Middle School Curriculum - Year 9

Xplore

Balwyn High School has developed an integrated and comprehensive program, in alignment with our Vision and Values, to address the needs of young adolescent learners.

Xplore is a Year 9 program that puts into practice what we know about the ways that young people learn.

Xplore connects students with each other and both their local and global communities. The program aims to ensure that young people gain the skills to build successful relationships in a whole range of contexts.

Xplore recognises that learning for adolescents is a social activity.

Xplore:

• motivates and engages students through student choice, maintaining relevance and interest
• recognises that all learning needs to be connected
• places the learner at the centre of the educational process
• promotes intrinsic motivation and an interest in study
• provides timely and rich feedback regarding student performance, achievements and ways to improve
• cultivates positive attitudes, such as feeling accepted by teachers and peers and feeling comfortable in the educational environment

Students work in the Xplore Learning Centre for six weeks each semester, split over two blocks of three weeks each.

Core and elective subjects

In 2009, Year 9 and 10 students take a common core of studies. Core subjects are compulsory. They can select from a range of elective subjects according to their interest and abilities. Detailed descriptions of core and elective courses are issued to students at the end of Year 8 and Year 9.

The subjects offered in Years 9-12 may vary to some extent from year to year, depending on the total number of students, the demand for a subject and the availability of teachers.