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Junior School students undertake a common course of study that reflects the principles outlined in the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS). The aims of the program ensure that skills and content are understood to be relevant and important in students’ lives and encourage students to become lifelong and autonomous learners.

Key elements specifically include:

• students having a deep understanding of learning with an ability to apply/transfer knowledge in different contexts;
• the development of generic skills including social/personal, literacy, numeracy, resilience, communication, thinking,reflecting and teamwork; and
• a closer link with the community and real life experiences.
  

Year Seven

Key elements of the Year 7 Learning and Teaching program are included below.

Activity Program
The two day activity program in week 2 includes a visit to Werribee Zoo and Kinglake Adventure Camp. The purpose is to provide team building opportunities for the group of Year 7 students and their teachers. The first Rich Task is tied to the Werribee Zoo excursion and provides the first opportunity to demonstrate learning beyond the classroom. Students not attending the activities will be completing work that will revolve around the Endangered Species theme to enable them to fully participate in Rich Task One.

Rich Tasks
A rich task has been organised each term for all students to work on. Rich tasks allow KLAs to come together in order to deliver a common and thematic approach to learning
and teaching. All KLAs are required to be involved in at least one rich task during the year. Rich tasks encourage different levels of thinking with links to ‘real-life’ situations.

These tasks have been scheduled to take place in weeks 3 & 4 of each term. The order is as follows:
1. Endangered Species
2. Personal Identity
3. Natural Resources
4. Mini Task - Countries (this will involve working with our primary school students)

PLT (Personal Learning Time)
A suggested PLT program is distributed to all PLT teachers. There are some compulsory tasks, but the rest are suggestions only. The PLT teacher determines the particular needs of each group and tailors a program to suit the group. Compulsory activities for 2007 include:
• Learning Journals (Semester One and Two)
• Team building exercises (Semester One)
• Bullying Activities (Semester One)
• Goal Setting (Semester Two)
• Thinking Skills (Semester Two)

Learning Journals
Students utilise an exercise book in order to record their progress, learning challenges and learning triumphs. These, most logically, will begin in PLT but they are to be used across all KLA’s as a reflective tool for the students. This is not a personal diary but a log of learning experiences for use with students’ goal setting activities. After units of work or major assignments all KLA’s should direct their students to reflect upon what they have learned from the activity in their learning journals. The type of reflection will depend upon the activity but some suggested questions are below:
• Explain the activity
• What was the aim of the activity? Was it successful in meeting these aims for you? Why? Why not?
• What skills did you learn or refine through this activity?
• What did you do particularly well during this activity?
• What could you improve on for next time?
• Students should be aware that teachers can call for their learning journal at any time and it will actually be assessed as part of their PLT program.

Year Eight

The Year 8 program for 2007 will not be a radical shift from what has been done in previous years. It was decided that following the idea from the Rich Tasks in Year 7, student’s tasks follow a common theme, or concept. All participating KLA’s have devised work which will allow students to explore this theme, while developing a range of key skills and learning tools. The theme for the Semester 1 is ‘Building, Belonging and Beyond our Horizons’.

The aim of the 2007 program is for students to be equipped with a range of learning tools which can be applied in all of their classes. The PLT and learning journal will be the medium from which these tools will be taught. Tasks will also be developed using a Bloom’s/Multiple Intelligence grid. Ranges of scaffolding tasks have been developed, encouraging students to utilise higher order analytical thinking. It is hoped that all students eventually progress beyond the lower order tasks and operate at a higher level. Teachers have used a common framework for planning their tasks. This will be a continuing feature of the program. The curriculum is expected to evolve in line with student’s needs and interests. Teachers are also given a greater amount of flexibility, all the while meeting the requirements of the VELS framework.

Students will receive a booklet from which they will complete a range of compulsory tasks. For the first time, students will have a choice of the extension/negotiated tasks. They will be able to choose tasks according to their own strengths. Teachers can also direct students towards tasks which adequately demonstrate their capabilities. It will be expected that all students complete a certain amount of negotiated/extension tasks. Excellence and academic achievement is what the program will try to foster. Eventually, the aim is that classes will generate their own tasks according to their skills and interests. This shift in our approach will occur over time.

This is how the concept/theme for Semester 1 underpins the program:
What does building mean? For some it may mean literally constructing a model for SOSE and for others, it may mean your growth as a person. Belonging may refer to your immediate friendship group, or how we are a part of not only a local, but a global community. Beyond our Horizons may relate to the world of Space, or exploring the wider world and your personal goals. The aim during this semester is to find out what these ideas mean for you as a person and to develop your own understanding of what they mean. These core ideas apply to most areas of your learning.

Consolidating the work done by the Year 7 Rich Task program, while preparing the students for the negotiated approach at Year 9, is the focus for 2007. Equipping students with learning and thinking tools and giving students choice will engage them with the curriculum and improve their outcomes. Excellence and academic achievement needs to be fostered. Students need to become empowered by their learning.

The theme that will be undertaken by students during Semester 2 will be devised during the first part of 2007.

Portfolios

All students in Years 7&8 will be expected to maintain a portfolio of work from across the KLA’s. These will be demonstrations of their best practice and will be used during parent/teacher conferences for students to showcase their achievements. Awards, certificates and student reports should also be included in their portfolios so as to give a rounded view of the students’ progress.

Allocation of Curriculum Time

Year Seven

Year Eight