Pre-VCE Elective

(Semester-long)

Pre-VCE Legal, Accounting and Business Management (LAB)

Welcome to Pre-VCE LAB, where you’ll be equipped with the knowledge to help you own your own business, or become a lawyer or an accountant. Regardless of what career you find yourself in, an understanding of the legal, financial and economic influences on our day to day decisions is a key life skill. This student-led subject is for those who want to learn essential business and legal skills that you can take to the bank, and understand how to best manage both the risks and rewards of running a business. This is an intense look into the relevant VCE subjects, with the focus on students developing their problem-solving skills, study habits and tier 2 & 3 vocabulary. 

In Accounting students will be required to interpret, classify, record and explain business transactions, including preparing reports such as Balance Sheets, Income Statements and more! 

In Legal students will dive into the world of contract law, looking at many different cases and the impact they’ve had on our law to this day. Students will be exposed to a range of legal terminology, and learn how to embed this knowledge into their written responses for future clients, when analysing the validity of contracts.

To tie up the subject, students will gain an introduction to Business Management. Students will look into a case study of successful Australian businesses that were forced to change - they will learn about stakeholder management, the different legal structures available when setting up a business, and the different business environments that influence a business to change.

The course will prepare students for the basic skills and knowledge required for VCE Legal Studies, VCE Accounting and VCE Business Management.

Entry & Above Entry Electives

(Semester-long)

Colonisation and Conflict

In Colonisation and Conflict, students explore the causes and consequences of a selection of key global empires around the world. Students examine events such as the transatlantic slave trade, British rule in the Americas and India and the colonisation of Africa. A knowledge of this period of history helps students to better understand the causes of some of the major events of the 20th Century.   

Following on from the understanding of colonisation, students analyse how colonisation laid the foundations for the outbreak of World War One. Students then explore the key events and effects of World War One, examining how World War One is considered a 'global' war. 

Finally, students examine the political situation in Japan immediately following World War One. Students explore the expansion of the Japanese Empire in the following years, including the invasion of Manchuria and the Second Sino-Japanese War, and evaluate the response of the League of Nations, as well as individual states, to these conflicts.

The skills in this course apply to a broad range of pathways, and students will be directly prepared for VCE History and VCE Politics.

This subject is considered a repeat and cannot be taken if you have previously completed History and Politics.

Going Global

In Going Global, students have the opportunity to explore significant global challenges that are facing the global community. Students analyse the causes and consequences of climate change, while also evaluating the effectiveness of the responses to climate change by key global actors, such as the United Nations, states such as the USA, China and Australia and non-governmental actors such as Greenpeace. 

In this course, students also have the opportunity to examine the concept of human rights and how human rights are not necessarily applied universally, as students discuss how there can be challenges to the concept of human rights based on cultural, economic and political factors. 

Students also have the opportunity to independently study another global challenge such as people movement or poverty alleviation. 

The skills in this course apply to a broad range of pathways, and students will be directly prepared for VCE Politics.

This subject is considered a repeat and cannot be taken if you have previously completed Climate Change: A global crisis.

Guilty or not Guilty? 

Can you talk your way out of washing the dishes? How would you go defending an alleged criminal? Do you want to solve a murder by working out ‘who did it’? 

Guilty or Not Guilty looks specifically at the area of criminal law, including murder and manslaughter. Students will also learn about the International Criminal Court, war crimes and aspects of international law. A range of other criminal offences are also studied, using some of the most engaging (and sometimes terrifying!) case studies. 

To complement their studies, students also focus on a number of areas pertaining to the Australian and International Legal Systems. Students are informed of the operations of these legal systems and be able to evaluate their effectiveness and their rights in dealing with the law. Students work collaboratively to develop a criminal mock trial, as well as undertake a variety of other assessment tasks including research assignments, oral presentations and tests. 

The skills in this course apply to a broad range of pathways, and students will be directly prepared for VCE Legal Studies.

Philosophy

Why are we here? Is there more than one reality? Can we trust our senses? What does it mean to live a good life? How do we know anything? Are we the same person as we were last year, last week, last night? 

Philosophy uses reason and logic to think through these big questions. Stimulated by what famous philosophers have said, students will create presentations, exhibit philosophical debates and write philosophical essays. 

Unlike formal debating, philosophical argument aims at arriving at uncovering truth rather than ‘winning’. Thus, philosophy classes involve building important listening and social skills. 

The skills in this course apply to a broad range of pathways, and students will be directly prepared for VCE Philosophy, VCE English and VCE English Literature.

This subject is available as a repeated elective.

Power to the People

In Power to the People, students have the opportunity to explore significant 'people powered' political movements in the modern world. Students investigate the history of the civil rights movement in the USA, building up to an understanding of the Black Lives Matter movement that spread across the globe. 

Students then explore the Indigenous civil rights movement in Australia, charting the key struggles and achievements of the movement and how this has led to the Indigenous Voice to Parliament Referendum. 

Finally, students also study the Feminism movement and the explore the different waves of Feminism, culminating in an exploration and analysis of the #metoo movement. 

Finally, The skills in this course apply to a broad range of pathways, and students will be directly prepared for VCE History and VCE Politics.

Revolutions, Rockets and Reds

In Revolutions, Rockets and Reds, students have the opportunity to explore one of the most significant events of the 20th Century, the Russian Revolution. Students analyse the causes, key events and political ideology that shaped the revolution and modern Russia. 

Students study how Russia moved from the rule of the Tsars to the communist rule of the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin. Students then learn about the features of the Cold War in the 20th Century between the USA and the Soviet Union, analysing key events such as the division of Germany, the creation and fall of the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Space Race. Finally, students then explore the Chinese Revolution in 1949, and analyse how this has shaped and influenced modern China under the Chinese Communist Party. 

The skills in this course apply to a broad range of pathways, and students will be directly prepared for VCE History and VCE Politics.

Shark Tank

In Shark Tank, students hone their inner entrepreneur through hands-on activities that teach how to be a valued employee and effective leader in the 21st Century. Students design their own businesses, brands, and marketing tools to help them learn how to create their place in the world. This subject focuses on innovation, accountability, financial management and achieving goals. Students should be equipped with 21st Century skills. 

Many students may not find their place in university or technical programs after graduation, but with the right education in 21st Century skills students can be successful in the facets of entrepreneurialism. In this subject, students learn problem solving, critical and creative thinking, accountability, world citizenship, communication, and adaptability. 

The skills in this course apply to a broad range of pathways, and students will be directly prepared for VCE Business Management. 

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? 

If money can’t buy you happiness, then why is it all anyone ever seems to talk about? Learn how to get the most out of your money and develop the skills to manage your own personal finances. 

The first half of the subject looks at making informed purchasing decisions and how to finance those purchases. Students learn about a variety of finance tools such as credit cards, mortgages and personal loans and the implications of each method. Students also learn how to create a budget forecast and variance report. 

Students then analyse different investment options and will be able to make recommendations based on an individual’s financial position. They examine different investments, including the property market, the share market, bonds, and term deposits, calculate appreciation and depreciation and learn about some of the ways to minimise their tax! 

Classroom activities involve individual research projects, interactive Internet tasks, group work, an oral presentation to the class and various hands-on tasks. 

The skills in this course apply to a broad range of pathways, and students will be directly prepared for VCE Accounting and VCE Business Management.