Curriculum ________________________________Page

“The involvement of students from St Joseph’s in these and other similar programs is a refl ection of the importance staff at St Joseph’s place on maintaining the most current and up to date knowledge of best practice use of student assessment data.” - Vin Brown

CURRICULUM 2013 - CELEBRATING OUR TEACHING AND LEARNING PROGRAM.

Our teaching and learning program provides many opportunities for our students to experience a diverse range of subjects supported by many extracurricular activities and opportunities such as the inaugural LitFEST (celebrating writing in many forms), sustainability initiatives and celebrations in The Arts. This year has been an exciting year for our school where we have seen the opening of the Trade Training Centre and the development of the Year 9 program for our new campus.

WESTCOURT

The introduction of a Year 9 campus in 2014 is one of the biggest changes to SJC for many years. The development of curriculum for Westcourt has been an exciting and valuable challenge for all involved. Led by Ashwin Pillai, the Westcourt team of teachers have worked tirelessly to create a curriculum that engages Year 9 boys whilst providing a rigorous teaching and learning program. Each term at Westcourt will revolve around a particular curriculum focus. The core curriculum in Year 9 will focus on the four facets of the Year 9 model (My Self, My Community, My World and My Future) and will continue to develop, extend and apply acquired skills and knowledge to real life contexts and issues. An English and Humanities curriculum called Think will be teaching concepts and skills using an integrative and inquiry approach. The Maths and Science components of the curriculum are taught in Investigate where students are encouraged to acquire and put to use their research skills and inquiry processes. Other features of the curriculum include The Rite Journey and Learning Communities. The Rite Journey is a unique educational program that involves ceremonial rites of passage and a mentoring component aimed to support the development of responsible and resilient adults. Learning Communities explores the connection between the student and his community and how they interact and connect. The Westcourt staff have developed a strong and varied elective program of Challenge and Enrichment subjects including DIY guitar, PLANeT green, Remote Control Car Challenge, Math is in the Air and Biology on the Move.

TRADE TRAINING CENTRE

Another major development has been the opening of the new Trade Training Centre. Next year will see the introduction of additional subjects including Carbon Management and Allied Health. This year a partnership between VACCHO (Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation), Wathaurong Co-operative and St Joseph’s College enabled three students to complete the Certificate II in Aboriginal Health. This course was initiated by our Koori Education Worker, Lisa Couzens and continued with the support of Susan Collins. Next year the students will undertake the Certificate III in Aboriginal Health in the Trade Training Centre.

REPORTING

Last year we introduced the Parent Access Module known as PAM. This year the system was expanded to include assessment tasks and reporting. Parents/ guardians are able to access information on assessment, attendance and homework. This system provides more immediate feedback to parents.

STUDENT ASSESSMENT DATA

During Term 3 this year students from St Joseph’s College were selected to participate in the NAPLAN Trialling test organised by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). As opposed to the actual NAPLAN testing which involves all Year 7 and 9 students only a sample of Year 9 students were chosen to take part. The purpose of the trial is to develop questions and assessments that are reliable indicators of students’ abilities. In a similar manner a sample of Year 8 students and teaching staff were selected to participate in the International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS). This program also run by ACER is part of a wide ranging investigation that involves comparative studies from over twenty countries to determine the Information and Technology skills of Year 8 students from around the world. The involvement of students from St Joseph’s in these and other similar programs is a reflection of the importance staff at St Joseph’s place on maintaining the most current and up to date knowledge of best practice use of student assessment data. Our shared vision….states we encourage one another “to strive for the highest”, to develop and use our talents and abilities, and to respect and show compassion towards others. Our curriculum allows students to find what they are best at, appreciate the talents of others and support those around them and in the greater community.

Michelle Brodrick - Director of Curriculum & Vin Brown - Director of Teaching & Learning