Middle Years Handbook
Introduction to the Middle Years Program
The Middle Years program at APC offers a guaranteed, quality online curriculum that is differentiated for each individual student’s abilities and interests. The curriculum provides students with a consistent structure to learning based on the core stages of engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration and evaluation. By differentiating process, product and content, students are immersed in deep learning which allows them to access curriculum that is suited to their individual level of knowledge and skill. Extension and enrichment opportunities are provided for students at all stages of learning across all subjects.
The Victorian Curriculum’s Creative and Critical Thinking Capability complements the college’s values of creativity, high challenge and excellence in learning and teaching. Every subject a student undertakes in the Middle Years explicitly assesses these skills with a strong emphasis on feedback. Students regularly receive timely, specific and constructive feedback in order to show mastery of skill and knowledge in each unit of study.
Group work and the immersive, student-driven nature of our curriculum promotes deep learning. Students are encouraged to look at ideas differently and make connections between ideas; they learn how to develop theories and solutions to complex problems.
The belief that technology, when used purposefully and meaningfully, can transform the learning experience of our students shines through in the nature of task design across the curriculum.
Students are given opportunities to present and exhibit work, using the iPad to create, communicate and share learning.
APC promotes reading for pleasure across the curriculum, providing whole-school reading events and activities such as the Lit Fest, teaching literacy skills and nurturing partnerships with our local library services.
Above all, we want our Middle Year students to enter their Senior Years of schooling having immersed themselves in their passions, striven for excellence and risen to every challenge.
CORE CURRICULUM
Principal’s Perspective
We offer a “high demand, high challenge” curriculum in which creativity is highly valued. This website forms part of our commitment to “a partnership of learning”.
The Middle Years Handbook is designed to give you an overview of all that we offer from Years 7–9. It offers an overview of our educational philosophy and provides a description of each subject that we offer so that you can work alongside your child in selecting subjects.
This is an important resource as each year our students get to make genuine choices about the subjects they study.
Your child will be more motivated to learn if they choose studies that they are genuinely interested in and which will lead to their preferred career pathway.
It also enables you to support them better at home if you have a clear sense of what they are studying.
Our middle years curriculum is built on our commitment to extend and challenge your child. We offer a “high demand, high challenge” curriculum in which creativity is highly valued.
This website forms part of our commitment to “a partnership of learning”.
A partnership in which parents, teachers and your child work alongside each other in order to get the best possible outcome for your child.
Steve Cook
Foundation Principal