Curriculum St Joseph’s has continued its fine history of providing excellence in education in the tradition of Edmund Rice. In many ways, our College classrooms resemble those found in many excellent secondary schools: our curriculum is broad and taught by well-trained practitioners; students use up-to-date technology to assist their learning; we ensure the safety and wellbeing of students and we maintain excellent learning spaces. What makes our classrooms unique is the very real presence of the Edmund Rice Education Australia Touchstones: Gospel Spirituality, Liberating Education, Inclusive Communities and Justice and Solidarity. The success of a St Joseph’s College education can be seen in communities near and far, universities and workplaces where compassion, innovation and integrity see many of our boys emerging as great citizens. Our students continue to experience success in both the academic and vocational pathways.This year, almost 280 senior students were enrolled in Vocational Education and Training (VET) subjects in both the VCE and the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL). Our VCAL students continued to achieve outstanding outcomes in their school-based programs, their structured workplace placements and their nationally recognized certificates. St Joseph’s acknowledges that for a number of boys, a vocational pathway suits their interests and career aspirations. In 2016, we are extending our VCAL program to commence at Year 10. For some students, we believe that this will provide more options for their final years at secondary school. This year, the College has continued to develop the Westcourt Campus. The soon to be completed Chapel will be a focus of the Catholic identity on campus. Year 9 students enjoy a challenging and rich suite of subjects that prepare them not just academically for the rigour of senior school, but also recognise their worth as young men. During the year, the campus celebrated an award winning ANZAC Day ceremony that showcased student work, displays and presentations commemorating the centenary of the Gallipoli landing. LITERACY Literacy is the means by which students can access, consume and respond to print and media texts. As students move through secondary school, the increased complexity of the texts that they encounter requires the use of sophisticated strategies in order to understand them. A review of our student data revealed that many of our students experience difficulty accessing and responding to texts because they did not have PBL meeting of the minds
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adequately developed literacy strategies. In particular, our students were less effective in writing responses than verbalizing them. This year we investigated approaches to improving the quality of student writing. In April, in conjunction with Catholic Education Melbourne, we established a Secondary Literacy Improvement Project (S.L.I.P.). The project involves working with a team of leading teachers to develop their literacy capabilities who will then impart this knowledge to their learning areas across the school. The S.L.I.P. team has participated in a number of training days. There has been considerable growth in the team’s literacy capabilities and while the training will continue for an additional two years, we look forward to implementing a number of the strategies next year. PROJECT-BASED LEARNING – INNOVATIVE LEARNING Project-Based Learning (PBL) in 2016 will be the educational approach in Year 8 with other year levels added in subsequent years. PBL is a teaching method where students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to a complex question, problem, or challenge. Based on the Victorian and Australian Curriculum Standards, PBL focuses on challenging students to investigate a real world problem connected to the curriculum. Students use 21st century skills to collaborate, investigate and communicate in order to create authentic and rigorous learning products that will be publicly presented. 40+ CLUB This year we to established a “40+ Club” for students studying a Unit 3/4 subject and who aspire to achieve 40+ study scores. Achieving high study scores, translates to a high Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) and while much is made of the ATAR in the media, we believe that many of our senior students are motivated by working with like-minded peers as well as listening to the experiences of past high achieving students. The club met over a number of lunchtimes and have heard from previous St Joseph’s high achievers. Boys across Year 11 and Year 12 attended the lunchtime sessions and were able to receive advice and strategies about the balance between work, recreation and study, successful approaches to specific subjects, life beyond Year 12 and about first year university life. Next year, the 40+ Club will continue under a new banner – “Aspire” In 2016 we will be seeking to immerse the boys in a number of experiences and opportunities. Michael Goss - Director of Curriculum & Mark Stracey - Director of Learning and Teaching
PBL RE Pilot Program
