language
-dodgeball
-wellness
-dance
-Pokemon (pretty sure on year we had this)
-tour of the anatomy museum
Really anything you can think of to stimulate/entertain a group of VCE students works. Personally, for the last two years I've run a workshop on public speaking and another on Spanish, but there are heaps of cool things that people do.
Post by: auds on July 30, 2016, 04:21:39 pm
You don't have to run a workshop, but if you offer to run one, yes it's expected that you'd come up with something. We've literally had anything and everything over the years, like:Okay, thank you! :) I want to run one but can't think of any mildly interesting theme to run it on hahaha
-how to study VCE
-introduction to x language
-dodgeball
-wellness
-dance
-Pokemon (pretty sure on year we had this)
-tour of the anatomy museum
Really anything you can think of to stimulate/entertain a group of VCE students works. Personally, for the last two years I've run a workshop on public speaking and another on Spanish, but there are heaps of cool things that people do.
Post by: vox nihili on July 30, 2016, 04:23:27 pm
Okay, thank you! :) I want to run one but can't think of any mildly interesting theme to run it on hahaha
THey don't ask for suggestions until way down the track so you've got time to think :)
Post by: Orson on August 16, 2016, 10:48:54 am
Post by: Joseph41 on August 16, 2016, 10:52:11 am
Could you like apply to be a teachers assistant in math or something?
What do you mean? Like, co-teach? That is an option. I believe that applications have recently closed, however.
Post by: vox nihili on August 16, 2016, 02:08:12 pm
Post by: auds on August 16, 2016, 04:27:02 pm
Post by: Orb on August 16, 2016, 04:27:27 pm
Applications closed last Friday :) Interview offers have come out. Who got one?! :D
Got one too :)
Post by: pi on August 16, 2016, 04:51:36 pm
I got one! What kind of interview questions do they ask ?
Really general stuff: "why do you want to do VCESS", "how would you engage with someone who was not following content or being distracting", "tell us about yourself", etc. In some subjects they apparently give you a question or something to do to make sure you know your stuff, but that never happened to me. Very chill environment :)
As for who gets in, hard to say because I don't know how many people apply. But I think anyone here would have a good chance haha, I taught spesh for 3 years and only got 40 raw, so SS must be just one of many factors :)
Post by: Joseph41 on August 16, 2016, 05:01:42 pm
spesh
40 raw
only
Post by: vox nihili on August 16, 2016, 06:14:24 pm
I got one! What kind of interview questions do they ask ? And do most people who apply get in? :)
There are an absolute stack of tutors. Like I think around the 200 mark??? So it's not horrifically competitive to get a place, but anecdotally I do know of good people who have missed out.
As for the interview, I think it's pretty straightforward. You should be enthusiastic about the programme's goals and be really keen about doing something to achieve them. It's also important to show that you're enthusiastic and confident about teaching, or learning how to teach (there are a lot of first time tutors in VCESS and that's absolutely fine, indeed it's great!).
To be clear, those are only opinions. I've never been involved in the selection of VCESS tutors—although I've just finished selecting SWOT tutors in what was a really competitive years, and these were the things I've looked for.
Post by: mtse on August 16, 2016, 07:17:25 pm
Hopefully attending VCESS twice/knowing the directors will work in my favour lol
From what I've heard, the interview is pretty relaxed and they just want enthusiastic people who can/enjoy passing on their knowledge. I don't think SS really plays too big of a role (most of my tutors from when i did VCESS got mid/high 30s to low40s in the subject they were tutoring, but were realllllyyyy passionate about the subject)
Post by: dankfrank420 on August 16, 2016, 09:39:12 pm
Post by: Orb on August 16, 2016, 10:42:08 pm
Got on offer, but don't have a working with children check. Should I go get one now?
I think you should have plenty of time to get it when necessary :)
The forms only take around a month to process, and there's 4 months or so until VCESS (if i can count :O)
Post by: auds on August 24, 2016, 04:08:03 pm
Post by: Maths Forever on August 25, 2016, 04:40:07 pm
I can't tell if my interview went well or poorly
When do you usually find out?
Post by: vox nihili on August 25, 2016, 05:21:40 pm
When do you usually find out?
It was September 11th last year
Post by: pi on August 25, 2016, 05:39:34 pm
It was September 11th last year
For the sake of stats
2014 - 25/9
2013 - 9/10
2012 - 13/9
:D
Post by: auds on August 25, 2016, 10:02:35 pm
When do you usually find out?They told me that interviews finished this Saturday and that we would find out some time next week.
Post by: CossieG on August 29, 2016, 06:05:16 pm
Post by: Maths Forever on August 29, 2016, 06:46:41 pm
Is it generally difficult to get offered a position?
Yeah, do most people who interview get offered at least one class to tutor?
Post by: pi on August 29, 2016, 09:14:46 pm
Yeah, do most people who interview get offered at least one class to tutor?
Yeah I think so. Most people only take one class anyway and they have heaaaaaaps of tutors as a result :)
Best of luck folks :)
Post by: Orb on September 12, 2016, 05:29:46 pm
^_^
Looking forward to seeing y'all down at the camp, sounds like it'll be rad!!
Post by: auds on September 12, 2016, 06:20:37 pm
Post by: Maths Forever on September 12, 2016, 06:45:49 pm
I'm doing Methods 3/4
Me too! :)
Post by: zsteve on September 12, 2016, 07:05:41 pm
Post by: CossieG on September 12, 2016, 07:51:44 pm