Curriculum

CURRICULUM IN JUNIOR SECONDARY

In Year 7 and 8, all students study the same subjects within all Learning Areas. Their timetable consists of lessons in English, Maths, Science, Humanities, HPE, Arts, Languages and Technology with different amounts of time allocated to each Learning Area. This information is specified below in the Subject Descriptions for each year level.

There are two key junctures for students to select subjects while in the junior secondary years:

• For the start of Year 9 – During Term 3, all Year 8 students complete a Subject Selection Form to indicate their preferred elective subjects for Year 9.
• For the start of Year 10 – During Term 3, all Year 9 students complete a personalised Junior Education Transition (JET) Plan to indicate their preferred subjects from the Core Subject Selection and the Elective Subject Selection

How to choose your subjects

While students are in Year 7, 8 and 9, it is important that students consider:

• areas that are of interest
• keeping their options open and having an 'exploratory' mindset
• subject prerequisites, if specified in the subject descriptions
• possible career pathways, including subjects that may prepare them for future pathways

When students have an opportunity to choose their subjects, students should not choose a subject based on:

• friends taking it
• the teacher who has taken it in the past
• the possibility of an excursion
• they've heard it's easy
• they have heard they need to do it even though you hate it and haven't passed it previously​

CURRICULUM IN SENIOR SECONDARY

In Year 10, all students complete a Senior Education and Transition (SET) Plan. The SET Plan is the state-wide process for current Year 10 students to review their course of study to ensure that they are on the best pathway for their final two years of senior schooling, leading to attainment of the Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) and successful transition to post schooling pathways. Any subject changes for Year 11 are encouraged to be made during the SET planning process as subject changes will be limited once Year 11 has begun due to the restrictions in patterns of study across year 11 and 12.

At Shailer Park State High School, our Year 11 & 12 students are further supported on their Learning Journey (see page 5) through our annual Education and Career Planning (ECP) Day and our Subject Handbook. This annual event and this Subject Handbook are designed to:

·       broaden student knowledge about the various subjects on offer

·       explain pathways for senior secondary students to prepare for post schooling education and employment

·       provide requirements for obtaining a QCE (Queensland Certificate of Education)

·       provide requirements for obtaining an ATAR (Australia Tertiary Admission Rank).

YEAR 11 & 12 – CURRICULUM INFORMATION

Year 11 & 12 is an exciting time for senior secondary students. They can choose what to study from a wide range of subjects and courses that count towards their Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE). The QCE is Queensland's internationally recognised senior schooling qualification. Achieving one is a sign of academic and personal success. The QCE is flexible and allows students to design the pathway that's right for them — whether that's heading to university, skilled work, TAFE or other training. This approach supports engagement in learning and helps students to develop skills for success in the future. To achieve a QCE, students must complete the set amount of learning, at the set standard, in the set pattern, and meet literacy and numeracy requirements. A student will be awarded a QCE when they meet all these requirements. This usually occurs at the end of Year 12. Students who haven't achieved a QCE by then can continue to work towards one after they leave school.

In Year 11 and 12, all subjects are written and assessed by the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA). The QCAA develops the following senior syllabuses in Queensland:

• General and General (Extension)
• Applied and Applied (Essential)
• Short Courses​​​
  

You can find the list of 97 senior subjects on the QCAA website.

All senior syllabuses from the QCAA (subjects in Year 11 &12) are underpinned by:

• Literacy - the set of knowledge and skills about language and texts essential for understanding and conveying content
• Numeracy - the knowledge, skills, behaviours and dispositions that students need to use mathematics in a wide range of situations, to recognise and understand the role of mathematics in the world, and to develop the dispositions and capacities to use mathematical knowledge and skills purposefully.​​​