Middle School

The middle years of schooling, that time between Years 5 - 9, is a significant period of educational, social, emotional and physical growth. It is the period between the early years, where strong foundations are laid, and the senior years, where expertise is refined and study and career pathways are identified and pursued.

In the Middle School, we believe that the needs of the young adolescent learner are best met when there is synergy between the school's organisational structure and curriculum, and the intellectual, social, physical and emotional needs of this age group. At Ballarat Clarendon College, we seek to engage in and respond to the unique needs of young adolescent learners.

In our Middle School Program our goals are to:

• shape an innovative, contemporary curriculum based on the needs of students
• nurture, through the support of each student's Learning Mentor, high aspirations, deep engagement and ambitious capability
• differentiate instruction and student grouping to meet the needs of diverse learners
• optimise the progress of every student in every learning context
• develop students' capacity to demonstrate leadership and to encourage them to voice their reasoned opinions in relation to local, national and international issues
• create a safe learning environment where social, emotional and psychological needs can be supported through a pastoral care system.

In the Middle School, we are committed to ensuring congruence across curriculum, instruction and assessment; to ensuring that curriculum, instruction and assessment fly in formation to maximise the learning opportunities for the students in our care.

What does all that mean?

In the Middle School at Ballarat Clarendon College, teachers teach in ways that ensure all students make optimum progress against the learning continua in each curriculum area. It means that teachers in Year 5 through to Year 9 have the professional knowledge and an extensive repertoire of skills and strategies to ensure learning happens.

It means that the curriculum experience is a coherent one for students - what students do at school should make sense. Their learning must be organised so they become increasingly aware of the connections between subjects, and between those subjects and their world. The students in Years 5 - 9 need to see the learning that takes place as a whole, a coherent whole.

It means that in our Middle School, students are taught to use tools to enable them to take responsibility for their learning and to make connections between prior and new knowledge.

It means that all teachers have high expectations for every student in the Middle School.