ACADEMIC PATHWAYS | DISCIPLINARY LEARNING

The transition programme in Year 7 marks the change from the Transdisciplinary learning of Primary School, to the Disciplinary (subject based curriculum of Middle and Senior Schools).

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Year 7

The academic programme in Year 7 begins with parallel classes for part of the first term based on house groups. The programme has a broad curriculum offering Mathematics, English, Science, History, Geography, PDHPE and Christian Studies as core subjects. Boys also undertake sample courses in Art, Music, Manual Arts, Latin, Mandarin, French and German. After the first half of Term 1, Honours Classes are created in Mathematics English and Science. This is done after “Swap Week”, the Year 7 Camp, subject based and whole grade diagnostic testing. A transitional support class is in operation from the start of Year 7 for those boys who need a little more help with their integration into the Middle School academic studies.

Year 8

Most Year 8 students remain in the Main stream, which continues the excellent curriculum offering which has characterised Years 8-10 at Trinity for many years. With the Main stream, Honours classes in English, Mathematics, Science and History provide a very strong academic focus for highly able boys in these subject areas. The alternative Extension class caters for students who are focused and highly able ‘all-rounders’ academically, offering excellent opportunities to move ahead academically in core subjects, but with additional requirements and some restrictions on the choices available. In Year 8, boys may also choose from a range of subject electives for the first time, and this gives them the opportunity to pursue their interests in Languages, the Creative Arts, the Performing Arts or the Manual Arts. They will have to choose at least ONE Language (Classical or Modern) for Year 8.

Year 9

In Year 9 the Core subjects studied are Mathematics, English, Science, History, Geography, PDHPE and Christian Studies. Language study is no longer mandatory and at the end of Year 8, boys will be given the opportunity to discontinue their Language and choose another Elective for Years 9 and 10. The two Electives taken for Years 9 and 10 will be presented as subjects for the School Certificate.  The culmination year of the Middle School Programme is the Outdoor Education Residential Programme. Each boy spends four weeks in the remote and beautiful Australian bush at an outdoor education centre on the south coast of NSW. The programme delivers an opportunity for boys to be independent and consolidates the value of self-discipline, to live in a community experiencing a programme that offers both academic and physical challenges.

SENIOR SCHOOL

Year 10

The academic programme in Year 10 culminates in The NSW School Certificate. This is the first public credential that most students earn and is an important milestone in their education.

Years 8, 9 and 10 at Trinity Grammar School are characterised by rigorous academic study. While, for most boys, the School Certificate will be only the first of a number of credentials they will earn, it should nevertheless be a strong and worthwhile academic experience and one that lays firm foundations for later studies.

Year 11 and 12

Today there is a strong expectation that students will continue at school for Years 11 and 12. The community expects boys and girls to attain higher standards of education than ever before, so that they will be better equipped to take their place in the ever more complex society in which we live.

The choice of where to undertake studies in these two final years of school is an important one.

Years 11 and 12 at Trinity build on the foundations laid in Primary, the Middle School and Year 10. They are focussed on preparing boys; for University entry at the highest level possible both in Australia and Overseas, for further education and training, or for immediate post school employment.