The educational opportunities and experiences at Footscray City College (FCC) are exciting. The college strives to build and extend the aspirations of its students, so that they can embrace their futures as fully confident, capable, talented and optimistic young men and women. The school offers an extensive range of choices for students within a vibrant and dynamic educational setting. This greater choice gives greater opportunity for students to discover and explore their individual interests and passions, and to excel.
Facilities: Large library, extensive sports grounds, tennis courts, gymnasium, high-end scientific equipment, multimedia lab, music practice rooms and recording studio, creative arts areas, film and animation studios, television studio, dark rooms, theatre and theatrette, hospitality skills centre, workshops for jewellery-making, carpentry, engineering, electronics and robotics, agricultural and horticulture complex, extensive computer and other digital technology equipment.
Curriculum: Two significant curriculum priorities of the college are the Sciences and the Arts. Footscray City College has a formalised partnership with Victoria University to enrich and extend the Science programs of the college. This partnership gives students access to high-end resources and facilities not normally available to secondary students. Similar partnerships are being established in the Arts area, particularly the Media Studies area, where advanced TAFE Year 13 professional film Diplomas are available, with scholarships for the highest VCE achievers. FCC also specialises in nurturing and challenging students through the different phases of their secondary schooling from Year 7 to 12. Its Year 7 students step into the newly renovated Year 7 learning centre which has been purposely designed to provide the youngest students with a warm and inviting home base as well as a bright and stimulating learning environment. Close communication with parents is integral to the pastoral care approach. The curriculum is comprehensive at Year 7 and 8 with an emphasis on developing strong literacy and numeracy foundations for future academic success. In Year 9 students enter the Futures Centre program where, in addition to a focus on the traditional academic core subjects, students spend two days a week in project-based units. These units are specifically geared towards building those skills considered essential for success in the 21st-century world. At Years 10 to 12 there is the choice of programs in the traditional areas of the maths/sciences and humanities, the performing and visual arts, as well as niche areas of interest, such as multimedia, fashion, hospitality, agriculture, horticulture and engineering.
Student welfare programs: The pastoral care system at Year 7 and beyond ensures that the school knows its students well and attends carefully to their personal and academic needs. A structure that includes a student services co-ordinator, three sub-school managers, six year-level co-ordinators as well as home-group teachers provides hands-on support for student wellbeing and success at the school.