Middle school students at Grovedale College are involved in rich and stimulating curriculum. The curriculum is structured so that students are exposed to all learning areas. They study English, Maths, Science and Humanities for both semesters each year to enhance numeracy and literacy skills. They also study Italian language for both semesters. Year 7 and 8 students have the opportunity to take part in the ‘Sports Academy’ program or alternatively the ‘Mind, Body Leadership’ program. All other subjects are offered for a single semester, to facilitate a broad exposure to learning areas. Digital literacy is embedded into the curriculum in which students use devices as one of the many learning tools used in the classroom.
Cultural Diversity Week – Year 7
Students at this year level participate in a range of workshops and performances immersing them in different cultures. In previous performances we have had performances from Brazilian and African musicians and Indian dancers. An Aboriginal elder also worked with students to develop Dreamtime stories. The highlight of this week is the Multicultural Feast prepared by the Food Technology department and the fashion parade.
Year 7 students also work on developing picture story books which they present to local primary school students.
Medieval Day celebrations- Year 8
This complements our theoretical study of Medieval Europe, where presenters expose students to a range of topics including armour, dance, justice and medicine. Students remember this day for many years, for the Medieval dress-ups, hands on experience, banquett and observing the skills required in a Medieval battle.
Leadership Day
Leadership Day involves the Year 8 cohort and implementing workshops to a visiting Primary School. The students develop team communication skills and develop understanding of what Leadership is. This complments the Year 9 Lead Day Program.
These students are also involved in Year 8 Leadership Day, developing skills workshops in groups to teach to visiting primary school students.
Grovedale College’s curriculum focus centres around very explicit teaching and feedback. Students work with their e learning devices to organise their handouts, research, complete learning activities and communicate with their teachers. This is combined with handwritten tasks to allow for balanced skills and exam preparation for senior years. The Middle years also develops students’ knowledge of career pathways and engages them in a variety of community programs.
We have a rich program of cultural activities designed to expand on the knowledge and experiences of our students.
LEAD: Learning Through Enquiry and Academic Depth
At Year 9 our students are involved in LEAD Day. The Year 9 LEAD day program is a Grovedale College initiative that has been designed to allow students to develop their enquiry based skills, problem solving ability and depth of analysis through collaborative learning. Each term focuses on a core topic where students learn key knowledge and work towards achievement of the Victorian Curriculum Capabilities standards. These topics are chosen with the pedagogical development of the student in mind and include: Leadership and Wellbeing, Sustainability, the Geelong Region and the World of Work, and Popular Culture. As part of the study of each of these key areas students are taken regularly into the local community to engage with stakeholders and learn about our region. Small projects are completed in this subject also, where student can showcase their achievements to the whole of Year 9.
LEAD is also centred around building positive learning relationships between student and teacher. The LEAD teachers are dedicated Home Group teachers who will, along with taking LEAD will also, take their class for a timetabled subject, such as English or Mathematics. This positive relationship lays the foundations for learning in future years and assists in the guidance of career pathways.
The program runs for one day each week, and is supplemented with Focus Group which provides additional time for teachers to spend more time with their students to reinforce learning.
YEAR 9 Summit Camp
The Year 9 camp is conducted early in Term 1 in conjunction with the LEAD day program and gives the students the opportunity of working in their home groups to complete adventure based challenges. It also allows the students to continue to build on the relationships they already have with their peers as well as begin to build new ones with other students.
The philosophy of the camp is to try and challenge students both mentally and physically using these three pillars. Target (set a goal that is achievable), Stretch (set a goal that puts you outside your comfort zone) & Super Stretch (set a goal that seems impossible when you first think of it) which allows students to complete the adventure based activities at their level and achieve success.
This helps set up the year for the Year 9 students who can look back on and reflect what they achieved at camp and use this as a platform to build for a successful year in Year 9.