Welcome to the Middle School:
We cater for students ranging from 12 to 15 years old in Years 7 to 9. The Middle School is located primarily in the Young Adult Centre (YAC) at Gillies Street, where students have the opportunity to work in and across classrooms working with a range of students and staff.
We encourage this interaction between staff and students, team teaching, differentiated learning and sharing of resources to benefit the learning outcomes of all students. Within classes, students are grouped with peers of a similar age and who have a range of abilities.
We are committed to creating an inclusive, challenging and supportive learning environment for every student.
Our students are taught at their point of need. Allowing our students to work across teachers and classrooms in their own levelled groups means that we can cater specifically to individual goals. They work with students of similar needs and make bigger gains when we can focus on the same content together. Students work this way in English & Mathematics classes across the Middle School.
Curriculum in the Middle School:
Teaching and learning in the Middle School has a strong focus on improving student outcomes in English and Mathematics based on the Victorian Curriculum. The teaching foci for each term is determined by the school’s Curriculum Map. There is a curriculum map for each stage of learning.
Students are exposed to a full curriculum including English, Mathematics, Health, Humanities and Respectful Relationships. Students are also engaged in a range of Specialist classes and electives. Our Year 9 students are involved in VET “taster” programs to prepare students for their time in the Senior School.
In each section of the school, the students’ learning stage is identified, and as the students move through the school, they take an increasing responsibility for their learning. Typically the Middle School curriculum focuses on the ‘Me as a Learner’ stage and students are encouraged to develop skills, knowledge and strategies that will further enable them to build upon what they already know. At this stage, instruction is collaborated between teachers, students and peers and learning is facilitated together.
Ballarat Specialist School acknowledges the Wadawurrung people as the traditional custodians of these lands on which we come to learn. We pay our respect to their Elders, past, present and emerging.