year 7 8 9 curriculum handbook final

UPPER SCHOOL

YEAR 7,8 & 9 CURRICULUM HANDBOOK 2014

TOOWOOMBA ANGLICAN COLLEGE

CHARACTER | INTEGRITY | ACHIEVEMENT

2 CHARACTER | INTEGRITY | ACHIEVEMENT

Contacts for Parents

School OfficePhone: 07 4639 8111Fax: 07 4639 8100Email: [email protected]: www.tacaps.com

Boarding OfficePhone: 07 4639 8122Fax: 07 4639 8123Email: [email protected]

Health CentrePhone: 07 4639 8120Fax: 07 4639 8109Email: [email protected]

3YEAR 7, 8 & 9 CURRICULUM HANDBOOK 2014

Contents

Contacts for Parents ...........................................................................................................................2

Toowoomba Anglican College Educational Philosophy ...............................................................4

Curriculum Areas .................................................................................................................................5

Christian Education .............................................................................................................................6

English .....................................................................................................................................................7

Mathematics ..........................................................................................................................................8

Science ....................................................................................................................................................9

Health and PE ......................................................................................................................................10

Humanities and Social Sciences ......................................................................................................11

The Arts – Dance, Drama, Media, Music and Visual ....................................................................12

Language Other Than English (LOTE) - French ...........................................................................13

Technology – Design and Technology ............................................................................................14

Campus Map........................................................................................................................................15


Toowoomba Anglican College Educational Philosophy

This philosophy statement is guided by the Melbourne Declaration of Educational Goals for Young Australians 2008 and underpinned by Christian values and the ethos of the Anglican Church.

We believe that children and young people are unique individuals and active learners. Through rich, engaging environments and meaningful interactions, we can build strong foundations for successful lifelong learning and skill development for the future. We believe that the best interests of the students and their right to learn and develop in a safe and nurturing environment are of primary consideration in all decision making at our school and this is visible in the interactions with students, the teaching and learning programs and extensive wider curricular offerings. As an Anglican school the Toowoomba Anglican College is a Christian School, characterised by tolerance and respect for difference. The pursuit of academic endeavour is a priority and we seek to provide an outstanding education for our students through excellence in all aspects of the school. We want our students to develop to their maximum potential and are committed to ensuring learning activities excite, engage and capture the imagination. We believe it is vital to encourage our students to develop qualities of respect for others, self discipline, leadership, self motivation and commitment. What we instill in the way of expectations, regarding behaviour, relationships and service lays foundations for their future citizenship. Our boarding life is unsurpassed in the nurture and care provided to students and we guide and support each boarder as they flourish and grow in confidence and maturity, as citizens of a global society.

We are committed to providing a holistic education for our students that encourages them to be:

• Spiritually aware• Intellectually alert• Culturally enriched• Socially responsible• Physically active • Emotionally resilient

We are committed to our students becoming successful learners, confident, innovative and creative individuals and active and informed citizens who have an understanding of sustainable practices and an environmental awareness.

We acknowledge that parents and families are the child’s primary nurturers and that respectful, collaborative relationships strengthen the capacity and efforts of both the staff and parents to support their children and promote each child’s health and wellbeing. We provide a framework that enables a sense of community to pervade all aspects of school life, and allows for the development of a learning community of students, staff and parents in positive collaboration.


Curriculum Areas

• Christian Education

• English

• Mathematics

• Science

• Health and PE

• Humanities and Social Sciences –History, Geography

• The Arts- Visual Arts, Music, Dance, Drama and Media

• Languages

• Technology – Design and Technology


Christian Education

Religious and Values Education helps students to make informed decisions about matters of personal faith and ethical behaviour and urges them to think, question, challenge, investigate and reflect in their search for spiritual meaning.

Students learn about the values of tolerance and compassion, and are encouraged to stand up for issues of social justice and to offer service to others.

As an Anglican school, we assist our students to explore Christian faith in the context of their own experiences and develop and appreciate other religious traditions. Students investigate some of the world’s many faiths so they gain an awareness of the importance of religious and ethical questions in one’s life.

Students attend a Chapel Service and Religious and Values Education class once a week.


English

Our Year 8 English program has been designed according to the Australian Curriculum. It is built around the three interrelated strands of Language, Literature and Literacy. Teaching and learning programs balance and integrate all three strands. Together the strands focus on developing students’ knowledge, understanding and skills in listening, reading, viewing, speaking, writing and creating.

Throughout the Year 8 course students create sustained and coherent written, spoken and multimodal texts in a variety of forms to explore significant ideas, report events, express opinions and respond to others’ views. They interact confidently with others in a variety of contexts and deliver presentations to report researched information, share opinions, debate issues, provide imaginative interpretations and evaluate differing perspectives. They select elements from different literary genres to create informative, imaginative and persuasive texts. In constructing texts, they take into account intended purposes, the needs and interests of audiences, selecting vocabulary and appropriate text structures and language features to clarify intended meanings and to create specific effects. They select language devices to build cohesion in texts, clearly showing connections between ideas and information.

The following aspects are included in the Year 8 English program:

Shaping Short Stories Students study a range of short stories and poetry and explore how authors and poets use a range of literary devices to reflect identity and culture. They analyse authors’ and poets’ contexts and purpose and create a story of their own.

Literature in the real world Students study a full-length novel and examine text structures and language features. They will explore themes of interpersonal relationships and ethical dilemmas represented in the novel. Students analyse the author’s purpose and justify their point of view about how the author positions the reader.

Valuing Verse Students explore a range of song lyrics and /or poetry and identify the associated techniques. They choose one and present an analysis of the ways in which the lyrics/words are used to position listeners.

The Power of Language Students explore and analyse a play, focusing on the power of language to entertain and position audiences. They then create and perform a script that demonstrates an understanding of dramatic literary conventions, using language as a means of representing character, engaging and inviting audiences to engage with thematic concerns.

Media MattersStudents analyse a range of editorials and discuss the power of language as a means of offering opinions and persuading audiences. They create an editorial of their own, demonstrating an understanding of how to use language to offer opinions. Students will also study a full-length film, examining closely the techniques used to position audiences and challenge dominant ideologies. They investigate how visual texts draw on other texts and images to enhance and layer meaning.

Grammar GurusStudents undertake an intensive grammar unit with a focus on ensuring clarity in their writing. They study short texts to understand the influence and impact that the English language has had on other languages or dialects and how English has been influenced in return. As a corollary to this, they explore the ways conventions of speech influence identities of people in a range of communities.


Mathematics

The Year 8 Mathematics program has been developed and designed according to the Australian Curriculum with a focus on Understanding, Fluency, Problem Solving and Reasoning as an integral part of Mathematics knowledge across the three content strands: Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability.

At this year level:Understanding includes describing patterns involving indices and recurring decimals, identifying commonalities between operations with algebra and arithmetic, explaining the purpose of statistical measures, and explaining measurements of perimeter and area.

Fluency includes calculating accurately with simple decimals, indices and integers, recognising equivalence of common decimals and fractions including recurring decimals, factorising and simplifying basic algebraic expressions, and evaluating perimeters, areas of common shapes and their volumes and three dimensional objects.

Problem Solving includes formulating, and modelling practical situations involving ratios, profit and loss, areas and perimeters of common shapes, and using two-way tables and Venn diagrams to calculate probabilities.

Reasoning includes justifying the result of a calculation or estimation as reasonable, deriving probability from its complement, using congruence to deduce properties of triangles, finding estimates of means and proportions of populations

Science

Our Science Curriculum has three interrelated strands:

• Science Understanding – the knowledge and understanding, or ‘what’, of Science• Science as a Human Endeavour – providing contexts for linking concepts and learning experiences that

are meaningful to students• Science Inquiry Skills – describing the skills, or ‘how’, of Science.

Together the three strands provide the students with understanding, knowledge and skills through which they can develop a scientific view of the world.

Our Science Curriculum aims to ensure that by the end of Year 8 students will:

• be able to compare physical and chemical changes and use the particle model to explain and predict the properties and behaviours of substances;

• identify different forms of energy and describe how energy transfers and transformations cause change in simple systems;

• compare processes of rock formation;• analyse the relationships between structure and function at cell, organ and body system levels;• examine the different science knowledge used in occupations and how scientists collaborate to

generate solutions to contemporary problems.

Students will identify and construct questions and problems that they can investigate scientifically. They will be expected to consider safety and ethics when planning investigations, including designing field or experimental methods. Students will identify variables to be changed, measured and controlled and construct representations of their data to reveal and analyse patterns and trends. They will use these when justifying their conclusions.

Topics to be covered throughout the year include:

• Biological Sciences – cells, microscopes, organs and systems• Chemical Sciences – particle theory, elements, compounds, chemical changes and chemical properties• Earth and Space Sciences – rocks and minerals• Physical Sciences – forms of energy, energy transformations and efficiency.


Health and Physical Education

The Health and Physical Education Program prepares students with critical reflection skills on factors that influence their perception of themselves and their capacity to be resilient. Students will propose practical actions they can take to develop a sense of control over their future, such as personal goal setting, optimistic thinking styles, early help-seeking strategies and positive self-management. Students will further develop their understanding of the physical, social, emotional and intellectual changes associated with moving through puberty and adolescence and develop effective self-management strategies to deal with these changes. Students will investigate a range of health issues relevant to young people to understand reasons for the choices people make about their health and wellbeing.

Students in Years 8 will apply more complex combinations of skills and strategies in a range of movement contexts and environments. They will develop an understanding of how connections to the natural and built environment can support health and wellbeing through participation in a range of physical activities, including contemporary activities (such as street or urban sports), outdoor recreational activities (for example lifesaving, rock climbing, orienteering) as well as more traditional cultural activities (such as traditional Indigenous games and other cultural activities), further encouraging participation, enjoyment and an appreciation of the cultural significance of a range of physical activities.


Humanities and Social Sciences

In Year 8 at Toowoomba Anglican College, the Australian Curriculum informs the content and skills of the Humanities and Social Science subject. It is combination of the traditional subjects of History and Geography, but will also include elements of Civics and Citizenship Studies and Economics and Business Studies in the future.

One semester will be mainly devoted to History and the other to Geography, although there will be natural overlaps between both disciplines and also across other curricular programs.

Both History and Geography are inquiry-centred studies, meaning that students are encouraged to investigate issues and to draw conclusions based on the evidence gained through research.

History

Year 8 History classes inquire into the era known as the Middle Ages.

The curriculum provides study of history from the end of the ancient period to the beginning of the modern period, c.650 AD (CE) – 1750.

There are three depth studies for this historical period. For each depth study, there are up to four electives that focus on a particular society, event, movement or development. It is expected that ONE elective will be studied in detail. A depth study will constitute approximately 30% of the total teaching time for the year. The content in each depth study elective is designed to allow detailed study of specific aspects of this historical period.

• The Western and Islamic World Students investigate ONE of these societies/empires from the Western or Islamic world in depth: the Vikings or Medieval Europe or the Ottoman Empire or Renaissance Italy.

• The Asia-Pacific WorldStudents investigate ONE of these Asia-Pacific societies in depth: the Angkor/Khmer Empire or Shogunate Japan or the Polynesian expansion across the Pacific. N.B. Where appropriate, this depth study may include some reference beyond the end of the period c.1750.

• Expanding contactsStudents investigate ONE of the following historical developments in depth to explore the interaction of societies in this period: the Mongol expansion or the Black Death in Africa, Asia and Europe or the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs and Incas. In Geography, students study aspects of environmental and human interactions. It is an issues-based study with a strong emphasis on developing capacity to evaluate options in order to decide on the most appropriate actions.

Geography

There are two units of study in the Year 8 curriculum for Geography: • Landforms and Landscapes • Changing Nations

The key inquiry questions for Year 8 are:• How do environmental and human processes affect the characteristics of places and environments?• How do the interconnections between places, people and environments affect the lives of people?• What are the consequences of changes to places and environments and how can these changes be managed?


The Arts – Dance, Drama, Media, Music and Visual

The Arts have the capacity to engage, inspire and enrich all the students, exciting the imagination and encouraging student to reach their creative and expressive potential. The five distinct but related Arts subjects – Dance, Drama, Media, Music and Visual - share and communicate understanding and expressions of ourselves and others.

Dance and DramaThe Dance and Drama curriculum is built around the two interrelated strands, Making and Responding. Students’ Making and Responding are informed through exploration of different perspectives of arts works with increasing depth and complexity as their study of the Arts progresses. In Year 8 students develop knowledge about dance and drama as an art form through choreography and performance. They make and respond to dance works independently with their peers, teachers and the community.

Media ArtsMedia arts is the use of communications technologies such as television, film, video, newspapers, radio, video games and the internet and mobile media to create representations of the world and tell stories. Year 8 students develop knowledge, understanding and skills to explore media arts works that inform, entertain, persuade and educate audiences. They learn that media institutions present versions of reality through process of selection and construction related to cultural beliefs and values. They reflect on their own involvement as producers and audiences and develop awareness of ethical considerations in Media Arts.

MusicMusic is exploring, performing, creating and responding to sound and silence. In Year 8 students develop knowledge, understanding and skills about music as an art form through composition, arrangement, rehearsal and performance. They make and respond to music independently, with their peers, teachers and community. Students use their musicianship to realise expressive and stylistic features of the works they perform. They record and share their music and access other people’s music using available technologies and notions.

Visual ArtsIn Visual Arts students make and respond to diverse forms of art, craft and design. Through engagement with traditional and emerging visual arts-making and critical practices students explore and communicate meanings and messages relevant to their personal worlds and other worlds they encounter. In Year 8 students develop knowledge, understanding and skills to make art works informed by their understanding of practices and viewpoints. They make and respond to visual arts works independently, with their peers, teacher and community.


Language Other Than English (LOTE) - French

The languages program at Toowoomba Anglican College aims to develop students’ language and intercultural competencies. By learning to use real language in real situations, students develop their ability to communicate meaningfully and productively. At the same time, the course incorporates cultural awareness and helps learners to know and understand the world around them. Learning a language is an important aspect of becoming both a lifelong learner and a good global citizen

In Year 8 students learn French. This is a program for both first-time learners and continuing learners. French is used extensively in class and students are encouraged to use the language as much as possible.


Technology – Design and Technology

The Technologies Curriculum aims to develop in students, the knowledge, understanding and skills they require to ensure that, individually and collaboratively, they:• are creative, innovative and enterprising when using traditional, contemporary and emerging

technologies, and understand how technologies have developed over time• effectively and responsibly select and manipulate appropriate technologies, resources, materials, data,

systems, tools and equipment when designing and creating products, services, environments and digital solutions

• critique and evaluate technologies processes to identify and create solutions to a range of problems or opportunities

• investigate, design, plan, manage, create, produce and evaluate technologies solutions• engage confidently with technologies and make informed, ethical and sustainable decisions about

technologies for preferred futures including personal health and wellbeing, recreation, everyday life, the world of work and enterprise, and the environment.

By the end of Year 8 students studying this subject will have had the opportunity to design, produce and evaluate designed solutions in the four technology contexts outlined by the Australian Curriculum:• Materials and Technologies Specialisations• Engineering Principles and Systems • Food Technology• Food and Fibre production


The Bogunda Oval

RB Smith Oval WH Jordan Oval

Tennis Courts

Queenie’s Paddock

BrewsterHouse

ArnottHouse

Founder’s House

BlighHouse

JB FairfaxLibrary of Information

Technology Centre

EPS RobertsClassroomsGatehouse

ClockTower

School Chapel

Creative Arts Centre

BassingthwaiteCentre

EG WhiteClassroomsAG Loveday

Classrooms

JVK Cornish Classrooms

Connal House

Millennium CentreIndoor basketball,

netball & volleyball

Prep Year

Webb ParkAdministration &Enrolment O�ce

W I R R A W I R R A S T R E E T

CAM

PBEL

L ST

REE

TCA

MPB

ELL

STR

EET

TM Fletcher Memorial

Pool

Head of School’s Residence

YEAR 8 CURRICULUM 2013

year 7 8 9 curriculum handbook final

Documents

anglican school

anglican church

christian school

curriculum handbook

learning programs

young people

young australians

parentsschool officephone