Middle Years
 Modern educational philosophy has drawn on extensive
research into how the brain functions in adolescents. Science
tells
us that the adolescent brain operates differently from an adult
one.
Curricular programs in the middle years of schooling (Years
7- 9) need to be challenging, relevant and engaging if students
are to be motivated and truly engaged in learning. Systems
that
are there to promote good learning need to provide flexibility
for both teachers and students.
At Glennie
we are prepared to meet these challenges. Curriculum
goals
Incorporate flexibility |
to cater for different levels of ability and learning
styles |
Develop academic rigor |
to prepare them for the demands of senior schooling and
beyond |
Provide intellectual challenge |
to extend their minds |
Stimulate curiosity |
to help them question |
Incorporate real meaning |
for students to make their own connections and provide
relevancy |
Explore integrated and trans -disciplinary learning |
to make both overt and covert connections between learning
areas |
Offer choice |
to provide a measure of control over their own learning,
to offer opportunities to explore individual talents and
interests |
Promote and support the ethos of the
School and its community |
to feel a sense of belonging |
We recognize that motivation is the key to learning in adolescents,
and that for learning to become a lifelong habit, the motivation
needs to come from within.
At Glennie we aim to encourage intrinsic motivation in our students by providing
them with a curriculum which gives them every opportunity to :
- Experience and achieve SUCCESS in a range of areas (the
need for mastery)
- Develop their CURIOSITY (the need for understanding)
- Use their ORIGINALITY (the need for self-expression)
- Develop SATISFYING connections and relationships.
Pedagogical approaches
Problem-based learning
Problem-based learning is focused, experiential learning (minds-on
and hand-on) organised around the investigation and resolution
of messy real-world problems.
Differentiated instruction
Students will have multiple options for taking in information,
making sense of ideas and expressing what they learn.
Character education
While this is inherent in all that we do at Glennie, there
will be an alignment across the whole school built around
six
character traits:
- Respect
- Responsibility
- Trustworthiness
- Fairness
- Caring
- Citizenship
Authentic learning opportunities
For learning to be truly valued and unconditional, it must
be authentic or reality-centred. Glennie students
will have opportunities to:
- follow their
own interests,
where practicable;
- learn deeply rather than broadly;
- ask questions
and
to find their own answers to questions
- explore
contemporary situations and to
unravel the puzzles that they provide.
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