Fintona Year 9 & 10 Handbook

YEAR 9 & 10 HANDBOOK 2025

INTRODUCTION

The Year 9 and 10 curriculum is designed to allow students to select and create a study program from a wide range of subjects. Over two years, students are encouraged to ensure that they have undertaken courses from different areas of the curriculum so that when it comes to VCE subject selection they are in the best possible position to know their strengths and what interests them.

English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities (one semester of History and one semester of Geography) and Physical Education are studied by all students for a whole year in both Year 9 and Year 10. To these subjects we also add a requirement for at least one language subject at Year 9. We also strongly encourage the continued study of one or two languages in Year 10, although it is not mandated.

Elective subjects are a semester in length and allow students to develop their knowledge beyond what is compulsory. When choosing an elective subject, students are encouraged to make choices which include subjects from across learning areas, including Arts, Humanities, Commerce, Digital Technology and Physical Education. Because the courses are a semester in length, students are able to experience a balance and range of subjects across an entire year.

Year 9 and 10 are the first years of internal examinations for students and every subject (apart from Physical Education) is assessed at the end of each semester; this is a good way for students to develop the skills which will be required of them during their VCE studies.

Before students are asked to select which subjects they wish to study, they and their parents have an opportunity to attend an information evening. The subject selection process also involves an interview with each girl to ensure that she is selecting the subjects which best suit her.

Ruth McKinnon Head of Learning, Teaching and Development

Fintona Girls’ School

YEAR 9

Year 9 provides students with the opportunity to undertake guided choices in their subject selection. The opportunity exists for students to participate in, and reflect on, activities that extend their understanding of themselves and the world.

The Connections Program has been specifically designed by Fintona to allow students to develop a greater awareness of learning beyond the classroom, with a focus on how communities work. Throughout the year, students focus on working together and the important contribution that individuals make to communities. One day a fortnight is devoted to the Connections Program.

A range of life skills is covered throughout the year, ensuring that students have study and self-management skills, along with an awareness of how they can work positively towards physical, emotional and social wellbeing.

Year 9 is intended to provide girls with guided choices for their program of study. They combine core subjects with a range of elective subjects. The elective subjects in Year 9 are intended to be a pathway into a different set of electives at Year 10 and offer a broad two year program of study before choices about VCE subjects are made.

Core subjects

English Mathematics (Accelerated Mathematics available)

Science

Humanities (a semester each of Geography and History)

Physical Education

Elective subjects

Students in Year 9 study three Elective subjects of their choice in Semester 1 and a further three in Semester 2.

Learning Area Elective Subject

Languages1 French Latin Japanese

Visual Arts Art Design

Performing Arts Drama Music

Commerce Financial Literacy

Humanities Ethics

Health & Physical Education Australia’s Health Outdoor Education

Digital Technology Coding

1 Girls must study at least one Language subject for two semesters in Year 9. Students who wish to study two languages may continue with those studied in Year 7 and Year 8. Languages are selected for a year of study.

YEAR 10

Students continue to develop skills and knowledge in a broad range of learning areas, ensuring flexible pathways are maintained to reflect our ever changing world. All students undertake a work experience placement. Students secure a five day placement for Term 4 in an area of personal interest. Students may also opt to undertake a further placement during term holidays.

Students are encouraged to avail themselves of the opportunity to try different subjects and will be guided as to how future subject choices may shape career pathways.

Students also become familiar with the educational pathways available beyond Year 12 and use various software programs designed to allow students to recognise the choices they will face in the near future.

Study skills are further developed, along with strategies to deal with the pressures of life in the senior years of schooling. Students are provided with the information necessary to assist in making informed decisions relating to their physical, emotional and social wellbeing.

Year 10 is intended to provide girls with guided choices for their program of study. They combine core subjects with a range of elective subjects. The elective subjects in Year 10 are intended to offer the broadest possible range of subjects and experiences in order for students to make informed decisions about their VCE choices.

Core subjects

English Mathematics (VCE Mathematical Methods Unit 1 & 2 available)

Science

Humanities (a semester each of Geography and History)

Physical Education

Elective subjects

Students in Year 10 study three elective subjects of their choice in Semester 1 and a further three in Semester 2. Languages are chosen for a whole year of study.

Learning Area Elective Subject

Languages1

Visual Arts

Performing Arts

French Latin Japanese

Studio Art Photography Fashion Design Architecture

Drama Music

Commerce Economics and the World

Business Accounting

Australian Politics

International Politics

Interdisciplinary Philosophy

Health & Physical Education

Multimedia Communication

Exercise Sports Science

Digital Technology Applied Computing

CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Important learning occurs beyond the traditional classroom and Fintona offers a broad range of activities to develop student interests and talents. Students’ efforts are recognised regularly in the school community via assemblies and written publications.

ENGLISH

Unit Length: Full Year

Outline

Literary texts that support and extend students in Years 9 and 10 as independent readers are drawn from a range of genres and involve complex, challenging and unpredictable plot sequences and hybrid structures that may serve multiple purposes. These texts explore themes of human experience and cultural significance, interpersonal relationships, and ethical and global dilemmas within real-world and fictional settings and represent a variety of perspectives. Informative texts represent a synthesis of technical and abstract information from verifiable sources about a wide range of specialised topics. Text structures are more complex including chapters, headings and subheadings, tables of contents, indices and glossaries. Language features include successive complex sentences with embedded clauses, a high proportion of unfamiliar and technical vocabulary, figurative and rhetorical language, and dense information supported by various types of graphics presented in visual form. Students create a range of imaginative, informative and persuasive types of texts including narratives, procedures, performances, reports, discussions, literary analyses and reviews.

The English curriculum is built around the three interrelated strands of:

Language – knowing about the English language Literature – understanding, appreciating, responding to, analysing and creating literature, and Literacy – expanding the repertoire of English usage, in both written and oral form

Each area of study in Year 9 integrates and implements the development of skills in the above three strands. Together the strands focus on developing students’ knowledge, understanding and skills in listening, reading, viewing, speaking, writing and creating.

Learning in English builds on concepts, skills and processes developed in earlier years, and teachers revise and strengthen these as needed. Students engage with a variety of texts for enjoyment. They interpret, create, evaluate, discuss and perform a wide range of mainly fictional literary texts. These include various types of media texts including newspaper articles, photographs, political cartoons, radio transcripts, television advertising and other forms of media.

In studying such texts, students develop critical understanding of the ways in which today’s world is reported.

The range of literary texts for Foundation to Year 10 comprises Australian literature, including the oral narrative traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, as well as the contemporary literature of these two cultural groups, and classic and contemporary world literature, including texts from and about Asia.

Shakespeare

Students are introduced to the world of William Shakespeare. Through the classroom reading of Romeo and Juliet, students explore and analyse how the playwright develops themes and characterisation. Students also develop awareness of literary features of a play, and how such features contribute to meaning. The unit encompasses a range of research-based, comprehension and analytical writing tasks, and students participate in a performance of a selected scene from the play. They are encouraged to maintain learning journals with descriptive and reflective writing entries.

Assessment

Study of historical, ethical and literary contexts, character profiles, scene analysis, essay, performance of selected scene.

Analysing and Presenting Argument

Students study given newspaper articles and opinion-based articles in other media. They become familiar with articles written for a range of purposes and audiences, and acquire proficiency in recognising and formulating different styles of writing, including: informative articles (reportage), opinion pieces, editorials, speeches, letters and reviews. Students also develop understanding of how images and illustrations can be political and persuasive.

Assessment

Writing for a range of purposes and audiences, language tests (grammar, punctuation and vocabulary), analysis tasks and participation in group discussion.

Public Speaking

Building on skills from previous year levels, students participate in oral performance (Shakespeare), presentations to class, and in the School’s internal programme, the Elizabeth M. Butt Public Speaking Award. Tasked with developing a persuasive speech, students engage in research, craft a speech with a definitive point of view and deliver their speech to an audience. In doing so, they study the skills required for effective oratory and work toward developing confidence and poise.

Assessment

An oratory performance and participation in classroom discussion.

Literature

This unit of study provides students with an opportunity to ‘explore and reflect on their personal understanding of the world and significant human experience gained from interpreting various representations of life matters in texts’ (Year 9 English Australian Curriculum).

Mentor texts will be used within this framework of idea unit to expose students to different forms and genres, storytelling, and ideas about human experience and condition. Students will be provided with opportunities to discuss the key ideas presented in these texts and a variety of supplementary texts. In doing so, ‘they will come to appreciate the pleasures of literature as the words themselves, having one’s emotions evoked, pictures and ideas that the words evoke and a mirror for oneself’(Nodelman and Reimer,2003).

Assessment

Discussion of broader questions relating to key ideas, thematic concerns, creative pieces, personal and analytical responses.

Film Study

The study of the film The Suffragette enables students to explore aspects of early 20th century Britain, and how a work of fiction has been recreated through language, structural and visual choices. Students identify and analyse implicit or explicit values, beliefs and assumptions apparent in the film, and how these are influenced by directorial purposes. Students also refine vocabulary choices to discriminate between shades of meaning, with deliberate attention paid to the effect that filmic devices may have on audiences.

Assessment

Film and scene interpretation, analysis of filmic techniques, discussion of findings orally and in essay form, and creative response.

Language

The Australian Curriculum mandates the teaching of language skills including sentence structure, textual cohesion and paragraphing, modality, punctuation, grammatical conventions, vocabulary and spelling. The development of proficiency in language acquisition and skills occurs as part of students’ study of fiction and media texts, and in isolation with specifically directed language tasks.

Assessment

Assessment occurs during formative tasks for all areas of study in both semesters and in specific textbooks.

MATHEMATICS

Unit Length: Full Year

Outline

In Year 9 Mathematics, students recognise and use rational and irrational numbers to solve problems. They learn the exponent laws with positive integers to variables and how to expand binomial products and factorise monic quadratic expressions. They also learn to find the distance between 2 points on the Cartesian plane, and the gradient and midpoint of a line segment. Students use mathematical modelling to solve problems involving change in financial and other applied contexts, choosing to use linear and quadratic functions. They learn to graph quadratic functions and solve monic quadratic equations with integer roots algebraically. Students also learn to describe the effects of variation of parameters on functions and relations, using digital tools, and make connections between their graphical and algebraic representations.

They apply formulas to solve problems involving the surface area and volume of right prisms and cylinders. Students solve problems involving ratio, similarity and scale in two-dimensional situations. They determine percentage errors in measurements. Students learn and apply Pythagoras’ theorem and use trigonometric ratios to solve problems involving right-angled triangles. They use mathematical modelling to solve practical problems involving direct proportion, ratio and scale, evaluating the model and communicating their methods and findings. Students express small and large numbers in scientific notation. They apply the enlargement transformation to images of shapes and objects and interpret results. Students design, use and test algorithms based on geometric constructions or theorems.

They compare and analyse the distributions of multiple numerical data sets, choose representations, describe features of these data sets using summary statistics and the shape of distributions, and consider the effect of outliers. Students explain how sampling techniques and representation can be used to support or question conclusions or to promote a point of view. They determine sets of outcomes for compound events and represent these in various ways. Students assign probabilities to the outcomes of compound events. They design and conduct experiments or simulations for combined events using digital tools.

Key skills

Knowledge, understanding and application of skills and concepts in routine and non-routine problems, communicating mathematical understanding, using CAS calculator or other technology appropriately and efficiently.

Assessment

A variety of assessment tasks are completed throughout the year. This includes application and problem-solving tasks, modelling tasks, topic tests and examinations. Tests and examinations include both Technology Active and Technology Free assessment.

Accelerated Mathematics

Students in this course study both the Year 9 and Year 10 Mathematics curriculum in one year. To study this course, students are selected at the end of Year 8 Mathematics. Selection is based on a strict set of criteria - on mathematical proficiency, academic performance, as well as the student’s dedication to learning and work ethic in prior years. Students will be invited to take part in a specialised test at the end of Year 8. The outcome of this test together with data from Year 8 continual assessments will be used to determine which students are invited to participate in this course. Students in this course will be able to study VCE Mathematical Methods Units 1 and 2 as a subject in Year 10 provided they complete the Year 9 Accelerated Mathematics course at a high level.

SCIENCE

Unit Length: Full Year

Students continue their study of Science, exploring it as a human endeavour and a way of understanding and explaining the world. They further hone their science inquiry skills and focus on strengthening their foundation in Biological, Chemical, Physical, and Earth and Space Sciences.

Outline

Scientific inquiry

Students plan and conduct safe, reproducible investigations to test or identify relationships or explore models. They examine ethical and intercultural considerations when acquiring or using primary and secondary data. They select and use equipment to generate and record repeatable data.. They select and construct appropriate representations to organize, process and summarise data and information.. They analyse and connect data and information to identify and explain patterns, trends, relationships and anomalies. They analyse methods for assumptions and sources of error and evaluate the validity of conclusions and claims. They construct logical, evidence-based arguments to support conclusions or evaluate claims. They select and use content, language and text features to achieve their purpose when communicating their ideas, findings and arguments to specific audiences.

Biological sciences

Students explain how body systems provide a coordinated response to stimuli. They investigate how a body system regulates and coordinates the body’s response to stimuli and the role of positive and negative feedback mechanisms.

Chemical sciences

Students develop a more sophisticated understanding of atomic theory to understand patterns and relationships within the periodic table. Students explain observable chemical processes in terms of changes in atomic structure, atomic rearrangement, mass and energy. They investigate how the discovery of protons, neutrons and electrons influenced the model of the atom and how natural radioactive decay results in stable atoms. Students investigate how the rearrangement of atoms in chemical reactions can be modelled using a range of representations, including word and simple balanced chemical equations, and use these to demonstrate the law of conservation of mass.

Earth and space sciences

Students examine how interactions within and between Earth’s spheres affect the carbon cycle. They investigate how key processes in the carbon cycle, including combustion, photosynthesis and respiration, rely on interactions between the biosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere.

Physical sciences

Students explain energy conservation in simple systems and apply wave and particle models to describe energy transfer. They investigate how wave and particle models describe energy transfer through different mediums and examine the usefulness of each model for explaining phenomena.

Key Skills

Observation, modelling, interpretation, safe laboratory techniques, dissection, developing hypotheses, experimentation, research, record keeping, making inferences, manipulation of data, analysis, synthesis, processing and analysing data, evaluating, problem solving, making inferences, scientific report writing, digital technology use, mathematical calculations.

Assessment

Tests, problem-solving, experimental reports, assignment, examination.

Resources

Textbook, online resources and activity books.

HISTORY

Unit Length: Semester

Outline

The Year 9 curriculum provides a study of the history of the making of the modern world from 1750 to 1918. This was a period of industrialisation and rapid change in the ways people lived, worked and thought. It was an era of nationalism and imperialism, and expansion of European power, which had significant effects on First Nations Peoples globally. The period culminated in World War I (1914–1918), the “war to end all wars”.

Making and transforming the Australian Nation

This history topic examines the transformative period in Australian society from the late 18th to early 20th centuries, focusing on European imperial expansion, settlement impacts on First Nations Peoples, and key social, cultural, economic, and political changes, including Australia's evolving global relationships by 1914.

First World War

Students will explore this significant conflict, examining its causes, why Australians enlisted, significant battle sites and experiences, key events and turning points, and the war's impact on Australian society. It also examines the commemoration of the war, including the Anzac legend and related historical debates.

Industrial Revolution and Movement of Peoples

In this topic, students explore the Industrial Revolution in Europe during the late 18th and 19th centuries, examining its social, economic, political, technological, and environmental causes and effects. Students will engage with the different perspectives of varied individuals and groups during the Revolution. They will also examine changing population movements, and the impacts of these changing movements on societies.

Key Skills

Research skills, analysis of written and visual primary and secondary sources, evaluating material to use as evidence, constructing written historical arguments.

Assessment

Source analyses, research tasks, extended responses, examination.

Resources

Textbook: Pearson History Custom 9 – 10Jacaranda History Alive 9. Students use film, documentaries, class sets, the Resource Centre, online resources.

GEOGRAPHY

Unit Length: Semester

Global tourism and food security

Outline

What are some of the major geographical issues facing the world? How can they be addressed at the global, national and local scales? Students broaden their geographical knowledge of the world through a study of two key topics: Tourism and food security. Students examine global trends in tourism (which generates 1 in 10 jobs around the world), their impacts on people and environments and interesting developments in ecotourism. Case studies include tourism in Australia, Victoria Falls and Italy. Students also examine how we are interconnected to other countries of the world through trade.

Access to quality, nutritious food is fundamental to human existence. Students learn about the world’s biomes and their role in producing the food and fibres we need to survive. This unit examines the biomes of the world, their alteration and the environmental challenges of sustainable expansion of food production in the future using case studies drawn from Australia and across the world.

Students will participate in a fieldtrip which enables students to further develop their skills in collecting data analysing information and presenting their findings.

Key Skills

Research, presenting and interpreting data such as maps and graphs, conducting fieldwork.

Assessment

Classwork, research task, fieldwork report, data presentation and analysis tasks, examination.

Resources

Atlas, Textbook: Geography Alive 9, online resources, Resource Centre, audiovisual material, fieldwork site.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Unit Length: Full Year

Outline

Students have the opportunity to consolidate their skills in traditional sports such as AFL, volleyball and softball. They will also develop their knowledge about a range of non-traditional sports, such as aerobics. Students will learn rules, strategies and tactics for the sports covered, particularly through game situations. Through completing a fitness unit, students develop the knowledge, skills and behaviour to maintain physical health and wellbeing. Engaging in physical activity contributes to a sense of community and social connectedness which is vital for personal well-being.

Key Skills

Catching, throwing, striking, fielding, movement, correct technique and timing.

Assessment

Major skills checklist for each sport.

LANGUAGES

Unit Length: Full Year

French

Outline

Students develop their ability to communicate in French and understand the role of language and culture through various topics related to lifestyles in French homes, division of household tasks, part-time work, leisure, shopping and food, and visiting Paris.

Key Skills

Speaking, listening, reading, and writing.

Assessment

Listening, speaking, reading and writing skills are tested in unit tests and end of semester examination.

Resources

Tapis Volant 2 4th edition; Student book and Workbook.

Latin

Outline

Students develop their ability to read Latin through the storybased approach of the Cambridge Latin Course. They amplify and consolidate their knowledge of the classical language in the context of Roman Britain in the first century CE. Students investigate the social, political and historical aspects of Roman culture as an essential preparation for the reading of Roman authors.

Key Skills

Translation, reading comprehension, reading aloud, dictionary use.

Assessment

Tests, assignments, examination.

Resources

Cambridge Latin Course Books 3 and 4, Collins Latin Dictionary and Grammar.

Japanese

Outline

Students develop their ability to communicate in Japanese and understand the role of language and culture through a variety of topics relevant to their own life and to those of Japanese teenagers, focusing on cultural similarities and differences. Students learn to talk about major milestones in their lives; where they were born and raised; languages and nationalities; celebrities with Japanese background in the fields of entertainment, media and sports; Japanese department stores; popular theme parks in Japan.

Key Skills

Speaking, listening, reading, viewing, and writing.

Assessment

Oral presentations, tests, examination.

Resources

iiTomo 3/4 Student Book, Activity Book and Pearson eBook.

VISUAL ARTS

Unit Length: Semester

Art

Outline

Based on the governing principle of observation, Year 9 Art explores various forms of documentation and personal expression. Building on key ideas established in previous learning experiences, students develop and extend skills in a variety of artmaking techniques and processes. There are opportunities to develop a wide range of skills in both traditional and new media, including Painting, Sculpture, Drawing, Printmaking, and Digital Imaging. The structure of Year 9 Art is designed to be flexible to cultivate and encourage personal choice in the development of practical artwork. There is an emphasis on developing personal statements and style.

Through the study of Art history and appreciation, students establish a broader understanding of the important impact art has had in a number of different historical, political, social and cultural contexts.

Key Skills

Artmaking techniques, creative thinking, use of information and communication technology, personal and social capability, ethical and intercultural understanding.

Assessment

Visual diary, folio of resolved artworks, response to set analytical and art appreciation tasks, examination.

Design

Outline

Year 9 Design offers students the opportunity to create functional furniture and textile products through the application of the design process, project-based research, critical analysis and inquiry. Students work authentically in a studio environment to invent, visualise and prototype design solutions, gaining the skills and knowledge needed to develop ideas into commercially viable ventures.

Through the study of design history they gain a broad understanding of the role and function of product design, examining furniture and textiles. They investigate its role throughout time, its material and stylistic evolution. They explore the contemporary, cultural and sustainable aspects of furniture and products as a means to manufacture and prototype their own furniture solution.

Students learn the language of industrial design, exercise critical thinking, visual literacy, problem solving and personal expression. Through exploring and understanding real-world product based design students exercise discernment as connoisseurs, positioning them as curators rather than consumers of design.

Key Skills

Creative and critical thinking, visual literacy, problem solving, use of information and communication technology, personal and social capability, ethical understanding and intercultural understanding.

Assessment

Visual diary, folio of resolved products, response to set analytical and art appreciation tasks, examination.

PERFORMING ARTS

Unit Length: Semester

Drama

Outline

Year 9 Drama students work collaboratively to improvise with the elements of drama and narrative structure to develop ideas and explore subtext to shape devised and scripted drama. They manipulate combinations of the elements of drama to develop and convey the physical and psychological aspects of roles and characters consistent with intentions in dramatic forms and performance styles. Students practise and refine their expressive skills of voice and movement to communicate ideas and dramatic action in a range of forms, styles and performance spaces. A particular focus of the Year 9 course is the approaches used to structure drama to engage an audience through manipulation of dramatic action, forms and performance styles and by using design elements. Central to this study is the collaborative performance of both devised and scripted drama making deliberate artistic choices and shaping design elements to unify dramatic meaning for an audience. In addition, students analyse and evaluate how the elements of drama, forms and performance styles in devised and scripted drama convey meaning and aesthetic effect.

Key Skills

Critical and creative thinking, collaboration, performance, literacy, communication, intercultural understanding, personal and social capability.

Assessment

Performance of scripted drama, performance of devised drama, evaluation of professional theatre performance/s and written examination.

Music

Outline

Year 9 Music students learn how to improvise in a jazz idiom, compose music for other instruments and how to perform on their selected instrument. They develop their skills through practical activities and build upon theoretical music knowledge with focused performance opportunities. Students are given the opportunity to compose music using technology, and learn how to manipulate the elements of music for effect in their organisation of sound. In addition to this, students develop their music language through musicology assessments and aural analysis.

Key Skills

Critical and creative thinking, music literacy, listening and responding.

Assessment

Ensemble performance, analysis of a musical work, performance of an improvisation, composition and examination.

COMMERCE

Unit Length: Semester

Financial Literacy

Outline

Students explore the world of money and investments. What is money, where does it come from, how do we make it, and just as importantly, how do we keep it? Over the course of the semester students will develop ICT skills to enable to them to produce budgets for individuals in order to manage their personal finances. Students will be introduced to the share market and property markets, learn how prices change and how to invest into these markets. Students will gain an understanding of currency, both Australian and global currencies and how they influence an individual’s financial position. In order to develop greater financial awareness and independence, students are introduced to a number of financial scams and how they should plan for their financial future.

Key Skills

Budgeting, decision making, planning for long term investing, evaluation of the share market and property market.

Assessment

Tests, assignment, share market report and the final examination.

HUMANITIES

Unit Length: Semester

Ethics

Outline

How do I live a good life? What are my rights and responsibilities? How do I decide what is good and bad when making a moral decision? In this subject, students are introduced to the meaning of ethics, and what it means to live responsibly. They explore aspects of personal morality and what this means in our daily, social interactions. Students ask whether such a thing as universal, moral absolutes exist. The subject also explores ethical principles within the specific context of the law and whether it is ever justifiable to break the law based on ethical concepts. Students learn about some significant ethical theories. They also watch and analyse the concerns of a feature film that depicts a critical moral dilemma.

Key Skills

Critical thinking, analysis of written and visual sources.

Assessment

Journal exercises, oral presentation, film analysis, short and extended questions, and an examination.

HEALTH & PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Unit Length: Semester

Australia’s Health

Outline

This unit will focus on the health of Australians and what influences or impacts on the variations in health. Students consider how age, gender, socioeconomic status and culture can create inequalities and influence health status. They will build on their health literacy skills through evaluating nutritional information, including advertising and social media. Students will also research health inequalities in Australia’s youth and investigate the role of communities and governments in addressing the key issues.

Key Skills

Collect, critique and analyse data on health status; research health promotion programs; evaluate the effectiveness of programs; problem solve methods to improve health.

Assessment

Research assignments, topic test, examination.

Outdoor Education

Outline

This unit will focus on developing the key skills and knowledge to safely participate in activities in outdoor environments and to respect and value diverse environments. Students will investigate the different types of outdoor environments and discover what motivates individuals to experience nature. They will also develop appropriate practical skills for safe and sustainable participation and how to conserve and promote positive impacts on outdoor environments. Practical outdoor experiences will provide them with the necessary knowledge and physical skills to effectively create and implement an independent journey at the end of the unit. The activities in this unit may contribute to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

Key Skills

Developing essential personal and social capabilities, including communication, resilience, self-confidence, leadership, teamwork, goal setting, personal autonomy and initiative; plan and reflect on individual impact on the environment; analyse and evaluate outdoor experiences.

Assessment

Practical report, assignment, journal, examination.

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

Unit Length: Semester

Coding

Outline

Students are guided through several of the more popular coding styles used by coding engineers today, focusing on HTML, Python and Javascript, to learn the basic mechanisms of coding. These basic skills will then be incorporated into the Design Process to create an interactive game through code.

During the course of this elective, students will develop problemsolving and reasoning skills with pseudocode and algorithms to solve coding issues as they arise. Students will also have the ability to complete coding challenges with students around Australia and will take part in the Bebras competition.

No prior coding experience is necessary to complete this subject.

Key skills

Computational thinking: decomposition, abstraction, pattern matching, algorithms. Coding skills in the applicable platform or language. Analysing and designing games in response a given audience. Problem-solving skills, testing and evaluating game creation and design.

Assessment

Assignments, major project, examination.

ENGLISH

Unit Length: Full Year

Outline

The English curriculum is built around the three interrelated strands of:

Language – knowing about the English language Literature – understanding, appreciating, responding to, analysing and creating literature, and Literacy – expanding the repertoire of English usage, in both written and oral form

Each area of study in Year 10 integrates and implements the development of skills in the above three strands. Together the strands focus on developing students’ knowledge, understanding and skills in listening, reading, viewing, speaking, writing and creating. Learning in English builds on concepts, skills and processes developed in earlier years, and teachers revise and strengthen these as needed. Students engage with a variety of texts for enjoyment. They interpret, create, evaluate, discuss and perform a wide range of mainly fictional literary texts. These include various types of media texts including newspaper articles, photographs, political cartoons, radio transcripts, television advertising and other forms of media. In studying such texts, students develop critical understanding of the ways in which today’s world is reported.

Literary texts that support and extend students in Years 9 and 10 as independent readers are drawn from a range of genres and involve complex, challenging and unpredictable plot sequences and hybrid structures that may serve multiple purposes. These texts explore themes of human experience and cultural significance, interpersonal relationships, and ethical and global dilemmas within real-world and fictional settings and represent a variety of perspectives. Informative texts represent a synthesis of technical and abstract information from verifiable sources about a wide range of specialised topics. Text structures are more complex including chapters, headings and subheadings, tables of contents, indices and glossaries. Language features include successive complex sentences with embedded clauses, a high proportion of unfamiliar and technical vocabulary, figurative and rhetorical language, and dense information supported by various types of graphics and images.

Students create a range of imaginative, informative and persuasive types of texts including narratives, procedures, performances, reports, discussions, literary analyses and reviews.

Reading

and

Exploring Texts - Shakespeare

Students build on their knowledge of Shakespearean theatre, with a study of a play. In addition to the understanding of Elizabethan drama introduced in Year 9, they acquire a more complex understanding of literary technique and language features as presented in Much Ado About Nothing. The key ideas are explored within this text to generate personal reflection and responses. They identify and explore the purposes and effects of different text structures and language features of spoken texts, and use this knowledge to create their own performance of a selected scene.

Assessment

Passage analyses, essays and scene performance.

Literature: Reading, Exploring and Creating Texts

Students will study mentor texts, selected for their literary merit and complementary themes. Students will use these texts to discuss how the key ideas are presented within them. They will also consider how the ideas are conveyed through various literary features and forms in order to engage with the texts personally and craft their own creative responses.

Students will study another text and will identify, explain and discuss how narrative viewpoint, structure, characterisation and devices, shape different interpretations. They will consider authorial intent to generate analytical responses. They study the conventions of different literary forms and identify the ways in which film or narrative work to create particular meaning.

Assessment

Scene and passage analyses, essays, reviews and creative responses.

1 Above-mentioned texts are correct at time of publication and may be subject to change.

Public Speaking

The Elizabeth M. Butt Public Speaking programme continues with oratory performances held in Term 3. In Year 10, students create a speech based on an interpretation of a selected quotation. The competition promotes the development of polished oratory skills, as well as poise and confidence when speaking to an audience. Students refine their skills in planning and editing, specifically in structuring a spoken text to create a particular perspective and effect on an audience. In this task, and in other formal presentations such as text-related speeches, they develop proficiency in using voice and language conventions to present a point of view, speaking clearly and coherently, using logic, imagery and rhetorical devices.

Assessment

Elizabeth M Butt presentations, formal text presentations, verbal participation in class.

Exploring Argument

Students study newspapers such as The Guardian, The Conversation, The Australian, The Age and The Herald Sun as well as a selction of audio-visual/audio texts. They become familiar with articles written or spoken for a range of purposes and audiences, and acquire proficiency in recognising and formulating different styles of writing, including: informative articles (reportage), opinion pieces, letters and reviews. Students also develop understanding of how images and illustrations can be political and persuasive. They continue to refine their ability to identify persuasive devices employed by authors to influence their readership.

Assessment

Writing for a range of purposes and audiences, language tests (grammar, punctuation and vocabulary), analysis tasks and participation in group discussion.

Language

The Australian Curriculum mandates the teaching of Language skills including sentence structure, textual cohesion and paragraphing, modality, punctuation, grammatical conventions, vocabulary and spelling. The development of proficiency in Language acquisition and skills occurs both alongside and complementary to students’ study of fiction and media texts, and in isolation with specifically directed Language tasks.

Assessment

Assessment occurs during formative tasks for all areas of study in both semesters and in specific textbook language tasks.

MATHEMATICS

Unit Length: Full Year

Mathematics

Outline

In Year 10 Mathematics, students recognise the effect of approximations of real numbers in repeated calculations. They use mathematical modelling to solve problems involving growth and decay in financial and other applied situations, applying linear, quadratic and exponential functions as appropriate, and solve related equations, numerically and graphically. Students make and test conjectures involving functions and relations using digital tools. They solve problems involving simultaneous linear equations and linear inequalities in 2 variables graphically and justify solutions.

Students interpret and use logarithmic scales representing small or large quantities or change in applied contexts. They solve measurement problems involving surface area and volume of composite objects. Students apply Pythagoras’ theorem and trigonometry to solve practical problems involving right-angled triangles. They identify the impact of measurement errors on the accuracy of results. Students use mathematical modelling to solve practical problems involving proportion and scaling, evaluating and modifying models, and reporting assumptions, methods and findings. They use deductive reasoning, theorems and algorithms to solve spatial problems. Students interpret networks used to represent practical situations and describe connectedness.

They plan and conduct statistical investigations involving bivariate data. Students represent the distribution of data involving 2 variables, using tables and scatter plots, and comment on possible association. They analyse inferences and conclusions in the media, noting potential sources of bias. Students compare the distribution of continuous numerical data, using various displays, and discuss distributions in terms of centre, spread, shape and outliers. They apply conditional probability to solve problems involving compound events. Students de-sign and conduct simulations involving conditional probability, using digital tools.

At the end of Semester 1, the school offers an alternative Year 10 mathematics course to students who find the Year 10 regular curriculum challenging.

Key skills

Knowledge, understanding and application of skills and concepts in routine and non-routine problems, communicating mathematical understanding, using CAS calculator or other technology appropriately and efficiently.

Assessment

A variety of assessment tasks are completed throughout the year. This includes application and problem-solving tasks, modelling tasks, topic tests and examinations. Tests and examinations include both Technology Active and Technology Free assessment.

Year 10 Units 1 and 2 Maths Methods

Refer to the Fintona VCE Handbook.

Mainstream Mathematics Pathways

SCIENCE

Unit Length: Full year

Students continue their study of Science, exploring it as a human endeavour and a way of understanding and explaining the world. They further hone their science inquiry skills and focus on strengthening their foundation in the Biological, Chemical, Physical and Earth and Space Sciences.

Outline

Scientific inquiry

Students plan and conduct safe, valid and reproducible investigations to test relationships or develop explanatory models. They explain how they have addressed any ethical and intercultural considerations when generating or using primary and secondary data. They select equipment and use it efficiently to generate and record appropriate sample sizes and replicable data with precision. They select and construct effective representations to organise, process and summarise data and information. They analyse and connect a variety of data and information to identify and explain patterns, trends, relationships and anomalies. They evaluate the validity and reproducibility of methods, and the validity of conclusions and claims. They construct logical arguments based on analysis of a variety of evidence to support conclusions and evaluate claims. They select and use content, language and text features effectively to achieve their purpose when communicating their ideas, findings and arguments to diverse audiences.

Biological sciences

Students explore the genetic basis of inheritance, comparing processes and outcomes, predicting offspring and explaining pedigrees. The role of meiosis and mitosis, coupled with the function of chromosomes, DNA and genes will form a focus of this topic. Mutations such as changes in DNA or chromosomes and the factors that contribute to causing mutations are described. First and second-hand data will be evaluated. Students will also focus on the theory of evolution by natural selection to explain past and present diversity, including variation, isolation and selection. They will then analyse the scientific evidence supporting the theory by looking at the fossil record, anatomical similarities and geographical distribution of species, and relate genetic characteristics to survival and reproductive rates.

Chemical sciences

Students explain patterns and trends in the periodic table and predict the products of reactions and the effect of changing reactant and reaction conditions. They investigate how the Bohr model of the atom explains the structure and properties of atoms and relates to their organisation in the periodic table. They investigate the nature of chemical bonding including ionic and covalent bonds. Students investigate synthesis, decomposition displacement, and acid and base reactions, predict their products, and examine the factors that affect reaction rates.

Students also identify the patterns in synthesis, decomposition, and displacement reactions and investigate the factors that affect reaction rates.

Physical sciences

Students work through Newton’s laws of motion, quantitatively analysing the relationship between force, mass and acceleration of objects. They analyse and proprose relationships between distance and time, speed, force and acceleration with mathematical representations and graphing models. Students also model how a change in net force acting on an object affects its motion, looking at how this applies in vehicles.

Students also examine, in theory and practically, how the particle model of electricity explains static electricity and electrical current and relates this to voltage and current in circuits. They apply concepts of charge (Q), electric current (I), potential difference (V), energy (E) and power (P), in electric circuits. They analyse and evaluate different analogies used to describe electric current and potential difference. Students compare power transfer in series and parallel circuit.

Key Skills

Safe experiment techniques, collecting and recording data, drawing and interpreting graphs, problem solving, applying knowledge, performing mathematical calculations, observation, interpretation, evaluation, application of knowledge to everyday situations, concept mapping, research, analysis, making inferences, use of digital technologies, modelling, experimentation, record keeping.

Assessment

Tests, research work, practical work and reports, assignments and examination.

HISTORY

Unit Length: Semester

The modern world and Australia

Outline

In this subject, students consider the emergence of significant economic, social and political ideas of the twentieth-century postWWI by exploring two topics: Second World War and Building Modern Australia.

Second World War

Students explore the inter-war years and consider the relative significance of events that led to the outbreak of WWII. Students investigate key events and individuals involved in the war in both the European and Pacific theatres. Students examine the continuities and changes that occurred on the home front during the war.

Building Modern Australia

This unit focuses on the rights movements that developed throughout the 20th century, particularly the struggle for rights and freedoms for and by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Students will examine government policies in the 20th century and investigate the impact this has on First Nations Australia. Students will learn about significant individuals who fought for change and significant movement that progress civil and land rights. In considering the ongoing impact of government policies, students will examine the continuities and changes that have occurred with regard to civil and land rights for First Nations Australians. Additionally, students will investigate significant events, individuals and groups in the women’s rights movements in Australia, and how they changed the role and status of women.

Key Skills

Research skills, analysis of written and visual primary and secondary sources, evaluation of evidence, construction of historical arguments.

Assessment

Source analyses, research tasks, extended responses, essays, examination.

Resources

Textbook: Pearson History Custom 9-10 (retained from Year 9) Jacaranda History Alive 9 and online resources.

GEOGRAPHY

Unit Length: Semester

Environmental management and human wellbeing

Outline

The world’s population is over 7.9 billion and is continuing to increase. For the sake of the future of our species, it is vital that we analyse the pressures that our growing population puts on the natural environment and the wellbeing of peoples across the planet.

Students examine the issues associated with the use and management of the world’s oceans and our coastlines. They conduct fieldwork at St Kilda Pier to understand these issues at a local scale. They explore the causes of these issues and evaluate the ways we can deal with these in the future.

There are distinct and observable differences in human wellbeing between places around the world. Students investigate these and the reasons for differences at global, national and local scales. Focus topics include child labour, sanitation and literacy rated for women in developing countries. Case studies investigated include South Africa, India and difference in wellbeing within Melbourne and in our Indigenous communities.

Key Skills

Research, presenting and interpreting data such as maps and graphs, conducting fieldwork.

Assessment

Research, fieldwork report, data presentation and analysis tasks, examination.

Resources

Atlas, Textbook: Jacaranda Geography Alive 10 and online resources.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Unit Length: Full Year

Outline

Students are provided with the opportunity to experience a variety of team games and movement activities, including dance, lacrosse, racquet sports (tennis, badminton, table tennis) and tchoukball. They participate in skills sessions, game situations and competitions to gain an understanding of correct technique, rules and tactics. Students analyse how participation in physical activity and sport influences their personal development during a lifestyle fitness unit. They’re also provided with opportunities to refine their skills in demonstrating leadership, teamwork and collaboration in a range of physical activities.

Key Skills

Catching, throwing, striking, fielding, coordination, movement to music, teamwork, fair play, sportsmanship and sports administration.

Assessment

Active participation, skills checklist, group assessment.

LANGUAGES

Unit Length: Full Year

French

Outline

Students develop their ability to communicate in French and understand the role of language and culture through various topics related to health and fitness for young people, talking about feelings and emotions, comparing life in the past and present, media, environment issues and plans for the future.

Key Skills

Speaking, listening, reading, and writing.

Assessment

Listening, speaking, reading and writing skills are tested in unit tests and end of semester examination.

Resources

Tapis Volant 2, 4th edition Student book and Workbook, Education Perfect, bilingual dictionary.

Latin

Outline

Students develop their ability to read Latin through the storybased approach of the Cambridge Latin Course. They amplify and consolidate their knowledge of the classical language in the context of Imperial Rome in the first century CE. Students investigate the social, political and historical aspects of Roman culture as an essential preparation for the reading of authentic Latin texts.

Key Skills

Translation, reading comprehension, verse scansion, dictionary use.

Assessment

Tests, assignments, examination.

Resources

Cambridge Latin Course Books 4 and 5 (retain Book 4 from Year 9); Collins Latin Dictionary and Grammar.

Japanese

Outline

Students develop their ability to communicate in Japanese and understand the role of language and culture through a variety of topics relevant to their own life and to those of Japanese teenagers, focusing on cultural similarities and differences. Students learn to talk about urban and country lifestyle; street directions; school trips; transportation; part-time work, future careers and aspirations; exchange program.

Key Skills

Speaking, listening, reading, viewing, and writing.

Assessment

Oral presentations, tests, examination.

Resources

iiTomo 3/4 Student Book, Activity Book and Pearson eBook.

In addition to the prescribed textbooks listed, CDs, videos, DVDs, worksheets, workshops, outside performances, etc. are used in Language subjects at Years 9 and 10.

Language studies are sequential by nature; therefore, students are required to complete a full year of study in both Year 9 and Year 10 to establish the necessary skills to undertake a VCE language.

VISUAL ARTS

Unit Length: Semester

Studio Art

Outline

Studio Art as a subject allows students to explore and create through a series of self-directed learning tasks that build on a student’s prior learning and skills established in, but not restricted to, previous art and design subjects. Weighted equally between critical thinking and practical art production this subject aims to promote the important role research and conceptualisation play in the art making process. Students are free to work in one or more media, including Painting, Sculpture, Textiles, Drawing, Printmaking, and Digital Imaging. As a subject, Year 10 Studio Art encourages students to establish and document their own areas of interest and resulting responses.

Through the study of contemporary arts practice, students develop and expand their understanding of the important role art plays in the shaping of both individuals and cultures.

Key Skills

Creative thinking, use of information and communication technology, visual literacy, personal and social capability, ethical and intercultural understanding.

Assessment

Visual diary, folio of resolved artworks, response to set analytical and art appreciation tasks and examination.

Architecture

Outline

Architecture offers students the opportunity to design exterior and interior spaces and to consolidate skills and knowledge using the design process, project-based research, critical analysis and inquiry. Students work authentically in a studio environment to drive and develop spatial design concepts and create professional presentations.

Students develop the core skills required of an architect and interior designer and consolidate their grounding in design and visual communication skills. Through the study of design history and contexts students gain a broad understanding of the role and function of architecture. A range of modern architectural debates and problems are addressed, situating them within an historical context and exploring contemporary design implications.

Key Skills

Students learn the language of architectural design, exercise critical thinking, visual literacy, problem solving and personal expression. Through exploring and understanding architecture students exercise discernment as connoisseurs, positioning them as curators rather than consumers of design.

Assessment

A folio that documents the students’ explorations and evaluation of concepts, aesthetics and achievements, folio of resolved concepts, response to set analytical and art appreciation tasks and examination.

VISUAL ARTS

Unit Length: Semester

Photography

Outline

Photography introduces digital and black and white photography as a means of self-expression. Photographic principles and properties are explored in order to appreciate the potential and limitations of the photographic medium. This subject is developed to challenge and provide practical skills in the use of equipment and conceptual and aesthetic skills in image making. Photography also explores different social and historical roles and conventions of the photographic medium. Students learn technical competence with cameras and darkroom procedures, visual awareness and the practice of photography as an expressive art form.

Through the study of source material, significant artists and art movements, students will form personal opinions about the ways in which photographers undertake artistic practices, employ techniques and processes, and develop aesthetic qualities and styles in their artworks. This unit also enables students to establish a foundation for understanding the role and function that photography and photo-based media has in the shaping of social, cultural and political contexts.

Key Skills

Creative thinking, visual literacy, use of information and communication technology, personal and social capability, ethical and intercultural understanding.

Assessment

Visual diary, folio of resolved artworks, response to set analytical and art appreciation tasks, examination.

Fashion Design

Outline

Fashion Design offers students the opportunity to develop creative product design skills through original fashion concepts. Students produce garments that are creative and technically functional. Students examine how the fashion industry works and the roles and responsibilities of designers and manufacturers. Students develop innovative, future thinking to trend forecast and analyse trends.

Students work authentically in a studio environment to drive and develop fashion design concepts and create professional design presentations. The focus is on enquiry and application of the design process.

Students develop the core skills required of a fashion designer and consolidate their grounding in design and visual communication skills. Through the study of fashion history and culture such as art, design, technology, concepts of taste, multiculturalism, identity and gender, consumerism, ethics and sustainability students gain a broad understanding of the role and function of fashion throughout time.

Key Skills

Critical thinking, visual literacy, problem solving and personal expression, ethical and intercultural understanding.

Assessment

Folio that documents the students’ explorations and evaluation of concepts, aesthetics and achievements, folio of resolved design works, response to set analytical and art appreciation tasks and examination.

PERFORMING ARTS

Unit Length: Semester

Drama

Outline

Year 10 Drama students are encouraged to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding of Drama through the study and performance of both scripted and devised performance work. They collaboratively explore the playscript and theory of a recognised theatre practitioner as an extension of their learning about theatre styles and conventions. Students refine their understanding of the significant roles in theatre and drama including the director, designer, writer and actor through practical application of these skills in performance tasks. In Year 10, there is a continued focus on the skills of character development and performance with the use of voice and movement central to all units of study. Key to student learning in Drama in Year 10 is the importance of experimentation, reflection, and refinement to determine the desired impact of the piece being created on the intended audience. As part of their Drama study, students will also attend a professional theatre production which they then analyse and evaluate.

Key Skills

Analysis, critical and creative thinking, performance, musical literacy, listening and responding.

Assessment

Solo and/or group performance, analysis of styles, composition, improvisation, examination.

Music

Outline

In Year 10 Music, students perform, compose, analyse and broaden their knowledge of the elements of music. They explore how to observe, evaluate and justify when responding to music, learning how to critically examine music from a variety of styles. Students develop their compositional skills by examining existing works and applying observed techniques to their own creations.

Students diversify their understanding of music theory, and learn more concepts that underpin how music works. They study voice leading and chord construction, while applying their knowledge in a practical manner. Students also refine aural skills by learning more about intervals, chord progressions, scale and chord identification, as well as rhythmic and melodic dictation.

Students build skills in improvisation, and apply techniques as studied in class when practically composing music contemporaneously.

Key Skills

Critical and creative thinking, collaboration, performance, literacy, communication, intercultural understanding, personal and social capability.

Assessment

Solo and/or group performance, analysis of professional theatre and examination.

COMMERCE

Unit Length: Semester

Economics and the World

Outline

Students learn of the impact that their decisions make to the world around them. How do they make these decisions and are they being rational or irrational in their decision making process. This subject explores how consumers behave through their study of behavioural economics. Students analyse the changes in our economy though demand and supply and how consumers and business interact in a market economy. They learn the impact of global poverty and identify and analyse how we as communities, individuals and nations are required to have a more sustainable impact on the world with our use of resources. They assess how we interact with our international neighbours through trade and the influence that trade has on less developed nations. We look at a balance between economic growth and saving the planet.

Key Skills

Critical thinking, research, evaluation and analysis.

Assessment

Behavioural investigation, tests, assignment, research tasks, examination.

Business Accounting

Outline

Students will learn to record and report accounting transactions for a small business. They will develop an understanding of how a small business accounts for both profit and cash flows as well as the decision making process on how a business can be financed. Students will assess financial information for a small business and prepare financial reports including profit and loss statements, cash flow statements and balance sheets in order to determine the financial worth of a business. An important skill students will develop is to analyse accounting information and reports in order to assess how they can improve a business through the interpretation of these accounting reports. Students will develop an understanding of how the use of accounting reports can benefit both the owner and manager of a small business, and how this can translate into increased success for the owner and the business itself.

Key Skills

Recording transactions into journals and ledgers, preparing reports for profit, cash flow and the financial position of the small business, and analysing financial statements.

Assessment

A range of tests, application exercises and examination.

Australian Politics

Outline

The course provides students with an opportunity to engage with the fundamentals of Australia’s political system, together with key political issues facing Australians.

Students learn about political ideologies, followed by an examination of the development of Australia’s political system and the impact this development has on how decisions are made today. We look at the structure of Australia’s parliamentary system and the process by which laws are made. The course examines Australia’s political parties and the voting systems that are used to elect them.

There is frequent discussion about current political issues and student will engage regularly with the media to stay informed. The semester culminates with an in-depth study of a contemporary political issue selected by each student, with students developing ways in which to deal with their area of concern.

Key Skills

Research and analytical skills, note taking, extended responses, problem solving.

Assessment

Research assignments, tests, class presentations, analysis of a current issue in Australian politics, document analysis, examination.

International Politics

Outline

This course aims to provide students with an opportunity to engage with the key international political issues of our times. We explore the myriad of ways lives have been affected by the increased interconnectedness and consider the extent to which global actors cooperate and share visions and goals as part of the global community. We investigate key political, economic and social links throughout the global community; and the increased role of international non-government organisations, transnational corporations, terrorist organisations and the prominence of global political movements. We explore the ability of the global community to manage areas of global cooperation and to respond to issues.

Key Skills

Research and analytical skills, extended writing, problem solving and analysis, ethical and intercultural understanding.

Assessment

Research assignments, tests, essay, analysis of sources and examination.

INTERDISCIPLINARY

Unit Length: Semester Philosophy

Outline

The elective provides an introduction to the field of philosophy whereby students are taught that their assumptions and modes of thinking are not accidental, but have developed over centuries of inquiry. Students particularly examine logic and reasoning, what is real and the existence and nature of God through film, activities and classroom discussion. The unit provides an overview of the canon of key philosophical thinkers like Plato and Socrates whose ideas have informed western culture.

On completion of this unit students should be able to participate in debates on key questions relating to reason, reality and existence; develop an understanding of the heritage of western philosophy; and apply the ideas of key philosophers to questions such as what constitutes knowledge, understanding and reality.

Key Skills

Conceptual understanding, analysis, application of philosophical arguments to practical life.

Assessment

Tests, film and theory analysis, journal.

Multimedia Communication

Outline

In this unit, students will have the opportunity to make and respond to different modes of media or a range of media formats as a form of communication in an informed, critical and creative way. They will explore how modes of media communicate meaning through a manipulation of visual, sound and print elements. Accuracy and reliability of information sources in traditional print media as well as social media will be investigated. The relationships between media technologies, audiences and society will also be explored. Students will be involved in the analysis of media as well as creating their own representations applying the conventions of the mode studied.

Key Skills

Analysis and evaluation, deconstruction of media codes and conventions, critical and creative thinking, visual literacy, ethical and intercultural understanding.

Assessment

Social campaign, reflective essay, production and analysis of an advertisement, written examination.

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Unit Length: Semester

Exercise Sports Science

Outline

This subject will explore the physiological adaptations that are most relied upon during physical activity. Students will examine the cardiovascular, respiratory and muscular systems and how they function during exercise, recovery and at rest.

A unit on training to enhance performance will see students assess their own fitness and design a program based on the principles of training and individual goals.

Further, they will explore the legal methods of enhancing performance such as nutrition and psychological strategies in sport and the ethical considerations around the various methods.

Key Skills

Design and implement an effective training program; collect, critique and analyse data to determine training goals; compare and contrast enhancement methods.

Assessment

Assignments, topic tests and examination.

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

Unit Length: Semester

Applied Computing

Outline

Students begin this unit gaining an understanding of how a computer is built by physically deconstructing, researching the component parts, and then rebuilding a computer. Students will then look at gathering and processing data to present to a wider audience, learning to utilise software such as Microsoft Excel, Access and PowerBI to manipulate and display this data. Cybersecurity and the ethical issues of accessing and presenting data are also a key part of data collection.

Students will also focus on developing a 3-Dimensional model that will be printed on the 3D printer and will generate a laser-cut object to cut and construct a model. Students who are interested in coding will have the opportunity to work with a group to code a Raspberry Pi to perform a function. All students will be provided an opportunity to build an electronics kit, learning to solder wires to produce a working piece of electronics of varying complexities with coding often required.

Finally, students will take a firsthand look at robotics, working in teams building and programming an advanced robot to perform functions specified by the design team, and explore the world of Virtual and Augmented Realities.

Key Skills

Research and analytical skills, problem solving and troubleshooting, collecting and recording data, visual representation of data, applying knowledge, use of digital technologies, ethical considerations, use of software, applying functions, basic programming knowledge.

Assessment

Project builds, assignments and examination.