Years 8-10

The curriculum structure for Years 8 to 10 at Pioneer State High School has been developed in order to encourage students to acquire a breadth of learning experiences, as a foundation from which future career options may be explored.  The curriculum is structured in such a way that is described as a unitised curriculum.  This unitised curriculum is designed to allow students to plan a course of study that suits their particular needs, interests and abilities. 

Our unitised curriculum allows students to work at different levels within the eight Key Learning Areas - English, Maths, Science, Study of Society and Environment, Languages Other Than English, Health and Physical Education, Technology and the Arts.  Students can move through the curriculum at their own pace.

To enable this to happen, all subjects have organised their Junior courses of study into semester length units.  Each of these units is set at a specified level of difficulty (for example, Year 8, known as Level 1, Year 9 known as Level 2 etc.).  Students plan their three year course of study by building up sequences of these units within each Key Learning Area.  It is therefore quite likely that class groups will consist of students from different years and different ages, except for Semester 1, Year 8.  Classes are no longer bound by age groupings.

Our organisational structure is designed to provide flexibility and to cater for the full range of student abilities.  It is expected that the majority of students will progress through their Junior schooling (ie. Years 8, 9 and 10) at about the same rate.  The average student will study mainly Level 2 units during the second year of high school, and mostly Level Three units in the third year.  However, high ability students have the opportunity of rapid advancement and lower achievers have the opportunity to master important learning before progressing to more advanced work.

The curriculum has the following features:

·   An opportunity for a wider variety of choice to assist students to better prepare themselves for Years 11 and 12;

·   Bridging courses in Semester 2, Year 10 where students will have an opportunity to enrol in introductory Senior subjects, for example, Introduction to Accounting;

·   Students will be able to work at their own rate, level of ability and maturity, allowing for extension and learning support;

·   It will enable students to experience success (as shorter term objectives are more easily attainable);

·   Students will be allowed to choose courses appropriate to their needs, interests and abilities;

·   Students have the opportunity to master skills / processes before moving to a higher level, by being able to study another unit at the same level;

·   Each unit will contain specific information and communication technology skills;

·   Units will contain embedded higher order thinking skills.

COURSE ORGANISATION

Subjects are listed under the Key Learning Areas.  (The Key Learning Areas are the curriculum areas described in the National Curriculum Frameworks which have been developed to provide a more consistent approach to curriculum across Australia for the compulsory years of schooling P-10).

  1. Subjects are divided into semester length units of study.  Each unit has four (4) contact sessions per 9 day cycle, apart from two units in Semester 1, Year 8 – Arts Foundation and English / SOSE which will be studied for six (6) sessions per 9 day cycle. 

2.  Upon entry from Year 7, students will engage in a common program for their first semester.  In Semester 1, all Year 8s will study

·    A combined English / Social Science unit

·    Science

·    Mathematics

·    Health and Physical Education

·    An integrated Arts unit

·    Japanese

·    Computing

·    Either Home Economics or Manual Arts

In Semester 2, all Year 8s will study:

·    An Arts unit – from a choice of Art, Music, Drama or Dance

·    Japanese

·    Either the Home Economics or Manual Arts unit not studied in Semester 1

·    6 other units of choice.

 CHOOSING UNITS

When choosing units the following points should be considered:

·  Sometimes a career will dictate your choice of curriculum units, especially in Years 11 and 12.  Care is needed because some Senior subjects strongly recommend that certain units are studied as prerequisites.  Please refer to the table on Page 5.

·  It is important that you choose units on the basis of interest and ability.

·  After the completion of Semester 1, Year 8, students will choose 9 units per semester until the end of Year 10.

·  To meet systemic requirements and to ensure that students undertake a balanced course of study, students must incorporate the number of units, as listed in the table over the page, in their 3 year study plan.

The minimum number of units to be studied including Semester 1, Year 8, is outlined in the table below:

 In addition, a number of cross-disciplinary integrated units will be offered from which students are encouraged to choose.

Unit outlines are detailed under the relevant Key Learning Areas, and diagrams are provided to illustrate the optional pathways through each subject.

Requirements given are MINIMUM and it is important to note that if students wish to study a subject in Year 11 and 12, it is recommended that more units than the minimum required be studied.  This allows for more depth of content, skill and process to be covered.

This CD has been created to assist each student to choose a course of study which will provide a sound and balanced education, whilst, at the same time, catering for their individual interests and abilities.

CODES

Each unit is identified by a unit code consisting of an initial three letters to indicate the subject area.  The first of the three numbers that follows indicates the level of difficulty, for example, ENG102 is a Level 1  English unit, while HEC302 is a Level Three Home Economics unit.  The second number denotes the type of unit eg. ‘0’ represents a standard unit, ‘4’ is a remedial unit, ‘6’ is a project unit and ‘8’ represents an extension unit.

COURSE PLANS

Course plans for the current semester and the following semester  will usually be formulated on enrolment at the school, and reviewed each semester.  Plans will be endorsed by the student, a parent and a Care Teacher, and copies will be held by the student and the school.  It must be emphasised that parents and students decide courses;  the role of the Care Teacher is to ensure that the units chosen comply with the school rules or unit combinations.  If  parents and students wish to ensure that their course plans lead to a particular career, they should make an appointment with a Guidance Officer.  Classroom teachers will issue a progress report at the end of each term.  If this report indicates a change of course plan, arrangements should be made to see a Care Teacher.

Subject enrolments may be changed, even though the semester has commenced, as long as the change is made within the first two weeks of the semester.  Parents can initiate such changes by making a request to see one of the Guidance Officers.

SELECTING SUBJECTS FOR EACH SEMESTER

Having planned your course, you will have to submit a subject selection form each semester, listing the units you would like to study for the semester.  You will be asked for other preferences or second choices, because units will only go ahead if there are enough students wanting to study them.

PLEASE NOTE

It may be necessary at times to change offerings, depending on the availability of staff, resources and student interest.

Senior Subjects and their Junior School Pre-requisites

Certain Senior Studies Authority subjects recommend Junior School unit studies as prerequisites.  The table below lists the Senior Authority subjects and Authority Registered subjects offered at Pioneer State High School, together with the Junior School Units in which students are strongly recommended to enrol.