Learning and Excellence

In line with our College vision “always striving upwards for excellence in learning…”, Learning and Excellence guide all aspects of our learning community at Sacred Heart Girls’ College.

We are a collaborative, creative, reflective and innovative learning community, that maintains our culture of excellence through continuous improvement.

Our future focused learning and teaching program offers our young women many opportunities to develop the skills, dispositions and knowledge required to be successful and engaged learners.

Our dedicated teachers seek innovative ways to bring learning to life by making real world connections. Teachers are committed to their own learning, participating regularly in a range of professional learning activities, to improve learning outcomes for all students.

Our learning environment is technologically rich. Our students are provided with a College issued laptop in Years 7 and 10. All learning spaces include interactive whiteboards to ensure digital technologies are seamlessly and purposefully integrated throughout the curriculum.

Our learning spaces encourage collaborate learning and a sense of community. Our specialised learning spaces, such as science, physical education, art, library and media are well resourced and encourage a love of learning in these areas.

Curriculum

Our curriculum focusses on the development of the whole person; spiritual, academic, social, emotional and physical. Students have opportunities to experience success in whatever form that takes. Our curriculum caters for a diverse range of student abilities and interest, including individually tailored support programs and enrichment opportunities for highly able students.

YEAR 7 -10 CURRICULUM

Our curriculum is designed so that all students experience each of the discipline based domains required by the Victorian Curriculum, as well as an engaging Religious Education program. We focus on developing the full range of interdisciplinary and physical, personal and social knowledge skills and behaviours that enable students to take initiative, to manage elements of their learning and make responsible decisions.

Students in Years 7 and 8 study a common core program, including a mixture of year and semester length units. All Year 7 students study Indonesian and either French or Italian for a semester, and then choose one of these languages to continue with in Years 8 and 9.

Our Year 9 and 10 curriculum continues to be structured around the Victorian Curriculum but recognises that students at this stage wish to explore new areas of interest, seek new learning opportunities and begin to consider future pathways. The Year 9 and 10 elective program facilitates these priorities. In Year 10 students also study a compulsory VCE Religious Education unit as part of their learning program.

Year 7	Year 8	Year 9	Year 10
Religious Education	Religious Education	Religious Education	Religious Education
English	English	English	English
Mathematics	Mathematics	Mathematics	Mathematics
Science	Science	Science	Science
Health & Physical Education	Health & Physical Education	Health & Physical Education	Health & Physical Education
History	History (semester)	History	History (semester)
Geography	Geography (semester)	Geography	Geography (semester)
Languages Indonesian and Italian or French	Languages (one of) Indonesian Italian French	Languages (continue from Year 8) Indonesian Italian French
Information Technology
Semester Based Core Subjects Art Dance Drama Music	Semester Based Core Subjects Art Dance Drama Food Technology Geography History Information Technology Music	Semester Based Electives Students choose 4 electives from across any of the following Learning Areas English Health & PE Humanities Mathematics Science STEM Technologies The Arts	Semester Based Electives Students choose 4 electives from any of the following Learning Areas English Health & PE Humanities Languages Mathematics Science Technologies The Arts

Invited students at Year 10 may apply to Early Entry into a limited number of VCE studies if they meet the prescribed criteria for acceleration.

VCE CURRICULUM

We offers a wide range of Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) studies. Senior students also have access to Vocational Educational Training (VET) courses as part of their VCE program. Religious Education is compulsory for all Year 11 and 12 students.

VCE Subject Selections

Learning Diversity and Enhancement

The Learning Support Hub creates a safe space for many students at Sacred Heart. Staff provide support to students for a variety of reasons – literacy and numeracy assistance, access to counselling services, special provisions for exams and assessments as well as general wellbeing issues. The Student Services team are always friendly and willing to assist.

Gifted & Talented

Sacred Heart recognises the importance of offering enrichment and enhancement opportunities to develop the potential of our gifted and talented students.

Differentiation in the classroom can add breadth and depth to the curriculum so that students can be challenged, further develop higher order thinking skills and explore areas of interest.

All Learning Areas offer various programs and competitions to extend and enhance the learning beyond the classroom. These may include Philosophy and Logic classes, Science Talent Search, Red Room Poetry Competition, Coding Club, Bridge Building Competition and Chess club.

Gifted and talented students are invited to be involved in activities that extend their knowledge in particular areas, gain leadership experience and work with like-minded students. Examples of these activities include: Tournament of the Minds, Australian Problem Solving Mathematical Olympiads, The Science Experience, Model United Nations Assembly (MUNA) and Constitutional Conventions.

Numeracy

Sacred Heart Girls’ College passionately facilitates our students’ affinity for working with numbers.

At Years 7 and 8, the ability for the students to work confidently with multiplication tables, decimals, fractions and directed numbers is important in underpinning their forays into algebraic manipulation and their work with measurement and probability problems.

Students are pre-tested on the key aspects of numeracy concepts and processes, and Numeracy Mentors provide one-on-one assistance where necessary to reinforce and supplement the work done by the classroom teachers. Post-testing tracks progress made by each individual student and informs the next steps required in the important journey towards mastery of essential numerical skills.

Numeracy Support then continues, in groups, during Year 9, ensuring each student enters her Senior Years at the College as a numerate young woman.

Literacy

Outdoor Learning

Our Outdoor Learning Program commences in Year 7 and builds on each program from year to year, culminating in the Year 10 Summit Camp.

It is based on an experiential learning model involving a series of sequentially linked adventure experiences where students encounter a range of situations in unfamiliar surroundings, challenging both the individual and the group as a whole.

In the classroom, Years 9, 11 and 12 students can continue to pursue outdoor and environmental learning through the Year 9 elective subject Mountains to the Sea or in VCE via Outdoor & Environmental Studies Units 1- 4.

Year Level Camps

Discovery camp

Focusing on accepting challenges and building friendships, Year 7 students experience many adventure style activities. This includes sleeping in cabins for one night and hiking to a bush campsite for the second night in a tent.

Challenge camp

The Year 8 camp, on the Mornington Peninsula’s coastline, focusses on marine environments. The three-day program includes various adventure style activities, aiming to extend the skills students acquired from their year 7 experience.

Mountain camp

Year 9 Students spend four days in the iconic Bogong High Plains area of Victoria, with its historic huts, stands of snow gums, wild brumbies, snow drifts and stunning vistas. This program increases the challenge level from students’ year 8 experience and provides greater opportunities for students to connect with themselves, their group and the environment around them.

Year 10 Summit camp

Summit camp is based in four stunning locations across the State. It is a four-day journey based camp and marks for many, the finale of their Outdoor Education experience at Sacred Heart. The focus of the Year 10 experience is on leadership, accepting challenge and community action. Students have four camp options to choose from:

• Sea kayaking
• Canoeing
• Rock climbing
• Multi activity

Discovery camp

Challenge camp

• Sea kayaking
• Canoeing
• Rock climbing
• Multi activity

Investigating Melbourne

All Year 9 students participate in a five-day Investigating Melbourne Program. This cross curricular program develops students’ knowledge and understanding of complex urban communities.

Through an enhanced understanding of its rich history and contemporary design, students learn about the contributions, developments and challenges faced by those living in our city. Students are also exposed to a variety of entertainment options and artistic endeavours available for Melbourne visitors or residents, including types of cuisine, sport, music, fine and street art, architecture and sculpture.

Students are encouraged to think creatively, maturely and empathetically throughout the experience as they become more aware of social and cultural issues pertaining to Melbourne. The students’ experience in the city and subsequent work develops their problem-solving skills and allows students to think critically about challenges faced by various groups in our capital city.

The program builds students’ navigational and team building skills and nurtures independence.

During and after the program, students complete work for numerous subjects and a group project and presentation on a set theme.

Music Program

We are proud to have a vibrant, varied music program supported by a wonderful team of industry professionals with experience teaching and performing all over the world. Every student involved in our Music Program is provided with the opportunity to foster a life-long love of music, including wide ranging opportunities including Year 7 Band Program, individual singing, instrumental music and our premiere College Orchestra.

Throughout the year our music students partake in a wide range of wonderful performance opportunities both at the College and in the broader community, experience life on the road with interstate Music Tours and develop their skills at Music Camp.

Music is an essential part of liturgical life at Sacred Heart Girls’ College - in the words of Martin Luther: "Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world."

Pathways & Careers

We believe in the provision of a holistic education to prepare students for an unknown future for careers and jobs that might not yet exist. Our emphasis is on equipping our students with the skills and disposition to become lifelong learners, in order to be work ready.

Recognising that each student is unique with their own academic ability, personality and strengths, our progressive Careers Program provides students with an insight to life beyond Sacred Heart Girls’ College, emphasising the many pathways for students to achieve their goals and ambitions.

The Pathways & Careers Program at Sacred Heart is broad and responsive to the needs of our students. Among many other aspects of Career Services it offers Morrisby Profile Testing, Work Experience, transition support to higher education, study and subject selection support and career counselling.