In a partnership with Rochester Secondary College, Kyabram P-12 and Rushworth P-12, the College will share in the funding, which is part of the fourth round of the Victorian Government's VCE Collaboration Fund.
Echuca College principal Simon Wood said it was not only great for their students, but would also help build a relationship between the four schools.
“It is a great opportunity to expand upon existing strong relationships between the schools for the benefit of our students,” he said.
“We are very excited to integrate this work into our existing ‘Network Week’, which occurs each term and involved staff from each school collaboratively working together.”
Under the partnership, the $40,000 will be used to explore the viability of offering English literature, legal studies and specialist maths at each school.
It is anticipated that strengthening an existing Community of Practice, collaboration, moderation and sharing of best practice will improve the quality of teaching across the four schools.
Funding will be used to appoint leaders to co-ordinate the CoP, time allowance, professional development and access to resources.
“A greater range of subject choice means better outcomes and higher retention for our students plus an increased collaboration between schools also has benefits us all,” Mr Wood said.
State Member for Northern Victoria Mark Gepp said making sure regional and rural students had the same opportunities as their urban counterparts was important.
“This investment is giving Campaspe students greater choice of VCE subjects that appeal to their interests, strengths and career aspirations,” he said.
“This program is about ensuring that regional and rural students receive the same opportunities as those in the city, regardless of where they go to school.”
School partnerships were able to apply for up to $40,000 to help overcome barriers in setting up collaborative partnerships, such as insufficient staff time; expertise in establishing partnerships; logistics such as timetabling; professional learning; equipment and sharing resources.
Echuca College has started the planning process and expects to appoint key staff to lead this collaboration by the end of term one.
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