Wesley College Students in Year 10-12 are embarking on a new suite of micro-credentials that are unlike anything else offered in Western Australia.

For hundreds of years, education has focussed on the key skills of Reading, ‘Riting and ‘Rithmetic – but Wesley has always striven to go beyond the 3Rs. Embracing the spirit of innovation that we pride ourselves on, a new course has been created called Wesley NEXT.

The course is built around developing real-world skills, from filing your tax return, to essential first aid, to negotiating a car loan. The aim is to give our Year 10-12 students a depth and breadth of opportunities that go beyond our traditional curriculum to develop their passions and skills for the next stage of their journey beyond Wesley.

Learning to podcast.

Director of Digital Transformation and Innovation Luke Callier, who put the course together with Deputy Head (Academics and Strategy) Mathew Irving said: “We think micro-credentials have an interesting future in Education. The ability to include real-world skills that our students require for part- or full-time jobs today through to jobs of tomorrow in new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence is extremely exciting and may just ignite our students to change the future of the world in ways we can’t yet imagine.”

A scan through the lengthy list of micro-credentials is inspiring, not least because it covers areas of learning that didn’t even exist in the pre-digital age – an ‘Introduction to Podcasting’ for example, or ‘Digital Music Creation’.

But it’s the more ‘day-to-day’ skills that really catch the eye. Most of us will admit that we would have been well-served in our youth by knowing a bit more about budgeting and saving, superannuation, essential DIY skills, employment contracts, writing application letters, cooking, basic car maintenance, tax, insurance or the ins and outs of phone contracts. It’s these types of important life skills that schools should consider teaching more of, but which are often left out due to crowded curriculum requirements.

Preparing for interviews.

Importantly, there are also units dedicated to real-world training, designed to help students get a foot on the employment ladder with their first part-time jobs in cafés, bars and restaurants. As time goes on, areas such as commerce, engineering and law will be added to help students hit the ground running on internships.

“It’s important to know that micro-credentials will not replace traditional curriculum, the WA Certificate of Education or formal post-schooling qualifications,” says Mr Callier. “Rather, they will assist students to have a wider range of skills and be more familiar with how to upskill themselves in ways that employers, industry and tertiary institutions are looking for.”

To ensure the industry-relevant information is as up-to-date as possible, Wesley College’s teachers will be joined by alumni and external expert presenters.

Barista training.

“One of the most exciting things for us, as a College, is being able to open our doors to industry professionals,” says Mr Irving. “We pride ourselves on being on the cutting-edge of education and a major part of that comes through our understanding of how the needs of employers are continually evolving. We gathered together volunteers from a range of backgrounds and industries to shape the content of the course and their continued input will ensure its ongoing relevance.”

Undertaking the design and creation of any new educational course is a major project, not least when it involves the scope of Wesley Next, but Mr Irving is confident of success: “Wesley College is proud of its heritage of being one of the most innovative schools in Australia. We see the launch of Wesley NEXT as an example of us living by our motto, By Daring & By Doing.

“With support from the business community, we can see this unique and innovative program developing into a world-class transformational program for all students.”