Student, Parent and Community presentation
17th June 2013
Agenda items...
 What is curriculum viability?
 What have we done in the past?
 What are we doing now?
 Why change?
 What are some options for the future?
What is Curriculum Viability?
In terms of senior subjects in stage 6…
 What can we afford to deliver, and
 What can we not afford to deliver?
 How does this effect the rest of the
school?
What is Curriculum Viability?
A reduced propensity to offer the courses our students
want to do has a number of ramifications, including
the potential for:
 Increased disengagement, as students are forced into
courses they do not want to do or have little interest in
 Increased potential for failure, as students do not have
the ability to do some courses
 Increased absenteeism
 Reduced ATAR results as students look to
automatically “drop” a course in year 12.
What can we afford to deliver?
In 2013...
 Year 11 and 12 courses, currently absorb 35% of the
total teacher allocation at our school. Yet they
make up just 29% of our school’s student
population.
 We have 17 courses being undertaken internally by
just 23 year 11 students. Two have folded this year
already!
 We are currently overstaffed by .8...
Year 11 - 2013
Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
Line 4
Line 5
Line 6
Line 7
Eng
Stud(7)
Maths
(4)
VET
Metals
(9)
Chem
(3) VC
Mod
Hist (6)
Timber
(8)
Hospo
(7)
Stand
English
(11)
Gen
Maths
(16)
Biology
(7)
Sen Sci
(6)
PDHPE
(8)
Music
(5)
Info
Tech (5)
Vis Arts
(10)
Physics
(4) VC
Maths
Ext 1 (1)
Year 11 - 2013
There are currently
 20 Full-Time students in year 11
 1 extension course,
 7 students at TAFE,
 3 students doing DE and
 Most schools have just 6 lines!
 What will this look like when these students are in
year 12?
Year 11 - 2013
Of the subjects we could run or have done so in the
past 5 years, what is missing?
Agriculture
Adv English
English Ext 1 or 2
Applied Maths
Geography
Legal Studies
Retail Services
Business Services
Primary Industries
French Continuers
Spanish Beginners
Society and Culture
Textiles
Design and Tech
Year 12 - 2013
Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
Line 4
Line 5
Line 6
Line 7
Line 8
Eng
App
Stud(6) Maths
(5)
VET
Metals
(5)
Mod
Hist
(9)
Bus
Stud.
(6)
Geog
(1)
Legal
Stud
(4)
Vis
Arts (5)
Stand
Gen
English Maths
(10)
(20)
VET
Hospo
(10)
SLR (5) Music
(6)
Advan
English
(11)
Chem
(1) VC
PDHPE Biology Timber
(9)
(9)
(5)
Senior
Science
(4)
Year 12 - 2013
There are currently
 28 Full-Time students in year 12
 NO extension courses,
 10 students at TAFE,
 3 students doing DE and
 5 students doing Senior Science off-line.
 Most schools have just 6 lines!
 11 Students are attempting just 10 Units.
Year 12 - 2013
Of the subjects we could run or have done so in the
past 5 years, what is missing?
Agriculture
Mathematics
English Ext 1 or 2
Information
Technology
Physics
Primary
Industries
Retail Services
Business Services
Software Design
French
Continuers
Textiles
Spanish Beginners
Society and
Culture
Design and Tech
What did we do before?
 Prior to 2010, the school was running a mixed
curriculum in stage 6 whereby year 11 and 12 students
were in the same room for four periods per cycle – then
on their own for three periods each. Costing 5 periods
per course.
 Staff did not like this as they stated that teaching two
courses in the same room at the same time was
difficult.
 Some students still did Distance Education courses.
What did this look like?
What are we doing now?
 We have been teaching across four schools for four
years. This involves a “home” teacher who delivers the
course via VC and moodle. This has had differing
success and whilst students would prefer courses to be
delivered in their own school, they prefer this model
over DE.
 We have a significant number of students undertaking
courses via DE, VC and TVET, in order to meet the
needs of our students.
What are we doing now?
 Every time a student undertakes a course by Distance
Education or TVET, our school loses some of its
staffing. That is, we have our overall number of
teachers reduced.
 Simply put, the less we can offer, the less teachers we
get!
 Our average HSC class size over the past 10 years has
been ...
Why change?
 Are our past and present HSC results so good that any
change would significantly disadvantage our students?
 Is our current stage 6 structure creating the most
efficient means of providing a curriculum in our senior
school?
 Do our HSC results mirror those of similar students in
larger centres?
 Has our present “change” to staged classes in years 7 to
10 disadvantaged our students?
Why change?
 Firstly, there is no perfect system and no perfect
answer. This requires a shift in thinking by all
concerned.
 Remember, this is the same structure around when
you were at school.
 Do we really think that kids and schools are the same
as they were 20 or 30 years ago?
 Do you know of any other organisation that has NOT
changed to meet its changing clientele in 20 years?
What are our options?

Do nothing and remain where we are at the present
time!
Is this where we want to be in 5 or 10 years?
 Change our stage 6 structure to maximise teacher,
student and organisational efficiency!
How more efficient might your student be if they only
had 3 subjects to concentrate on at any-one time?
What if the teacher had less students and courses to
concentrate on when teaching your child’s HSC
class?
What is the suggestion?
 A Compressed Curriculum, 3+3, Senior Vertical
Curriculum or College Model.
 What is it?
 At this time students undertake 12 units in the
Preliminary Course and at least 10 units in the HSC. In
most cases this lasts for 2 years.
 Under the College Model, students undertake 3
subjects in their first year of senior school and 3 in
their second year.
 How will this help?
What’s wrong with what we have?
 Year 11 is often seen as “down time” with often no
purpose.
 Courses carrying small numbers from 11 into 12 places
a strain on staffing resources, this can lead to reduced
face to face.
 Students “feel” the pressure of 5 or six examinations
looming in their mid-course, trial and HSC.
 At Tumbarumba HS, recent experience suggests many
students start to “fall over” as it all gets too much.
What are the positives?
Learning is not “boxed in” by age and there are several
other advantages for students:
 Only 3 subjects is less “pressure”, especially with HSC




Exams
Students can be immersed in the content leading to deep
knowledge and understanding
Engagement in learning increases
Enhanced relationships with staff
Qualifications – students enrolling in VET courses may
achieve Certificate I or II at the end of Senior Year 1
 Less assessment tasks – potentially only 15 per year
instead of 25-30.
 Students get “real” HSC results earlier and they can
learn from them in the second year.
 If they choose to leave at age 17, they have a
“qualification” – even if it is “half” an HSC!
 Students in Senior Year 1 (SY1) are mentored by
students in Senior Year 2 (SY2)
 Students can change their pattern of study at
the end of Senior Year 1, giving increased
flexibility
 Students are able to “repeat” the HSC component
of a course if their ATAR was not sufficient and resit the exam
 Many students moving into Stage 6 have 3 or 4
subjects that they really want to do and have to
select others to make up the current 6 line
structure.
 In the VSC, they could do the favoured subjects in
Senior Year 1, leave one to the second year, or
choose another 1 or 2 subjects from a more
informed basis so that better decision-making
occurs in Senior Year 2.
For teaching staff, there are also a number of
advantages:
 Less classes means less stress
 Less reporting as teachers have fewer students
 Mentoring for inexperienced teachers
 More opportunity to move to assessment for learning
 Enhanced relationships and connection with students
 4 – 5 weeks in Term 4 with no senior students – time
that could be used for reporting, planning,
programming etc
 Able to give more support to students in class as
you see them more regularly
 Specialisation in subject areas
 Classes should commence and settle more quickly
with Senior Year 2 students being role models for
Senior Year 1 students
 The timetable should be stable
POSSIBLE DISADVANTAGES
Engagement with schools who have implemented the
compressed curriculum model shows very few
disadvantages, including:
 Students moving between schools
 Absenteeism – if a student misses a day, potentially they
will miss 1 or 2 hours in a subject. Missing a few days will
compound this.
 Work placement – students are required to do 70 hours of
work placement in a 240 hour VET course.
 Excursions that are conducted during the day will mean
that students may miss 3 or 4 other lessons. However, as an
excursion may be on 1 subject, a student is only missing 2
other subjects, not 4 or 5 as in our current system.
What are the biggest obstacles to success?
Perception!
Our students wont be ready to sit a HSC exam by the end
of year 11!
Why?
All the evidence available suggests it depends on THE
INDIVIDUAL STUDENT and THEIR TEACHER! There
is no discernible difference in student results between
year 1 and year 2!
What are the biggest obstacles to success?
A lack of confidence!
Our kids can’t develop the skills needed in 12
months!
Why?
All the evidence available suggests students who
are immersed into their subjects at “double
time” will comfortably develop the required
skills in a 12 month period, particularly when
they only have 3 subjects to contend with.
What are the biggest obstacles to success?
A lack of organisation!
Our kids can’t complete their major works in
practical subjects in this timeframe!
Why?
All the evidence available suggests students who
are immersed into their subjects at “double
time” will comfortably complete their major
works. Nearly all are “done” at the last minute
under the current system!
The lesson from Queanbeyan
 See hand-out who started in 2007.
Should we wait?
 It has been suggested that we wait another 12 months.
 Staff at Tumbarumba HS have been aware of this
proposal since the end of 2012. They were sent reading
material in March of 2013.
 Next year will NOT be any different from now!
 The only difference will be that another cohort of
students may be disadvantaged because we
procrastinated in 2013.
Questions?????????????????????