During the first two years at Senior School, students embark on an important journey of self-discovery and emerging independence. A carefully designed and responsive curriculum extends the framework of the subject disciplines established in the previous two years.

As part of this journey, students are invited to choose one of the week-long City curriculum-based programs, enabling them to pursue a particular interest in Art, History, Geography or Science in the motivating ‘real life’ context of Melbourne.

The school’s commitment to the Arts is deepened in the Senior School with Year 9s able to choose from no fewer than six Fine and Applied Arts subjects: Visual Communication, Design and Technology (woodwork), Textiles, Painting, Photography and Ceramics. These subjects are supported by a well-resourced image manipulation computer laboratory and the unique House of Guilds.

Building on the technology focus in Years 6 and 8, Year 9 students continue to use their laptops, digital resources and thinking software. They benefit from the ability to interact with the school from home at any time, accessing library resources and an online learning system via the Internet.

Year 9 students are also challenged by the annual camping trip to Wollangarra, with its magnificent alpine setting in East Gippsland. The experience of living without electricity is like walking back in time, ensuring students develop valuable team skills and gain an authentic appreciation of the heritage values of the area.

Years 9 and 10 students are encouraged to draw on the values they have acquired throughout their schooling and to link up particularly with the wider community. They will deepen their understanding of sustainable living and develop a special appreciation of diversity through a range of cultural experiences—urban, rural, environmental and international—outside the physical boundaries of the school and their homes.

In Year 10, students are able to tailor their subject choices to suit individual interests. Within the core Science program, for instance, they may choose interesting options in Genetics, Photography, Meteorology, Psychology or Sports Science. In English, they may choose from a variety of options from news media to film, plays or writing. Various week-long options are offered, including an environmentally-focused camp at Anglesea or an intensive fitness program. Many Year 10 students also choose to accelerate in an extensive range of VCE subjects.

Year 10s follow a personal development program which offers relevance and practicality in their daily lives. Financial planning, mobile phone contracts, credit card management and safe driving are just some of the topics they explore. Work experience is also a key feature of Year 10 and, in addition to a week-long work placement, students are required to explore the workplace of the future and to predict possible career options.

The very real opportunities for choice which become available in these two years foster the students’ developing sense of self and help them to make an appropriate selection of subjects for the senior years.

Programs

Please click on the links below for more information about our Year 9 and 10 programs.

Year 9 City Program
United Nations Model Assembly
Fulfilling Lives
Careers Program
Politics Conference