About us
So, what is
ECG Secondary College,
exactly?
Who we are
ECG Secondary College is a registered independent school (school number 2062) and a division of Community College Gippsland (CCG).
Our school provides an alternative pathway towards secondary education for those who want a different learning environment.
Our students are backed by a team of dedicated and passionate teachers, youth workers, counsellors, and learning support officers, along with collaborative agencies and organisations that provide a comprehensive support system for student wellbeing. The school adopts an applied approach to learning, integrating real-world scenarios into its curriculum through in-class and out-of-class activities such as incursions, excursions, camps, and skills-based programs.
Our curriculum is aimed at providing individual support to each student to help them succeed. We offer the Victorian Pathways Certificate (VPC) and VCE Vocational Major (VM) for Years 11 and 12 (VPC and VCE VM) at our four campuses located in Warragul, Leongatha, Pakenham, and Dandenong. Our offerings have expanded to include Year 9 and 10 classes at our Warragul and Leongatha campuses from 2024.
School but not as you know it
We understand that secondary school students go through a tough phase during their studies. To support students, we redefine the educational experience with nurturing relationships at the core of our teaching approach. We provide individual attention and a sense of autonomy, trust, and connection with teachers and peers.
Our curriculum focuses on building individual resilience, confidence, health, and practical life skills, tailored to respond to students’ specific interests and passions.
We acknowledge that many students find traditional schooling challenging. In our experience, this is usually a case of a young person being a square peg in a round hole. It’s hard to concentrate if you don’t relate.
This doesn’t mean that these students can’t do well in school. Often, they just need the right setting and support to thrive. That’s where we come in. We welcome our students to come as they are and custom-fit the curriculum to their needs to help them succeed.
Well-being and welfare
It’s tricky to focus on a maths lesson if your life is upside down. That’s why we have a robust support system, with Youth Workers on staff and free, confidential access to professional counselling services.
We actively work on addressing the things that make it hard to get the most out of school, both one-on-one with individual students and within the classroom.
Our curriculum goes beyond traditional academics to incorporate sessions on:
- self-esteem
- confidence
- resilience
- problem-solving
- mental health and coping skills
- drug and alcohol education
- mindfulness
- health and fitness
- practical life skills
Hands-on
We have a flexible, innovative, hands-on approach to learning. We teach our subjects in a very practical way with a big focus on learning-by-doing.
Our classrooms could be workshops, studios, salons, hothouses, gardens, shopfronts or community spaces – or any other location that offers our students the best learning experience.
Pathways
Our practical approach helps students build skills, knowledge, experience, confidence, and gain qualifications that enable them to seek work or study in an industry they are passionate about.