Year 9

The Year 9 Curriculum is designed to provide students with challenge, diversity and a greater focus on real world engagement.

With student voice and agency at its core, this curriculum was developed by a dedicated team of teachers in consultation with a student focus group. In conducting this review our team focused on our school’s vision for our students to be educated and enabled to Create the Future: their own future, their communities’ future and the global future. Our ultimate aim was to build a curriculum that would provide students with opportunities to engage in deeper learning – learning that ‘situates the learner as someone who acts upon the world, thereby transforming her or himself and the world itself’ (Fullan et al. 2018).

Our Year 9 Enrichment Program presents exciting opportunities throughout the year for students to step out of their comfort zone and explore new skills through immersive experiences off campus. Students work together to set goals, problem solve and support each other while completing a number of excursions and activities. The program is designed to upskill students’ personal and social capabilities to support them in fostering healthy relationships with their peers, which are known to result in mental, emotional, social and physical benefits. Students develop practical skills in teamwork, decision making, communication and project management.

In addition to this, students will have an elective block filled with exciting electives from the Arts, Science and Physical Education learning areas. For our academically ready students we have designed a Deep Learning program which offers increased specialisation in their preferred area. Primarily, students now have more choice!

Students will build a close working relationship with their Year 9 teaching team. This team will support students as they build strong and positive relationships with others, enhance their health and wellbeing and begin to consider their career pathway options in our interconnected global world.

Fundamentally, this unique Year 9 program is designed to ensure that our students at VUSC grow into lifelong learners and develop their capacity for critical and creative thinking and ethical, intercultural, and personal and social capabilities.

Core Subjects and Electives

The structure of the Year 9 learning program is designed to provide students with a range of learning experiences and allow students to begin to pursue areas of interest. All students study English or English as an Additional Language (EAL), Enhanced Literacy, Inquiry Learning, Mathematics, Science, Humanities and Health & Physical Education, as well as Literacy Intervention (Macquarie Literacy Program) or Literature (Deep Learning). Core subjects at Year 9 reflect the relevant the Victorian Curriculum and build upon the essential skills, knowledge and understandings that students developed in Years 7 and 8.

In Year 9, students have the opportunity to select up to four elective subjects, two per semester, and study these subjects in depth. Electives include: