Aerie Tech Yrs 10-12 Murray School ships. Home port Morgan.

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Joining Aerie Community with the time out term and subsequent tech skills learning, becomes a life long social club culture and friendship, focusing on recreational enjoyment, conservation and protection of the Murray River environment, continuing care of the fragile Murray river environment.

VET or UNI The core mission is to grant equal status, resources, and respect to two primary pathways, ensuring all students leave with meaningful, job-ready credentials. 

Aerie Tech College is specifically tailored to the developmental needs of 15–17-year-olds in South Australia.

• This model moves beyond traditional senior high school by combining rigorous academic study with maritime operations, fostering a unique blend of technical skill and personal character.
• It provides the "Fledging" Teen the opportunity for safe "Leaving Home".
• Aerie school ships are more than just a place to sleep; they are a leadership incubator. They provides the technical qualifications for a booming local industry while instilling the "soft skills" of responsibility and teamwork, safe living and partnering, home management, food preparation and team health and mental care that traditional classrooms are unable to replicate.

At this critical age, students are transitioning into young adulthood. The "shipboard" lifestyle demands a high level of self-discipline and emotional maturity.

• Independence: Living away from home in a structured maritime environment teaches students to manage their own routines, from maintenance to time management.
• Teamwork: Working a vessel is an inherently collaborative act. Students must keep "watches," relying on one another for the safety and operation of the ship, which builds deep interpersonal trust.
• Resilience: Overcoming the physical and mental challenges of life onboard—such as weather changes or technical troubleshooting—builds a "can-do" attitude that translates to academic and personal success.

• South Australia is a hub for the maritime and defence industries (notably the Osborne Naval Shipyard). 15–17-year-olds are at the age where career choices begin to solidify.
• 15–17-year-olds exposed to living in the river Murray environment build  high level appreciation for the environment and its future protection and conservation. Its fragile waters are  a unique artery, supporting a range of industries including water supply for Adelaide and Northern SA Gulf regions, one of Australia’s driest States. 

A ship is essentially a floating laboratory. For students in Years 10–12, abstract concepts in Physics and Math become tangible.

• Practical Physics: Understanding buoyancy, engine mechanics, and navigation involves real-world application. 
• Environmental Stewardship: Students living on the Murray gain a first hand understanding of      marine park conservation and local ecology.

• Integrated VET and High School: VCE/HSC/SACE subjects are blended with nationally accredited Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualifications (Certificate III/IV, Diploma). This should not be a 'side option' but a core offering with dedicated, modern facilities.
• Industry Deep Dive: Students spend a significant portion of their final two years engaged in structured workplace learning, traineeships, and vocational taster experiences—not just for trades (like construction or electrical) but also for high-demand "clean economy" sectors (e.g., solar installation, environmental monitoring) and the "care economy" (e.g., aged care, early childhood education). The residential nature allows for intensive, week-long industry blocks.
• Essential Skills Assessment: Instead of focusing solely on the ATAR, the curriculum must explicitly teach and formally assess essential skills like literacy, numeracy, and digital literacy, ensuring all students are work-ready.

•  Applied Learning Modules: Academic subjects are taught through a Project-Based Learning (PBL) or Inquiry Cycle model. For example, Physics is learned by designing a sustainable energy system for the college, and English is learned through creating and publishing a professional media campaign.
• Portfolio and Learner Profile: The focus shifts from the single, high-stakes ATAR score to a comprehensive Learner Profile that includes academic results, a curated portfolio of major projects, validated evidence of soft skills (collaboration, resilience, critical thinking), and a record of work experiences. This profile is the student’s Education Passport to employers and alternative tertiary pathways.

 The residential college model is uniquely suited to establishing deep, lasting partnerships with employers.

• Business Incubation Hub: The College establishes an on-site, small Startup/Incubation Hub. Students work with local businesses or community partners to identify, design, and prototype solutions to real-world problems (e.g., "Minister's Innovation Challenge" models). This builds enterprise skills and innovation.
• Mandatory Mentorship: Every student is paired with a Career Mentor from industry, not just a teacher. The mentor provides exposure and guidance relevant to the student's chosen WorkWay or UniWay stream.
• Mobile Residential Immersion: Use the residential component to run Industry Immersion Weeks. Students travel and live together near a remote mine site, a large hospital, or a tech hub for a week of intensive learning and networking.

 The College must actively counter the intense stress and mental health challenges associated with the current high-stakes senior year.

• Emotional and Financial Literacy: Mandatory non-assessed modules in financial literacy (budgeting, superannuation, tax), emotional intelligence, and respectful relationships (as critical skills for both work and life).
• Holistic Assessment: Prioritise student wellbeing through the residential model by integrating sport, arts, and community service as non-negotiable components of the week, reducing the total reliance on study hours alone.
• Support Ecosystem: Build a professional support ecosystem that includes dedicated mental health counsellors, career practitioners, and academic coaches to provide differentiated and targeted support for the two distinct pathways.

The overarching direction should be to produce graduates who are adaptable, contributing citizens, and valuable employees, not just graduates with a high score and no job.

• Aerie College will champion the idea that all pathways are equally respected, and 
• Its success will be measured not by the percentage of students entering university, but 
• More important, the percentage who enter meaningful, sustained employment or further training within six months of graduation.

The Aerie Tech Student Profile would be a secure, digitally verifiable document presented to employers, universities, and VET providers. It consists of four integrated modules:

This module records traditional academic performance but focuses on demonstrating mastery in context, not just marks.

• Academic Grades: Detailed results for all VCE/HSC/SACE subjects, including specific scores and percentiles.
• VET Qualifications: Verifiable records of all completed industry-accredited qualifications (e.g., Certificate III in Business, Diploma of Hospitality) with units of competency clearly listed.
• Essential Skills Validation: Formal validation of core literacy, numeracy, and digital literacy skills, often assessed through practical, on-demand testing platforms (e.g., validated by independent industry bodies).

This module is the tangible evidence of applied skills, directly showcasing capability to potential employers.

• Signature Projects: Detailed documentation (photos, videos, written reports, code repositories, design documents) of the major Project-Based Learning (PBL) outcomes from the UniWay and WorkWay streams.
  • Example: A final report on the sustainable building design project (for a UniWay engineering aspirant) or a video demonstrating proficiency in using industry-standard welding equipment (for a WorkWay trade aspirant).
• Work Experience Log: A verified logbook detailing hours, specific tasks performed, and formal evaluations from industry supervisors for all structured workplace learning and traineeships.
• Creative/Enterprise Evidence: Documentation of any self-initiated projects, successful micro-businesses, artistic commissions, or open-source contributions.

This is the module that replaces abstract notions of "soft skills" with concrete, verifiable evidence of workplace-critical behaviours. The College would use a standardised, cross-subject rubric for assessment.

• Capability Domain Assessment Evidence Critical Thinking & Problem Solving Evaluated on the student's ability to analyse novel problems and propose solutions within the Signature Projects. 
• Collaboration & Teamwork Assessed by peers, teachers, and industry supervisors during group projects and work placements. 
• Resilience & Adaptability Assessed through reflective journals and documented response to setbacks encountered during project completion or work placement challenges.
• Communication (Verbal & Written) Assessed through formal presentations, reports, and clear professional communication during mentorship and work placement.
• Self-Management  Assessed on the student's ability to meet deadlines, manage workload, and independently seek out learning opportunities.

This module validates the student's personal development and commitment to community.

• Community Service Record: Documented hours and reflections on mandatory community service, showing engagement with local or global issues.
• Leadership/Contribution: Evidence of roles taken within the residential college (e.g., Student Council, peer mentoring, club leadership) and the impact of that contribution.
• Extracurricular Engagement: A list of achievements and consistent participation in sports, arts, and clubs, demonstrating commitment and balance.

• Digital and Verifiable: Built on secure blockchain technology or a similar trusted digital ledger to prevent tampering and ensure instant, reliable verification for third parties.
• Continual Growth: The profile is dynamic. Students add to it throughout their two years, treating their education as a continuous process of evidence gathering, not a single endpoint.
• Interview Prompt: The portfolio section serves as an excellent foundation for job and university interviews, allowing students to speak confidently about specific, impactful experiences rather than general subjects.

This Learner Profile shifts the focus from selection (ATAR-based ranking) to demonstration (verifiable capability and experience), which is far more relevant to a future economy valuing adaptability and practical skills.