Year 9 & 10 Handbook

In Year 8, all students followed a fixed academic program which allowed them to experience a wide variety of subjects.  In Year 9 and 10, students select two subjects from the Elective subjects on offer, to supplement the Core subjects that they all will be studying.

This handbook has been prepared to assist you in this decision-making process.  Please read the contents of this handbook thoroughly, seek as much advice as you can from our teachers.

In making your choice of Elective subjects you should consider the following:

⮚      INTEREST - What you like, or are interested in studying

⮚      SUCCESS - What will you be best at

It is important that you consider your performance and efforts in the Year 8 subjects you have completed this year.  The academic results and subject teacher’s comments on your College Academic Reports should be used as a guide to help you determine your subject choices for Years 9.

At this early stage in your secondary education, you should not be too concerned with prerequisite subjects for tertiary course entrance, as this over-emphasis on selection for a proposed career choice made now, could lead to a poor decision for the future.  Many career-orientated courses in Years 11 and 12 can be chosen irrespective of the elective subjects studied previously.  It is only in some cases, that certain senior subjects require pre-requisite study and a list of these subjects is provided in this handbook.

In conclusion, it is important that students and parents consider the following advice on choosing subjects:

There should be a balance in the type of Elective subjects chosen e.g. cultural and practical.

There is an opportunity for students to pursue their special interests or develop talents which they have e.g. Art, Drama, or to speak and write a foreign language fluently.

Choose Elective subjects that you know you will enjoy completing and can be successful at.

When choosing your Elective subjects for Year 9 do not let your choice of subjects be influenced by:

⮚      Being told that a subject is easy.  What is easy for some students may be quite difficult for others.  A subject which is too easy for you may very soon become boring!

⮚      Hearing that there is no homework in that subject.  Beware this advice is misleading.  Practical oriented subjects may not have regular homework, but assessment items throughout the semester will be due.

⮚      Which teacher is taking the subject this year. There is no certainty that the same teacher will teach the subject next year.  Many schools have significant re-allocations of staff each year.

Core Subjects

All students in Years 9 and 10 will complete all these subjects.

⮚      Religious Education

⮚      English

⮚  Mathematics

⮚      Science

⮚      Humanities

⮚      Health and Physical Education

In Year 10, students will be placed into the appropriate level of English and Mathematics using evidence from NAPLAN, PAT-R, PAT-M and their previous results.

Elective Subjects

All students will initially choose three subjects from the group below. This information will then be used to formulate the lines for the Elective subjects. All students will then be able to choose two electives from the lines.

⮚      Visual Arts

⮚      Media Arts 

⮚      Business Education

⮚      Drama

⮚      Graphics

⮚      Food Technology

⮚      Digital Technology

⮚      Italian

⮚      Design and Technology 

⮚      Dance

 It is important to note that Elective subjects will be arranged in groups or “lines” to allow timetabling.  Students will be able to select only one subject from each line. 

Lines will be drawn to:

⮚      Allow students to choose an educationally sound and well-balanced course of academic and practically oriented subjects

⮚    Cater for a range of student interests and needs

⮚    Disadvantage as few students as possible.

‘Lines’ will be drawn up after student subject requests are submitted.

⮚      Due to safety and legal requirements, some classes are limited in size e.g.  Design and Technology, Food Technology

Should the number of students wanting to complete a subject exceed the capacity of College facilities, the Deputy Principal in consultation with teachers of the subject areas will reserve the right to admit students to these Elective subjects in accordance with student needs and interest displayed in the subject during Year 8.

Similarly, if insufficient students nominate to take a subject, the subject may not proceed.

Student selections will be confirmed in Term 4.

In selecting your Elective subjects, you may need to consider whether you will be eligible to enrol in the senior level of studies of the course. As all students will be completing a wide range of core subjects in Years 9 and 10, many of you will not need to consider pre-requisite studies as they will be covered by your core subjects.

Students, who may have an idea of wishing to proceed to tertiary institutions, will need to peruse this checklist to understand the process of subject selection for Senior Pre-Tertiary subjects.

Summary of Year 11 & 12 Subjects and Subject Prerequisites and Recommendations

7 English

All Year 7 students

4 lessons/week

Note: in Years 7, 8 and 9, all students are involved in an additional reading program for 1 period per week to support reading and literacy development

7 Literacy Support (Language)

This is for students who have been identified as requiring additional support. This group is formed using data from

PAT-R testing, NAPLAN testing if available and previous reports.

Support includes a tailored Accelerated Literacy program

Replaces study of an additional language (Italian) for 3 periods/week

Taken in addition to 5 core English lessons

Students are able to continue Language in year 8

8 English

All Year 8 students

4 lessons/week

Note: in Years 7, 8 and 9, all students are involved in an additional reading program for 1 period/week to support reading and literacy development

8 Literacy Support (Language)

This is for students who have been identified as requiring additional support. This group is formed using data from

PAT-R and NAPLAN testing and Year 7 results

Support includes a tailored Literacy program

Replaces study of an additional language (Italian) for 3 periods/week

Taken in addition to 5 core English lessons

Students can continue literacy support in 9HLI Humanities/Literacy

9 English

4 lessons/week

Note: in Years 7, 8 and 9, all students are involved in an additional reading program for 1 period/week to support reading and literacy development

9 Humanities/Literacy Humanities

4 lessons/week

For students who have been identified as requiring additional literacy support using data from PAT-R, NAPLAN testing and previous report card results.

9HLI replaces the standard Humanities course with literacy development as the central focus. This literacy based class is in addition to literacy development in English.

10 English

Preparation for General English

5 lessons

Preparation for General English in senior

For students who achieve a C range result or better in Year 9 English

Leads directly to General English in senior (providing student maintains minimum C range results)

Progression through Junior Mathematics

7 Mathematics

All Year 7 students

Support (Learning Assistant)

Possibility of modified program and assessment

8 Mathematics

All Year 8 students

Support (Learning Assistant)

Possibility of modified program and assessment

9 Mathematics

All Year 9 students

Support (Learning Assistant)

Possibility of modified program and assessment

10 Mathematics

All Year 10 students, based on results, are placed in either:

 10 PMM -  Preparation for Mathematical Methods

10 PGM -  Preparation for General Mathematics

10 PEM -  Preparation for Essential Mathematics

Movements between classes are possible during the year as required.

As Years 9 and 10 subjects provide the building blocks for a successful senior secondary education, it is important that all students cultivate a more positive approach to these two years of schooling.

The successful student:

⮚      Gains rewards from self-set goals

⮚      Is an active learner and has commitment to his/her course of study

⮚      Accepts responsibility for both successes and failures

⮚      Accepts the challenge to overcome difficulties

To be a successful student you need to cultivate good study habits.  You should consider the following hints for more effective study.

⮚      Formulate a homework and study plan.  It is recommended that students at this level should allocate 1 – 1½ hours per night to complete set homework, assignment preparation and study revision.

⮚      Keep up to date in your College Student Diary with deadlines for all assessment items.

⮚      Keep a balance between school and leisure/sporting team commitments and in some cases, part-time work.

⮚      Regular physical exercise keeps you fit and helps to release tension.

⮚      Make a list of things to do and indicate priorities.

⮚      Ask for help from your teachers, parents and friends.

⮚      Have a set-aside place for study with desk, comfortable chair and good lighting, where you can work without interruption from the television, family meals or other members of the family.

⮚      Parents are encouraged to read the fortnightly College Newsletters and keep up to date with Subject Assessment Due Dates and Examination Schedules.

 ⮚      Parents are required to check the College Student Diary weekly for regular subject teacher’s communication regarding your child’s progress in class and to monitor homework and assessment requirements.

 ⮚      Parents are encouraged to help their children with their language development.  Suggestion:

Ø  By checking homework diaries for instructions parents can help children improve their organisational skills.

Ø  Encourage neatness and thoroughness in all tasks through praise not criticism.

Ø  Help children improve their spelling and punctuation by proof-reading their rough draft work.

Religious Education at Gilroy Santa Maria College is an important area of human culture and thus worthy of study in its own right.  Growth in faith can be nurtured by classroom teaching of Religion and is enhanced by a supportive home, school and church environment.  Religious Education presents faithfully, and with integrity, the richness of the Catholic tradition and respectfully presents other faith traditions.

The classroom teaching of religion enables students to explore ways in which religion, and especially the Catholic tradition is related to their own lives and to the society and world in which they live.

 Religious Education is a key learning area.

 Pre-requisites:

Students and parents must be willing to accept the Catholic ethos and positively support the right of the College to educate in faith. 

Course Outline Junior Religion:

 Year 9 

• What's the Meaning of This?
• The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
• Exploring Faith Traditions
• Healing the Heart
• Priest, Prophet and King
• I Pray, You Pray, We Pray

Year 10

• Social Justice
• Human Dignity
• Keeping the Peace
• Peace Promotion

 Assessment:

Assessment will occur throughout the unit of work.  It will be in the form of the work (in-class assignments, class work, reflections, etc.) which will be completed in their folders and notebooks. 

In Year 10 students will be enrolled in the QCAA course, Religion and Ethics. They will complete four assessment tasks covering a project, extended response, and investigation. All assessments will occur in class time. At the satisfactory completion of this course students will obtain two (2) units points towards their QCE. Students will complete this course in Year 11. 

Course Outlines:

The Years 9 and 10 English courses are designed to meet the requirements of the Australian Curriculum and are built around the three interrelated strands of language, literature, and literacy. Together, the strands focus on developing students' knowledge, understanding and skills in listening, reading, viewing, speaking, writing and creating. The course provides students with opportunities to engage with a variety of texts. These include various types of media texts, film, fiction, poetry, and multimodal texts, with themes and issues involving levels of abstraction, higher order reasoning and intertextual references. 

Students will also engage with literary texts that support and extend them as independent readers. Such texts are drawn from a range of genres and involve complex and challenging structures that may serve multiple purposes. These texts explore several themes, including that of human experience and cultural significance. The texts represent: a variety of perspectives, a synthesis of technical and abstract information, and more complex text structures and language features that include a high proportion of unfamiliar and technical vocabulary, figurative and rhetorical language, and dense information supported by various types of graphics presented in visual form. 

Students will create a range of imaginative, informative and persuasive types of texts including narratives, procedures, performances, reports, discussions, literary analyses, transformations of texts and reviews.

In Semester 2 of Year 10, the QCAA Short Course in Literacy is run as a preparation for English Essential in senior secondary. 

Assessment:

In assessments students are provided with opportunities to comprehend, create and respond to a range of imaginative, analytical and persuasive texts. Assessments will take the form of:

 Ø    extended responses, and/or 

Ø    examinations.

All assessment items are fully explained by the classroom teacher and are detailed on the task sheet. All tasks are assessed against common criteria.  

Homework:

Students are expected to complete homework daily to consolidate classroom learning and develop good study habits. It is expected that students engage in:

 Ø    daily reading

Ø    revision of knowledge, skills and concepts in order to reinforce and consolidate classwork

Ø    drafting and finalising assignment tasks.

How can you support your child in the study of this subject?

Ø    Help your child to create regular routines and study habits.

Ø    Ensuring your child has a quiet space free from distractions.

Ø    Encouraging regular reading of a variety of texts, as well as actively developing more

sophisticated vocabulary.

Ø    Encouraging regular writing will help improve their communication skills, clarity of ideas

and words, and critical and creative thinking skills.

Ø    Talk to your child about their texts – ask questions and share opinions.

Ø    Help your child develop independent learning skills.

Mathematics is an integral part of a general education. In all its aspects, Mathematics is valuable to people by providing important skills which can be used at the personal, civic, professional and vocational level.

Course Outlines: 

Year 9

In Year 9, the Mathematics classes are grouped to cater for the diversity of mathematical ability within the cohort. All Year 9 Mathematics classes will follow the Australian Curriculum that builds on previously learned skills.

It is important that students make a serious attempt at studying Mathematics in Year 9. Results will determine the Mathematics course studied in Year 10 and, therefore, Year 11 and 12.

Year 10

The Year 10 Mathematics course follows the Australian Curriculum program, although students are placed in classes, based on results, that will best prepare them for their perceived Senior Maths pathway. Students will complete Preparation for Mathematical Methods, Preparation for General Mathematics or Preparation for Essential Mathematics. There may be movement of students between classes across the year to find the best subject for their ability. In Semester 2, students studying Preparation for Essential Mathematics may complete the QCAA Short Course in Numeracy.

To complete Mathematical Methods and/or Specialist Mathematics in Senior, (which are prerequisites for some University courses), students will need to achieve a B or better in the Preparation for Mathematical Methods course in Year 10.

Assessment:

Students will be assessed in the following criteria:

Ø    Understanding and Fluency

Ø    Problem Solving and Reasoning

Assessment items each semester include:

Ø    Supervised Tests - 1 per term.

Ø    Problem Solving & Modelling Tasks (PSMTs) – 1 or 2 per year

Homework:

Homework will be given each lesson to consolidate and reinforce concepts learned in class. It should range from 20 to 30 minutes of work on average per day.

Additional Information:

Every opportunity is given to all students to make the most of their Mathematics studies. Teachers are willing to help students outside of class time at the tutoring sessions so that students are properly grounded in the skills required for Senior Mathematics.

Students (and parents) who are concerned about Mathematics results should approach the classroom teacher, the Mathematics HOD or College Administration to discuss.

Humans are innately curious about their world.  As they encounter phenomena of the universe, they search for meaning in their experiences.  Science, as a ‘way of knowing’, is one framework people use to make sense of these experiences.

Course Outline: 

Within the Science course there are three strands and each strand is further divided into substrands:

 Science Understanding: 

⮚     Biological Sciences

⮚     Chemical Sciences

⮚     Physical Sciences

⮚     Earth and Space Sciences

 Science as a Human Endeavour:

⮚     Nature and Development of Science

⮚     Use and Influence of Science

 Science Inquiry Skills:

 ⮚     Questioning and Predicting

⮚     Planning and Conducting

⮚     Processing and Analysing Data and Information

⮚     Evaluating

⮚     Communicating

 Term Year 9

1      Inside the Atom, Everyday Reactions

2                 Light and Sound, Electrical Energy, Using Electricity

3                Dynamic Earth, Living with Microbes, Body Balance

4                 Ecosystems and Biospheres

Term Year 10

1      Inheritance, Evolution

2      Investigating and Explaining Reactions, Periodic Table

3      Road and Space Science

4      Revision of terms 1-3 topics in preparation for exam

Assessment:

 ⮚     Exams

⮚     Assignments

⮚     Laboratory Practicals

Homework:

 ⮚     Follow-up to classroom work

⮚     Occasional independent research 

Ø Encourage neatness and thoroughness

in all tasks through praise not criticism.

Ø Help children improve their spelling

and punctuation by proof-reading their rough draft work.

As part of the Australian Curriculum the study of History is compulsory in Years 9 and 10. The aim of this course is to provide all students with a knowledge and understanding of:

• Past events which have influenced their lives
• A knowledge of their surroundings (home, state, national and international)
• The political system of Australia and how it works

Students also undertake studies in Geography, Economics and Business. 

It is anticipated that after completing a two-year study of this course students will be more informed citizens and be able to take their place in society as aware and discerning adults. Humanities and Social Science will provide students with skills for living in the twenty-first century.

Course Outline

Year 9

HISTORY:

• Making a Nation – Australia (1750 –1918) - from Colonisation to Nationhood

• World War I (1914-1918)     

GEOGRAPHY

• Geographies of Interconnection - Sustainable Tourism 

ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS: 

• Accounting Practises and Principles
• Australia and the Global Economy
• Innovation and Competition in Business

Year 10

HISTORY:

• World War II (1939-1945)

• Rights and Freedoms    

GEOGRAPHY

• Environmental change and management

ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS: 

• Business and Accounting Practises
• Measuring Economic Performance

Assessment

Each semester students will be required to complete a combination of the following tasks:

• A research/investigative task
• Response to Stimulus Test
• In class activities 

Homework

Students will be required to complete regular class and research work.

Additional Information

It is planned that students will obtain much of the information required for this course through library and computer technology such as:

• Databases
• Online Resources
• Textbooks and other library resources 

Health and Physical Education is organised into two content strands: personal, social and community health and movement and physical activity. Each strand contains content descriptions which are organised under three sub-strands.

Yr 9 and 10, Health and Physical Education includes both practical and theory components within this subject area. Topics covered in theory may include personal and community safety, energy systems and training programs, sustainable community health and wellbeing, cultural awareness and understanding and social responsibilities and relationships. Practical activities may include; invasion games and sports, net and court games,  challenge and adventure activities and traditional games.

Unit Overview

Assessment

Students are involved in various learning experiences either within the classroom or by participating in practical activities using the facilities provided. The health and physical education emphasis is on learning about, through and with physical activity.

The practical elements included in the course are assessed according to personal performance against standards.

Students will be assessed in all theory areas in a variety of tasks, including exams, practical skills observation, multimodal assignments and research reports.

Homework

Worksheets and assignment work for theory components. Students are also encouraged to practice practical skills at home to consolidate what is being taught and developed at school. Parents may also assist by encouraging children to participate in sporting teams. Study for theory tests is also required. 

Using a range of technologies including a variety of graphical representation techniques to
communicate, students generate and represent original ideas and production plans in 2-
dimensional and 3-dimensional representations. These techniques will be specific to the
technologies context and may include scale, perspective, orthogonal and production
drawings with sectional and exploded views. Students produce rendered, illustrated views
for marketing and use graphic visualisation software to produce dynamic views of design
ideas and designed solutions.

Students with aspirations to tertiary careers in Architecture, Engineering, Surveying and Graphic Design, and students with an interest in trade subjects or even practical construction, whether as a career or merely a hobby, would benefit from studying Graphics. The course uses AUTOCAD, INVENTOR and REVIT and Adobe Photoshop so the students can gain the necessary computer skills need for employment.

Pre-requisites

An interest in drawing is essential.

Course Outline

The course aims to develop an awareness of the importance of graphical communication and a knowledge and understanding of fundamentals in the following areas:

• Drawing equipment and aids;
• Plane geometrical drawing and construction;
• Systems of orthographic projection, both geometrical and technical;
• Pictorial drawing – including perspective;
• Diagrams and charts;
• Developments of patterns and templates;
• Presentational graphics including linework standards, freehand sketching and
• rendering;
• An introduction to computer assisted drafting across the areas indicated above;
• Design processes and understanding; 
• Graphic Design.

Homework

Homework is an integral part of the course.  It may be given on a weekly basis and is assessed. 

Assessment

Each area of work is assessed upon its completion, either by a folio of drawings, short response test or a combination of both.  A compilation of these assessment tasks, homework and assignments makes up the semester grade.

 The students work will be assessed in the following criteria:

• Technologies and society
• Generating and designing
• Producing and implementing
• Evaluating

Tests are assessed only in the Knowledge and Understanding criteria of the course.  All homework and assignments are assessed in all criteria.

Equipment

Some basic equipment must be purchased.  This includes a 12GB USB, range of pencils, an eraser, V liner pens and coloured pencils for rendering.

Learning in Digital Technologies focuses on applying computational thinking by defining and
decomposing real-world problems, creating user experiences, designing and
modifying algorithms, and implementing them, including in an object-oriented programming
language. Students use techniques, including interviewing stakeholders to develop user
stories, to increase the precision of their problem definitions and solution specifications.
They verify their solutions solve the problem by validating their algorithms, represented
as flowcharts and pseudocode, and using test cases to confirm the correctness of their
solutions. Students develop their object-oriented programming skills, and apply them to
develop, modify and debug programs. They explain the importance of abstraction by
representing online documents in terms of content, structure and presentation, as well as
exploring simple data compression techniques and comparing their effectiveness.

Students will have opportunities to analyse problems and design, implement and evaluate a range of digital solutions, such as database-driven websites and artificial intelligence engines and simulations.

Students explore how bias can impact the results and value of data collection methods and they use structured data to analyse, visualise, model and evaluate objects and events.

They learn how to develop multilevel abstractions, identify standard elements such as searching and sorting in algorithms, and explore the trade-offs between the simplicity of a model and the faithfulness of its representation. 

Course Outline 

Year 9

• Data construction and manipulation
• Programming (Game Development)
• Digital Image Manipulation
• Mobile App development

Year 10 

• Robotics
• Graphic design 
• Animation
• Web design & development

 Assessment

Students are involved in a variety of assessment techniques with an emphasis on producing products that can be published globally. This includes creation of blogs, formal exams, production of mobile apps, development of graphic design folios and construction and management of websites. 

Homework

Homework is given as required to ensure the principles being explored are understood.

Year 9

Engineering & Construction Technology 

Students use design and technologies knowledge and understanding, processes and production skills and design thinking to produce designed solutions to identified needs or opportunities of relevance to individuals and regional and global communities. Students work independently and collaboratively. Problem-solving activities acknowledge the complexities of contemporary life. 

Course Outline

The course enables students to gain knowledge and skills in:

• Safety in workshops and industrial environments
• The nature of materials (mostly woods, metals and plastics)
• Techniques for manipulating these materials using hand tools and machines including Computer Numerically Controlled machines. (CNC)
• Good technology practice
• To present graphical responses to design challenges

A hands-on approach is used in the making of artefacts which are designed to develop the skills previously outlined.

Assessment

Assessment is determined using learning outcomes based on the student’s level of competence in the tasks and associated technology involved in making each project, including:

• Evaluation of those designs
• Workshop techniques

Year 10

MSM20216 Certificate II in Manufacturing Technology

RTO code: 30033

The aim of this course is to provide the applicant with the best practical skills to improve manufacturing technology performance. It helps the applicant to use the right tools to work smarter and not harder.

This qualification provides a mixture of introductory and more advanced skills in manufacturing technology. The qualification packaging has been developed on an assumption that competency will be developed through a combination of off-the-job learning strategies. This qualification provides the skills needed to improve efficiency in a person’s own work role or the efficiency of a team or work area.

The MSM20216 Certificate II in Manufacturing Technology applies to a learning and assessment environment where access to normal production operations is not available. A typical environment will be for application in a VET in Schools delivery environment or other simulated or trial manufacturing environment where a high degree of supervision exists. The units are suitable for delivery in a school environment and for schools to contextualise the units to local manufacturing industry activities.

Cost: Students and parents are not required to pay a fee to complete this qualification. 

Further Training Pathways:

• MSA30208 Certificate III in Manufacturing Technology
• Engineering and Manufacturing trades

Core Units

MSMENV272        Participate in environmentally sustainable work practices

MSMWHS200       Work safely

MSS402001          Apply competitive systems and practices

MSS402051          Apply quality standards

MSS402080          Undertake root cause analysis

Elective Units

MSS402002  Sustain process improvements

MSMPCII298 Make an object from metal

MSMPCII296 Make a small furniture item from timber

MSMPCII295 Operate manufacturing equipment

MEM09002B Interpret technical drawing

Course Outline

This course takes place over a one-year period, with a range of assessment including observations of practical projects and written tasks throughout the year. There are no entry requirements.

Students identify the steps involved in planning the production of designed solutions. They develop detailed project management plans incorporating elements such as sequenced time, cost and action plans to manage a range of design tasks safely whilst focusing on the following contexts; Food and fibre production, Food specialisations and Materials. Students identify and establish safety procedures that minimise risk and manage projects with safety and efficiency in mind, maintaining safety standards and management procedures to ensure success. They learn to transfer theoretical knowledge to practical activities across a range of projects.

Pre-requisites:

Nil, although an interest in food and practical skills is an advantage.

Course Outline:

The Food Technology course will cover sections on:

• Food hygiene and safety
• Management
• Designing and working with food
• Nutrition and foods for health
• Meals for the family
• Food preparation and service
• Celebration foods 

Assessment:

Practical work will be an integral part of the course.

Assessment in Year 9 is formative.  Written assessment will cover knowledge and application.  

In Year 10, written assignments will be required as well as assessment of practical skills.  In Term 3 Year 10 complete the Independent Living Skills program.

Homework:

This will include completion of worksheets and learning theory associated with their cookery and nutrition.  Students should be encouraged to practice skills learned at school by either repeating recipes used in class or applying these skills to similar recipes.  A recipe book should be compiled. 

The study of a foreign language contributes to the educational, intellectual, personal, social and cultural development of the student.  Students not only gain practical language skills which allow them to communicate on set topics; they also develop greater insights into the nature, purposes and styles of language in general.

Pre-requisites:

It is advantageous, though not compulsory, to have completed the study of Italian in Year 8.

Course Outline:

Topics are selected from the following fields which encourage an embedded program and make it possible for language to be used by students in an upwardly spiraling fashion.  These fields are:

⮚     Personal and community life

⮚     Leisure and recreation 

⮚     The natural world

⮚     The built world

⮚     The international world

Through the study of these fields students are able to consider issues of social and academic interest within a realistic social context.

Assessment:

Assessment tasks take the form of end of term exams.  Students are assessed on their ability to communicate in the language.  Each of the four skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking are given equal emphasis.

Homework:

Students will usually be given a written task after each lesson.  Regular revision of class work is of utmost importance

Overview

Visual and Media Arts at GSMC draws on subject content from both Visual Arts and Media Arts. 

For the Visual Arts component:

In Visual and Media Arts students learn through direct engagement with two-dimensional, three-dimensional and four-dimensional art and design practices and concepts, theories, histories and critiques. They develop skills, knowledge, understandings and techniques as artists, designers, critics and audiences. Students learn to explore ideas through imaginative engagement, making and presenting art, craft and design works, and engaging critically with these works and processes.

For the Media Arts component:

In media arts, students develop knowledge, understanding and skills in the creative use of communications technologies and digital materials to tell stories and explore concepts for diverse purposes and audiences. Media artists represent the world using platforms such as television, film, video, newspapers, radio, video games, the internet and mobile media. Produced and received in diverse contexts, these communication forms are important sources of information, entertainment, persuasion and education and are significant cultural industries.

Units and Assessment 

Year 9

Unit 1: Making skills intensive

• A folio of making tasks across two-dimensional, three-dimensional, time-based art and design practices
• An emphasis on materials, documentation and understanding of personal aesthetics
• Students are assessed on a folio of artworks and their documentation in their art journals

Unit 2: Contemporary Visions

• An investigation into how contemporary art and visual culture offer a unique visual experience and how this experience may not have been conceivable in the past. 
• Focus on additive and subtractive sculpting and modelling techniques using clay and PU foam
• Students are assessed on a finished sculpture and  their documentation and research in their art journals     

Unit 3: Constructing Photographs

• An investigation in response to the question: How can photography capture a ‘real’ subject in a way that makes it look ‘unreal’? 
• Students explore photographic composition techniques and the use of DSLR cameras
• Students are assessed on a folio of photographic artworks and their documentation and research in their art journals

Unit 4: Spaces and Experiences

• An introduction to and investigation of installation and site-specific art 

• Students design installations for a specific gallery space and present a proposal 
• Students are assessed on their proposal for an installation in a contemporary art space and their documentation and research in their art journals 

Year 10

Year 10 Visual and Media Arts consists of two semester-long units.

Unit 1: I am…

• An investigation of identity, personal contexts and contemporary contexts. 
• Students produce a folio of experimental artworks inspired by the arts practices of student-selected artists.
• Students construct artist statements to enhance the process of making meaning for audiences. 
• Students are assessed on a folio of experimental artworks, their documentation and research in their art journals, and their artist statements.

Unit 2: They are…

• An investigation of otherness, cultural contexts and formal contexts. 
• Students produce a folio of experimental artworks inspired by the arts practices of student-selected artists.
• Students are introduced to a reverse chronology approach to art history. 
• Students are assessed on a folio of experimental artworks, their documentation and research in their art journals, and their reverse chronology investigation.

Homework

Class time is allocated for both responding and making in Visual and Media Arts; however, some time outside of class is necessary to complete all tasks. It is not always possible to continue artworks at home if specialised equipment is used therefore it is necessary that students use class time effectively. The amount of homework varies depending on the assessment type and access to materials.

The Performing Arts course draws from Drama and, depending on staffing, Music.

For Drama, students will:

• analyse drama they create, perform and experience
• evaluate how drama communicates ideas, perspectives and meaning
• evaluate how drama is used to celebrate and challenge perspectives of Australian identity
• work individually and collaboratively
• use performance skills in improvised, devised and scripted drama for audiences.

For Music, students will:

• analyse the use of the elements of music and compositional devices
• evaluate how music and performances communicate ideas, perspectives and meaning
• evaluate how music is used to celebrate and challenge perspectives of Australian identity
•  demonstrate listening and aural skills
• manipulate elements of music and use compositional devices
• notate, document and record their music
• apply knowledge of styles and/or forms when performing their own and others’ music
• demonstrate appropriate vocal and instrumental techniques and performance skills

Units and Assessment

In 2024, Performing Arts units will undergo revision. Students will be directly consulted to gauge areas of interest.