Music

Year 7

Instrumental Program: Beginner

Beginner students make and create music in a band setting, learning to play an instrument with tuition from specialist teachers. Students receive a group lesson once a week on one of the following instruments: Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Trumpet, French Horn, Trombone Electric Bass and Percussion.

As part of the Instrumental Program, students will develop their playing, listening and improvisational skills as well as looking at strategies for rehearsing, interpreting and presenting as part of an ensemble.

Instrumental Program: Extension

Students already taking instrumental lessons at Shelford or outside of school will be placed in the Extension group. Students work together as a class ensemble to further develop technical skills as well as developing their ensemble skills. The instrumental environment develops playing, listening and improvisational skills and encourages strategies for rehearsing, interpreting and presenting as part of an ensemble. In classroom activities, students continue to explore and experiment with sound and musical elements and present their creative ideas through performance and composition. Students respond to a range of musical styles and describe and discuss the expressive, technical and artistic qualities of the music. Students will also study theory of music at the appropriate A.M.E.B. level for their individual ability.

Choral Classes

Regular singing has been shown to help with a range of benefits, from relieving anxiety through to building self-esteem. Shelford Girls Grammar has a long tradition of being a singing school and all students from JDC through to Year 8 participate in the Choral Program. In Year 7, students continue to build on the skills already developed in previous years and work together to present a range of choral material. Throughout the year there are many opportunities for students to perform, either as a year level or as a whole school.

Year 8 Classroom Music

The Kodaly philosophy forms the basis of the classroom music program. Singing forms the basis of the program and through this students will continue to build on their musicianship skills. Students will continue to develop their skills using solfa and rhythm names, which they will use to continue exploring and experimenting with sound.

Instrumental Program: Extension

Students already taking instrumental lessons at Shelford or outside of school will be placed in the Extension group. Students work together as a class ensemble to further develop technical skills as well as developing their ensemble skills. The instrumental environment develops playing, listening and improvisational skills and encourages strategies for rehearsing, interpreting and presenting as part of an ensemble. In classroom activities, students complete practical work and class activities. Assessment areas include: the development of musicianship skills, reading and interpreting written notation; aural skills; and the ability to work collaboratively and creatively in ensemble contexts. Extension students are required to undertake a formal A.M.E.B. theory examination.

Choral Classes

Regular singing has been shown to help with a range of benefits, from relieving anxiety through to building self-esteem. Shelford Girls’ Grammar has a long tradition of being a singing school and all students from JDC through to Year 8 participate in the Choral Program. In Year 7, students continue to build on the skills already developed in previous years and work together to present a range of choral material. Throughout the year there are many opportunities for students to perform, either as a year level or as a whole school

Physical Education

Physical Education in Years 7 and 8 provides an environment for students to develop their knowledge, understanding and skills that will enable them to confidently, competently and creatively participate in a range of physical activities. It will also help students to be resilient, make decisions, and take actions to promote their health and physical activity participation. Students learn how to enhance their own and others’ health, wellbeing and physical activity participation, in varied and changing contexts. The program offers students an experiential curriculum that is contemporary, relevant, challenging, enjoyable, and physically active.

Year 7

Game Sense

Using the Game Sense approach, lessons will focus on students developing tactical and strategical understandings that are transferable across all sports within the following categories. These tactical and strategic skills will be taught within modified games that replicate the foundations for the following sports:

• Invasion: Basketball, Netball, AFL, Rugby, Handball

• Net/Wall: Tennis, Volleyball, Badminton, Table Tennis

• Strike/Field: Softball, Tee Ball, Cricket, Baseball

• Target: Bowling, Frisbee Golf, Vortex Darts

Athletics

Our run, jump and throw program will allow students to develop fundamental skills for all athletic events through the use of modified games and activities. This aims to prepare them for successful participation and confidence at the House Athletics Carnival.

SEPEP: Soccer

Students will adopt a variety of roles and responsibilities while engaging in a student-driven soccer tournament. Each student is a player and will also undertake one or two other roles throughout the unit. Students will determine strategies that enable diverse groups to collaborate and produce successful movement outcomes, demonstrate leadership skills and resolve conflict which may arise.

Dance: Historical

Students explore the skills associated with dance across different decades. They will have the opportunity to create and perform a synchronised routine which will reflect their chosen decade/s. Whilst creating their routines, students will develop appropriate social, emotional and physical skills in order to successfully choreograph and perform their routine.

Year 8

Game Sense

Using the Game Sense approach, lessons will focus on students developing tactical and strategical understandings that are transferable across all sports within the following categories. These tactical and strategic skills will be taught within modified games that replicate the foundations for the following sports:

• Invasion: Basketball, Netball, AFL, Rugby, Handball

• Net/Wall: Tennis, Volleyball, Badminton, Table Tennis

• Strike/Field: Softball, Tee Ball, Cricket, Baseball

• Target: Bowling, Frisbee Golf, Vortex Darts

Athletics

Our run, jump and throw program will allow students to develop fundamental skills for all athletic events through the use of modified games and activities. This aims to prepare them for successful participation and confidence at the House Athletics Carnival.

SEPEP: Basketball

Students will adopt a variety of roles and responsibilities while engaging in a student-driven basketball tournament. Each student is a player and will also undertake one or two other roles throughout the unit. Students will determine strategies that enable diverse groups to collaborate and produce successful movement outcomes, demonstrate leadership skills and resolve conflict which may arise.

Dance: Cultural

This unit allows students to research and explore different types of cultural and traditional dances from around the world. To start the unit, the students will take a trip to South America! Learning the fundamentals of Salsa by an external dance teacher. Students will then have the opportunity to create and perform a synchronized routine based on their chosen culture. Whilst creating their routines, students will develop appropriate social, emotional and physical skills in order to successfully choreograph and perform their routine. Students demonstrate an understanding of intercultural connectedness, through exploring the various forms of dances unique to specific regions/cultures of the world.

Year 7

Students learn to work safely in a science laboratory and how to correctly use a wide variety of scientific equipment. They recognise the differences between pure substances and mixtures and describe a range of physical separation techniques. They investigate relationships between organisms and their environment using food chains and food webs and classify and organise diverse organisms based on observable differences. Students will investigate the effects of applying different forces to familiar objects and the effective of unbalanced forces on motion.

Students learn to identify simple machines and explain how they work to simplify a job. They explain how the relative positions of the Earth, sun and moon affect phenomena on earth, and they describe situations where scientific knowledge from different science disciplines has been used to solve a realworld problem.

Students identify questions that can be investigated scientifically, plan fair experimental methods, identifying variables to be changed and measured, select equipment that improves fairness and accuracy and describe how they considered safety and draw on evidence to support their conclusions. In their practical work they will summarise data from different sources, describe trends and refer to the quality of their data when suggesting improvements to their methods, and communicate their ideas, methods and findings using scientific language and appropriate representations.

Year 8

Students compare physical and chemical changes and use the particle model to explain and predict the properties and behaviours of substances. They also become familiar with the periodic table and investigate the differences between elements, compounds and mixtures. They learn to identify different forms of energy and describe how energy transfers and transformations cause change in simple systems. Students learn to compare processes of rock formation, including the time scales involved, explore cells and cellular organelles, developing an understanding of specialised cells, and investigate the structure and function of a range of body systems, exploring the functions that enable them to survive and reproduce.

Students examine different science knowledge used in a variety of occupations and explain how evidence has led to an improved understanding of a scientific idea and describe situations in which scientists collaborated to solve contemporary problems.

Students identify and construct questions and problems that they can investigate scientifically. They consider safety and ethics when planning investigations, including designing field or experimental methods. In their practical work, they identify variables to be changed, measured and controlled, construct representations of their data to reveal and analyse patterns and trends, and use these when justifying their conclusions. They explain how modifications to methods could improve the quality of their data and apply their own scientific knowledge and investigation findings to evaluate claims made by others. Students also use appropriate language and representations to communicate science ideas, methods and findings in a range of text types.