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Arts & Education partnerships & engagement

The College of Arts and Education has collaborative partnerships with many arts organisations, schools, community groups and agencies.

We are committed to strengthening our engagement with these organisations based on a commitment to trust, mutuality and reciprocity.

These relationships provide students with opportunities to develop their knowledge, skills and experience while studying at VU. 

VU's partnerships play a role in:

On this page: 
School sports-program partners
Western Bulldogs
Malthouse Theatre
Overland journal
Arts festivals
AVID Australia education
Bank First

School sports-program partners

We provide learning opportunities for our pre-service teachers through our partnerships with major sporting bodies.

Our sporting partners include:

  • Western Bulldogs - Bulldogs Friendly Schools Program (BFSP)
  • Netball Victoria - co-delivering the NetSetGo Netball Program
  • Tennis Australia - delivering Hot Shot Tennis Program in schools
  • Football Federation of Victoria
  • Cricket Victoria
  • Touch Rugby Victoria.

VU education students in schools

As part of their ACP (Applied Curriculum Project), Victoria University pre-service teachers work with our partners to plan and deliver a sports program in a primary school. 

It's an opportunity for our students to develop teaching, sportsmanship, and healthy-lifestyles knowledge, as well as organisation, communication and management skills. Our pre-service teachers can also gain a coaching qualification to register with these sporting bodies through the Sporting Schools program.

An induction day is organised with our sporting partners early in Semester 1 to prepare our students to implement the sports programs in a school.

Feedback from participating schools shows that the programs result in several positives for the children involved, including:

  • improved skills
  • increased participation
  • success at interschool sport.

Bulldogs Friendly Schools Program (BFSP)

The Bulldogs Friendly Schools Program (BFSP) creates learning opportunities for school students from diverse backgrounds. As well as providing opportunities for our pre-service teachers in teaching and learning, there are lessons in building community partnerships.

Extras for the participating schools, organised by the pre-service teacher, include:

  • Bulldogs player appearances
  • tickets to a Bulldogs game
  • Bulldog giveaways, mascot “Woofer” visits
  • the inflatable roadshow.

For more information about these programs please email Trudy Turner in the Partnership Office trudy.turner@vu.edu.au.

Western Bulldogs


Our partnership with the Bulldogs offers more than sporting opportunities

The Western Bulldogs are a major partner of VU, and this relationship encompasses more than just sport.

There are cadetships (of around 150 hours' work experience) each year, usually in marketing and communications, available to a small number of VU's top students.

We also have a research relationship with the Bulldogs, offering opportunities to study areas such as sport in society.

Malthouse Theatre


Our partnership with the Malthouse Theatre gives us many benefits:

  • five Malthouse Provocateurs roles for our students
  • two student internships (usually in a three-week block during mid-year break)
  • film projects for Bachelor of Screen Media students
  • workshops for our Script and Screen unit.

Overland journal

Overland is a long-running and highly respected Melbourne journal, which has had a strong relationship with VU for many years.

The partnership gives VU the following benefits:

  • an undergraduate internship (for a Professional and Creative Writing student)
  • guest lectures by Overland staff
  • VU staff member involvement in judging the annual Overland Victoria University Short Story Prize 
  • the opportunity for collaboration/co-presentation of events at Melbourne Writers’ Festival.

Arts festivals

Williamstown Literary Festival


For more than 12 years, VU has had an important creative partnership with the Williamstown Literary Festival (Willy Lit Fest).

We work closely with the WLF Program Director to ensure maximum representation by VU students and staff across the two-day program, offering academic expertise to facilitate or host conversations with authors and other festival guests.

The staff from VU Polytechnic Cert IV and Diploma of Professional Writing and Editing play a large role at the festival (including short-listing the Ada Cambridge Awards).

VU also has a stand in the central hub staffed by Professional Writing and Editing and Offset team members, using the festival as a community-building opportunity.

Emerging Writers' Festival

VU’s direct involvement with the Emerging Writers’ Festival includes a Creative Producer internship.

The internship role is involved in organising the Footscray-based part of the literary festival.

Melbourne Writers' Festival

VU staff are involved with programming the Melbourne Writers' Festival.

In particular, we have a role in the the Footscray events, which have recently taken place at the Footscray Arts Centre.

Brimbank Writers & Readers Festival

Brimbank Writers and Readers Festival is free to the public and based in and around the Sunshine Library.

We have a growing role in this western-suburbs festival.

Setting Sun Film Festival

We are a principal partner of the Setting Sun Film Festival.

Our Screen Media staff coordinate the master classes, and there's free entry of films for VU students.

Melbourne International Jazz Festival

We are involved with MIJF’s Jazz Out West program, including facilitating masterclasses and organising community events.

This provides our students with a direct line to volunteer opportunities.

AVID Australia education


Pre-service teachers at VU have the opportunity to support school students as AVID (Advancement via Individual Determination) tutors as part of their course.

AVID is a university-readiness system with primary, secondary and tertiary programs. It equips low socio-economic and under-performing students with the academic, social and emotional skills to be successful at university.

It also offers an ongoing professional learning system that builds explicit teaching skills, ensuring teachers are well equipped to help students aspire to university success.

Research project

AVID Australia is conducting a research project with VU investigating how effective, sustainable and transferable the AVID system can be in Australia.

It is interested in discovering:

  • why students from the participating schools have traditionally had a lower expectation of aspiring to and gaining entry into university
  • what the implications are for implementing the AVID system more widely in an Australian context.

Contact

For further information contact:

Avid Australia

Phone: +61 3 9919 7832

Email: avid.australia@vu.edu.au.

Bank First

Bank First (formerly Victoria Teachers Mutual Bank) offers banking and financial services to members of the education community.

We have a collaborative partnership with Bank First that supports teacher-education and youth-work students, staff and education programs.

Bank First sponsors College of Arts and Education students with the following support:

  • awards
  • scholarships
  • student events
  • professional development initiatives
  • information sessions.

Bank First offers staff a financial-benefits package for banking services and loans, and offers students financial products alongside teaching resources.