Middle School Curriculum

Year 7
Students are introduced to the formal art elements and ways to integrate the design process in the creating and making of art. Using a variety of media, students are exposed to a diverse range of techniques and develop a folio of 2D and 3D work in response to specific subject matter. An integrated appreciation programme enhances understanding of artistic styles and practices.

Year 8
Students continue to extend their understanding of the design process and ways to creatively generate and manipulate image to create specific effects. Observation skills are extended and students are encouraged to advance the visual communication of their ideas through the generation of personal concepts and the refinement of visual and technical skills using a range of media.

Year 7
This is a beginners’ course for students with little to no prior learning of Chinese language in non-Chinese speaking regions. The course introduces beginners to the essential knowledge and skills in the Chinese language, using Pinyin and approximate 100 Hanzi characters on topics taught. By the end of this course, students will have covered daily greetings, classroom instructions, dates and time, relating personal and family information, and developing an understanding of Chinese speaking communities through culturally related activities.

Year 8
This course develops students’ macro skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing in the Chinese language (Mandarin). Pinyin application will continue, with a focus on the development of Hanzi writing skills. By the end of this course, students are expected to read and write simple sentences relating to family and friends, occupations and daily routine, transportation, clothing and basic personal description. Students will further their understanding of the language and culture through culturally related activities and games.

Year 7
This course develops understanding about materials, use of technology in design and production. Students examine the social, environmental and aesthetic effects of products, generating design solutions combining traditional design skills with that of CAD (Computer Aided Design, using computers to draw and design) and CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing using computers and machinery to build the products). Students will experience working with computers, wood, metal, plastic, textiles and computer driven machinery.

Year 8
Students create their own design proposals, organise and implement the production process to a range of structured projects. Students consider the social and environmental implications of their actions whilst working in range of resistant materials. Considerable emphasis is given to the implementation of safe working practices whilst working with wood, metal, textiles, plastics, and the CNC (Computer Numerically Controlled: Machines run by computers such as the 3D printer, Laser cutter and Router).

Year 7 and Year 8

This course aims is to move beyond game-playing and improvisation into the types of activities which require greater technique and invention.

Students experience: creative movement; ensemble performance and analysis; experimentation with stereotypes; characterisation and verbal/physical expression; more complex forms of improvisation; voice control and role play. The basis for much of their improvisation and role play is their interpretation of the function of individuals within groups. They learn to observe the physical/verbal dynamic in groups more closely and use dramatic elements to express ideas and creative responses.

Years 7 and 8

In responding analytically and creatively to a selection of texts, students learn how language features, images and vocabulary are used to represent different ideas, recognising and explaining differing viewpoints about the world, cultures, individual people and issues. Students also explain the effectiveness of language choices writers use to influence their audience. Students practise the process of planning, drafting, editing and refining their compositions, taking into account the purposes of their work and the needs and interests of audiences. In doing so, they demonstrate their understanding of grammar, select vocabulary for effect and use accurate spelling and punctuation.

Year 7
This is a course for beginners which aims to enable students to communicate effectively in French by placing considerable focus on speaking and listening skills. Students develop an understanding of the language required to speak about themselves, ask questions, write short texts and describe other people.

Year 8
Students deepen their knowledge of linguistic structures and the course continues to develop students’ skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing. Content areas covered include: finding your way around town, eating and drinking, friendships, the media and pocket money. Students are expected to be able to write short passages in greater depth and expand their range of vocabulary.

Year 7
There are two units of study Water in the world and Place and liveability.
Water in the world develops students’ understanding of the concept of environment, including the ideas that the environment is the product of a variety of processes, supporting and enriching human and other life. Place and liveability examines factors that influence liveability and develops students’ ability to evaluate the liveability of their own place and investigate whether it can be improved through planning.

Year 8
There are two units of study, Landforms and landscapes and Changing nations.
Landforms and landscapes examines the processes that shape individual landforms; the values, meanings, hazards and management of these and explores the significance of landscapes to people, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
Changing nations explores the process of urbanisation and draws on an Asian study to show how urbanisation changes the economies and societies of countries. The redistribution of population resulting from internal migration is examined through case studies of Australia and China, and is contrasted with the way international migration reinforces urban concentration in Australia.

Year 7
This course is aimed at providing knowledge and skills which develop self-confidence and enjoyment from participating in physical activity. Activities covered include aquatics, athletics, movement, ball-handling skills and game strategies. Health issues covered include nutrition, growth and development, decision making, self-esteem and the benefits of an active lifestyle, changes in relationships and sexuality.

Year 8
Physical Education is aimed at providing students with the knowledge and skills required to participate in a wide variety of physical activities. A high emphasis is placed on promoting self-efficacy and the enjoyment of participating in physical activity. Activities include lifesaving, traditional and non-traditional games, orienteering and athletics. Health issues covered include human behaviour and wellbeing, self-concept, self-esteem and developing relationships, effects of drug use, nutrition, sexuality and the relationship between lifestyle and wellbeing.

Year 7
In Year 7, students develop their understanding of History through inquiry-based learning and unpack three lines of inquiry that frame their study for the semester: ‘What death teaches us about life’, ‘Out of Africa – What is a civilisation really?’ and applying their understanding of the concept of civilisation to a historical investigation into the impact and legacy of one further ancient civilisation.

Year 8

Students will investigate three thought-provoking civilisations from the end of the ancient period to the beginning of the modern period, c.650AD (CE) – 1750. Students will examine the nature of exploration in each civilisation as it leads to conflict and colonisation and go on to analyse and compare the results of encounters between the conquerors and the conquered. Students will learn to apply historical concepts and skills such as sequencing chronology, using historical sources as evidence, identifying continuity and change and analysing cause and effect. They will also explicitly develop 21st century competencies such as: critical thinking; collaboration; in-depth research and inquiry skills; innovation; and presentation skills.

Year 7
This is a beginners’ course that caters for students with minimal or no prior learning of Japanese. This course requires students to respond to and produce spoken Japanese, read and write Hiragana and some Kanji. Topics include greetings, classroom commands, personal information, family and nationalities. Assessment tasks and classwork are equally important in evaluating student performance. Students are required to extract information from a variety of listening sources and develop skills that require them to write short passages in Japanese.

Year 8

Students continue to consolidate the Hiragana script and are formally taught Katakana. Students continuing Japanese during Year 8 will be introduced to topics that extend beyond their personal world such as leisure and school activities, calendars, transport and places of interest, and they will learn a greater number of Kanji (characters derived from the Chinese writing system) and the two Japanese syllabaries, Hiragana and Katakana. It is essential that students learn to read and write using all three systems.

Students are encouraged to have a positive mindset towards Mathematics. They become good mathematicians by observing, representing and investigating patterns and relationships in social and physical phenomena. All students are required to learn, practise and apply mathematical routines and techniques and use them to find solutions to standard problems, to solve problems creatively in unfamiliar situations, and to communicate mathematics and mathematical findings in an effective manner.
Year 7
Key topics covered include index notation, geometry, measurement including area, volume and capacity, statistics, probability and algebra.

Year 8
Year 8 Mathematics classes are designed to cater for the different mathematical needs of students, with the ability for appropriate enrichment and support. Key topics covered include percentages, indices, integers and ratio, geometry, measurement covering the area of composite shapes, the circle and the volume of common prisms, statistics, probability and algebra.

Year 7 and 8
Students study the elements of music through listening, composing, improvising, music technology and consolidating skills in music literacy. Students participate in ensemble music making (for those who are already learning an instrument) or learn another instrument in a group situation. Ensemble classes offer students an opportunity to extend their skills on an instrument that they are already learning and also to build on group music making skills. Students who have no knowledge of an instrument will have group tuition on an instrument that is available. This varies from year to year depending on staffing and also availability of instruments. Students learn the basics of handling and making sounds on these instruments and progress at their own rate as competence is developed.

Years 7 and 8 

The Navigate programme aims to support students as they traverse the middle years; focusing on learning skills, personal wellbeing and what it means to belong to a community. In Year 7 Navigate, there is an emphasis on belonging – with ourselves, with each other and with the wider world. In Year 8 Navigate, there is an emphasis on developing the strengths and capabilities which will assist a successful transition to Timbertop.

Students are supported by a Learning Coach who facilitates self-directed learning experiences, as well as the identification and pursuit of goals for learning, wellbeing and growth. Each term, students will complete Student Action Plans to identify these goals and the pathways towards achieving them.

The Religious Studies curriculum at each year level is grounded in five essential areas: Philosophy of Religion, Silence and Stillness, Theoretical and Applied Ethics, the Biblical and Christian Tradition, and World Religions.

Years 7 and 8
In these two years a major commitment is made to the understanding and interpretation of sacred text, particularly the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. Through a careful study of key stories and characters, students are encouraged to develop a beginning understanding of the theology of the Judaeo-Christian tradition. Through their encounter with ancient texts, students develop skills in the analysis of language, comprehension, forms of interpretation, politico-historical understanding and the developing meaning attributed to religious texts over time. Within this context, students are reminded of the nature of ethical judgements and the structure of the arguments on which these are based. Attention is also paid to Islam, the third monotheistic faith, so that students obtain a basic understanding of the three world faiths in the Abrahamic tradition – Judaism, Christianity, Islam.

Year 7
The Science course enhances the development of the three interrelated strands of scientific inquiry skills, science as a human endeavour, and science understanding. Students are encouraged to work scientifically by collecting data accurately, manipulating and presenting data in appropriate ways, drawing conclusions and relating them to the aim of the investigation being undertaken.

Key topics areas include: Biological sciences unit (habitats and interactions, classification), Chemical sciences unit (properties of substances and mixtures) and Physical science unit (forces and machines, Earth’s resources, Earth and space science).

Year 8
Key topics areas include: Biological sciences unit (cells, living systems, growth and reproduction), Chemical sciences unit (concept of energy, units of physical and chemical change) and Physical science unit (rocks and mining).