Director General Awards
Teaching and Learning
2000, 2003, 2005 & 2006
Background information
Over the past year or so I have spoken many times to the P&C and to staff and some students about issues in relation the curriculum organisation and structure of our school.
We have over many, many years established a track record of being a very successful school. Our aim is to continue to be that.
But in the 21 st century many things are changing very rapidly. All of us are aware of the challenges that face our local area. One of those challenges is that the number of students at our school has changed as the population of the local area has also changed.
There are a great many positive things about not being a large school. We know most of our students very well, and the relationship between students and staff and our communities continues to be one of the great strengths of our school. But one of the down sides of a smaller school is the challenge of trying to make certain we offer our students a wide choice of curriculum, especially in the senior school. It is my belief that this is absolutely critical for the continued success of our school. We have students with a wide range of interests and abilities and we need to cater for these needs as best we can.
At present we are in the middle of discussions about a significant change to the organisation of our senior school and the information below is designed to try and keep students and parents up to date with these discussions. No decision has been made as yet but we will need to make a decision about his by the end of this term
Why do we need to think seriously about the curriculum structure of our senior school?
It’s about numbers. For the foreseeable future we will have three core classes in Years 7-10. The number of students entering the senior school over the next five to ten years at least is going to be small.
At the moment we have many, many very small classes in Year 12. This is good in one way, but not so good in others. Some classes are so small that they have only a handful of students. All of our experience tells us that students do best when they are in classes where there is co-operation between students, but also where we have students who are involved in healthy competition trying to do their very best. This can be very difficult to achieve with very small numbers. It also hard for students and staff to see where they ‘sit’, in comparison to the many thousands of other students, who are enrolled in that subject across the state.
The other real cost is that to have so many small classes in Year 12 it means we have to make some sacrifices elsewhere in the school. As an example this year we have had to reduce Year 10 from four core classes to three. We can all see that ideally we would rather have four Year 10 classes but to accommodate the many small classes in Year 12 this has not been possible.

We need to accept that if we maintain our current arrangements, and we want depth and breadth of curriculum, we will need to either –
 Reduce the amount of face to face teaching time for senior students
 Run less subjects –this in reality would mean more students doing things they don’t like or can’t do
 Have more students doing courses by Distance Education
None of these options in my view are good ones, nor are they in the best interests of staff or students.
It’s about what we can do to get the best out of students in Years 10, 11 and 12. For years I have had great concerns about the organisation of the last term of Year 10. There has in my view, been too much wasted time, time that could have been better devoted to students preparing for the HSC years, but we have been prevented from doing so by rules that are imposed on us.
I want our entire student body to take all years of their study seriously but especially from Year 10 onward. I continue to be concerned that some students still do not always apply themselves in Years 10 and 11 as we might want, saying that they will really knuckle down when it gets to Year 12.
Then of course we have the issue of Year 12 being very stressful on many of our students. They have a great deal to do in a relatively short period of time.
It’s about us having a sustainable top quality school heading well beyond 2012. None of us know what lies ahead in terms of water policy that might have a significant effect on our local communities. Regardless I passionately believe that we must ensure our students in the ensuing years have access to a top quality school, as they do now. We must have in place a type of organisation that will allow us to offer all our students, but especially our senior students, real choices to suit their needs and abilities.
What is being proposed?
We have been looking at a range of different options to try and resolve this issue over the past year or so and believe that one of the best options is a model where students do some of their HSC studies in Year 11 and the rest in Year 12 –we have called it the
’Senior College’ model.
What would the Senior College proposal look like?
 Students study three HSC subjects only in Year 11 instead of the normal six subjects. They study these subjects at ‘double’ time and complete the HSC exams in these subjects in Year 11. They then study another three subjects in a similar way in
Year 12 with exams at the end.
 Students begin their Year 11(Preliminary) studies in the middle of term 4 of Year 10 by being officially enrolled in their HSC studies at this time. This can be done by getting official sanction from the Board of Studies.
 Preliminary studies are completed by the end of Term 1 and with Preliminary exams at that time. They start HSC studies at the start of Term 2, in Week 8 of Term 2 midyear exams are held, and Trial HSC takes place in the middle of Term 3.
 HSC exams begin the first week of Term 4. As soon as the exams are finished students commence the next group of three subjects in mid Term 4.
 Within each subject student still do Assessment tasks, and field trips etc as normal
 Except for the first year of operation the size of the senior group doping HSC subjects includes two groups not one -as an example,
2013 –Year 11 group study 3 subjects from 3 subject lines
2014 –Year 12 group and incoming Year 11 group select 3 subjects from 3 subject lines, and are in classes together
2015 –Year 12 group and incoming Year 11 group select 3 subjects from 3 subject lines, and are in classes together
What would be the advantages of the Senior College proposal?
 The last term of year 10 is being used very effectively
 Year 10 takes on a new meaning as it is now a serious preparation year for HSC study
 Year 11 takes on a real meaning – it is not just a preparation year
 Students’ stress is spread over two years as they only have to sit exams for three subjects each year

 After the first year, which is a transition year, students in Year 11 and Year 12 can complete courses together. This in effect doubles the number of students available to do subjects and will mean that we can offer a far broader range of subjects
 Having a greater range of choice means that students are more likely to be engaged in learning because they are doing things they want to do and are capable of doing
 A slightly larger number of students in each subject means that there is more scope for healthy competition and students having a realistic understanding of their success level
 This will eliminate the need to reduce face to face teaching time and the need to do subjects through Distance Education in most cases.
 Students have the flexibility to change their mind at the end of the first year of their studies in terms of the subjects they select
 Where possible we would use two teachers on each course –eg. In English one teacher might concentrate on Drama and
Poetry and another on Novel and Area of Study. This develops teachers’ professionalism, sharing of ideas and peer coaching of younger teachers with more experienced colleagues
 With students only studying 3 subjects at a time there are less exams to do which should assist significantly in terms of student preparation for those exams
 Students can get really immersed in a smaller number of subjects. This is similar to study at tertiary institutions where often students only study 3 or 4 subjects but they do so in considerable depth
Are there examples of where this model works?
 There are now a small, but growing number, of schools that are following this type of model in NSW , some of them in rural and regional locations
 We know that students in Victoria have been able to complete VCE subjects (their equivalent of the HSC) in Year 11 for many years with considerable success
Questions and Answers
Are students in Year 11 ready to be able to study at a HSC Level?
This is a common question asked of schools who work on a similar model. As mentioned earlier Year 11 students in Victoria have been doing VCE courses and exams for many years with real success. Schools in NSW who have used a similar model report that in many cases Year 11 students outperform Year 12 students. There is nothing to suggest that they cannot do as well. A critical part of this will be to ensure that students are getting a good preparation for the senior school in Year 10.
Can Year 11 and Year 12 student effectively work together in the same class?
In the first year of the program, Year 11 students will be with Year 11 only students in most cases. In the second year of the program however Year 11 and Year 12 students will be in the same classes. But we need to remember that all students regardless of what Year group they are in will be starting from scratch in the three subjects they are enrolled in. Students at our school are used to working in classes with students from different year groups as we already do it in Years 9 and 10.
If a student is absent won’t it mean they miss a lot of work?
If a student is absent for any length of time now in the senior school they are missing work in six subjects. Under this model they will miss work in three subjects. It will be more work in those subjects but it is in only three subjects rather than six. In truth we need all students to be at school every single day unless they are ill.
Can staff and students complete the course in the time available?
The amount of time available to complete courses is the same as is has always been. It is just that the time has been ‘organised’ somewhat differently. Staff and students will work to different times for exams but the total amount on time will be the same as has always been the case.
Will all subjects be available each year?
When the system is fully implemented we expect that students will have far more choice of subjects on each of their three lines that are offered each year. Some of the more popular subjects will almost certainly be available each year but some of the smaller subjects will only be offered every second year.
What effect will this model have on junior classes?

We are very confident that this model will use less staffing on the senior school then is currently the case (yet we will be able to offer more classes to senior students) and this would mean that we would be able to offer additional course/classes to our junior students. The other impact that the proposed model would have is that in the middle of term 4 each year the whole school ‘rolls over’. That is, Year 7 start Year 8, Year 8 start Year 9 and Year 9 start Year 10.
Can you still do VET courses in this model?
Definitely. In fact we are hopeful that because we will be able to offer more subjects in the senior school that the range of VET subjects can be increased. It may be possible for example for a student to complete three VET courses whilst they are in Year 11.
This would mean that students who wished to leave school at the end of Year 11 to seek or take up employment could leave Year
11 having finished three HSC VET subjects to a Certificate 2 level. This would be extremely helpful in terms of securing employment.
What happens if students leave this school to join another one in Year 11 or 12
There is no doubt that this is potentially a problem. Most other schools do not follow this pattern of organisation. It needs to be said however that we have very few students who leave or join the senior school once the school year has started.
Potential Timetable for Year 10, 2012 and Year 11 2013
Mid Term 4 2012 –Whole school ‘rolls over’ into next year group. Year 10 begin preliminary part of HSC course
Term1 2013 –Year 11 students complete Preliminary section of HSC course. End of Prelim. course exams last week of Term 1.
Term 2 2013 –Year 11 students begin HSC component of their three subjects. Mid year exams in Week 8.
Term 3 2013–Students complete HSC course. Trial exams in August.
Term 4 2013–Year 11 students sit for HSC exams in three subjects.
Mid Term 4 2013 -students commence the other three subjects to complete their HSC.
We want your feedback
We are keen to hear from people if they have views, thoughts or questions about this proposal. Please feel free to e mail the school at
You can also write directly to the school or contact us by phone –all the contact details are at the top of the letter.
Bernie Roebuck or just insert ‘Feedback on the Senior College proposal’ in the subject of the e mail.
In the event that we decide to go ahead with this proposal we will be holding a meeting to discuss the organisation in far more detail when it is time for students to make subject selections. This would be done very early in Term 3 at the latest.
Principal