Providing quality education
cannot be over-stated. Education is nation forming and must be responsive to
the changing demands of our global and national context and condition.
Young people, more than
ever, need to acquire not only knowledge, but also skills of creativity and
resilience. What our young people learn and how they learn it has direct
consequence on each individual’s potential to be engaged, productive and happy
in an increasingly globalised world.
The higher the level of
education, being the measure of success of students in the “what” and “how” has
a direct impact on their potential earning capacity in their post-school lives,
and the extent they are able to take part in and contribute to the wealth and
wellbeing of a nation. State schools provide education for the majority of
Australia’s young people.
Mount Gravatt High strives
to provide a curriculum that is relevant to the ideal of “success for every
child”. At Mount Gravatt High our curriculum offerings in secondary schooling
years 7 to 12 reflects the “Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for
Young Australians” (December, 2008). The two goals are:
1. Australian schooling
promotes equity and excellence
a)
This goal provides that access to high quality
schooling, free from discrimination of any kind, is built upon broader cultural
knowledge.
b) Community partnership and
high expectations for learning outcomes, an appreciation of diversity, and
providing challenging and stimulating learning opportunities for students to
explore and build on their gifts and talents should be evident.
2. All young Australians
become:
a. Successful learners. Be active learners who
are:
a) literate and numerate and
productive users of ICTs,
b) able to think logically,
creatively and resourcefully to solve problems across a range of disciplines,
c) students are to make sense
of their world and their place in it,
d) to discover, create and
forge a pathway towards further education, training or employment,
e) make informed decisions and
be motivated to reach their potential.
b. Confident and creative
individuals.
a) have a sense of self-worth,
optimism, enterprise, values, knowledge and skills to establish and maintain
healthy and fulfilling lives,
b) be confident to pursue
further education and qualifications; prepare themselves for other life roles
and accept responsibility for their actions.
c. Active and informed
citizens.
a) act with moral integrity,
appreciate cultural diversity and understand and value indigenous cultures,
b) committed to democratic
principles, communicate across cultures and work for the common good,
c) sustaining and improving
natural and social environments as responsible global and local citizens.
Mount Gravatt High
faithfully presents both national and State curriculum authority subjects and
learning priorities in the Junior and Senior phases of secondary schooling
reflecting these goals:
• Curriculum
connected to co and extra-curricular learning in four foundation pillars; Academic,
The Arts, Sport & Community
• To
better define both relevance and meaning of what our curriculum entails,
subjects are gathered into categories of learning to ‘make sense of’ the scope
and sequence of learning from Years 7 to 12 Students have ‘core’ (required) and
‘elective’ (options) subjects offered in the following categories:
• Language and
communications
• Science, Technology,
Engineering & Mathematics (S.T.E.M)
• Creative Arts &
Industries
•
Health Sciences
• Social Science and
Enterprise
• The range
and timing of subject offerings aims to provide essential or core
learning, and
• Phasing
in of electives that allow students to self-select specializations,
choose complementary options, personalise, and pursue pathways through and
beyond schooling
• Curriculum content is
assured to include authentic learning, higher order thinking, differentiation
and creativity
Andrew Beattie
Principal