Strategic Education Plan

The Geelong College

2011 - 2015

Knowing, Doing, Being and Living with Others: Learning in the 21st Century

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Dear members of our community It is with great pleasure that I present The Geelong College’s new Strategic Education Plan (2011-2015) to you.

To put this Plan in proper context, I have taken the opportunity to look back over the last five years during which the first Strategic Education Plan was progressively implemented.

The first Education Plan (2005-2010) represented a great milestone for the College. It was developed in close consultation with Council, staff and parents and presented a strong educational vision for the College and a cohesive planning framework within which a number of broad-ranging objectives were set.

It was designed to be responsive to the needs of the students and forward-thinking and led to a range of positive educational initiatives and programs across the school, including the City and Fulfilling Lives programs (Years 9 and 10) and Collabor8 in the Preparatory School. A number of empowering themes explicitly foregrounded in the Plan (viz. global citizenship, community engagement, technological empowerment) helped engage the school with the real world and enhanced the breadth of the educational experience overall. A sharper focus on the quality of the teaching and learning was implemented and a targeted professional learning program developed with teachers, a number of whom commendably embarked upon a Master of Educational Studies. The Strategic Education Plan was strongly embraced by Council and was well resourced overall.

Our first Plan also enabled the school to become more accountable generally with annual progress reports made to parents at the beginning of each year. There is no doubt that its overall impact was very beneficial for the College: much was accomplished as a result of its implementation and staff as a whole should be given considerable credit for the many positive outcomes.

Our new Strategic Education Plan, which was also developed in consultation with Council, teachers and parents, has benefited from the experience of the first, building on its accomplishments and addressing some of the weaknesses that became apparent. It will hopefully become a sharper, more deeply embedded directional tool that will continue to generate positive educational outcomes and change at the College – preparing our students for an inherently challenging world.

A set of core commitments has been usefully added to the new Strategic Education Plan 2011-2015 to enable the College community to clearly understand what we stand for educationally. I commend these to you, at the same time as I commend the Plan overall: All-Round Education Coeducation Excellence Community Forward-Thinking Sustainability Dr Pauline Turner December 2010

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The College’s mission statement continues to guide our operations and programs:

Our Mission

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The Geelong College is a coeducational school which aims to provide one of the finest all-round educational experiences in Australia.

The School is grounded in Christian principles where striving for individual achievement and self-fulfilment combines with concern for others.

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The Context A range of contextual factors have influenced and informed the development of the new College Strategic Education Plan.

General

The importance of knowledge in generating individual fulfilment, economic prosperity and the common good An emphasis on continual learning and the capacity to adopt new skills and knowledge The importance of diversity – cultural, religious, gendered – in an interconnected world A focus on creativity in all fields of human endeavour The importance of developing human capacities individually and collectively The pervasiveness of new technologies and social media Better understanding about the ways in which people learn New approaches to teaching and learning which require changes in school structures, programs and organisation The imperative of living sustainably An increased concern for the health and well-being of young people

Australia

The development of an Australian curriculum The reporting of school performance data at a national level The emergence of a performance culture within schools

Our Core Commitments The following commitments have been identified as central to The Geelong College mission. They capture what we stand for educationally and serve to define our position generally.

All-Round Education We offer a well-rounded education with a focus on the development of the whole child (mind, body and spirit) through a broad range of experiences and opportunities.

Coeducation Coeducation is a natural setting for educating boys and girls and promotes equality, diversity and social competency.

Excellence

We are committed to continuous improvement and excellence in teaching and learning, pastoral care, programs, facilities and institutional practices.

Community Our own sense of community is strong and underpins our commitment to others, both locally and globally.

Forward Thinking We are forward thinkers and develop creative responses to changing needs and an evolving world.

Sustainability Our concern for the future is reflected in our commitment to sustainable attitudes and practices.

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Our Educational Priorities

Adopting the UNESCO model for Educating in the 21st Century, we have structured our educational programs around four interrelated pillars of education and set out our major priorities as follows:

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The basis of this learning is the joy of knowing, understanding and discovering.

Possibly the most effective and satisfying way to learn is through ‘doing’.

This pillar involves the cognitive dimension of learning: acquiring knowledge, skills and understanding; fostering learning skills and cultivating intellectual character.

This pillar involves the application of knowledge and skills: authentic ‘real life’ learning, developing productive skills and preparing progressively for the world of work.

Acquiring fundamental knowledge and skills across a range of subjects

Applying knowledge and skills

Being intellectually curious and passionate about learning

Learning in ‘real life’ contexts

Being self-directed and persistent

Being open-minded and thinking creatively

Being inventive and taking risks

Developing the habit of reflection

Working collaboratively with others

Learning how to learn

Exploring different pathways and planning actively for one’s future

Learning through understanding

Becoming a discerning digital learner

Developing a range of vocational competencies

Developing analytical, critical thinking and synthesizing strategies

Learning in a context of uncertainty and change

Education must also contribute to the allround development of each individual – mind, body, sensitivity, aesthetic sense, personal responsibility and spiritual values.

Learning how best to live with others is one of the major issues in society today.

Embracing Christian values

This pillar involves the social and cultural dimensions of learning and our responsibility to help students to understand diversity and the interdependence of human life so that people might better cooperate for the individual and common good.

Valuing the spiritual dimensions of life

Cultivating positive relationships

Thinking and acting ethically

Developing self awareness, responsibility, judgement, autonomy and resilience

Understanding gender and respecting gender differences

Understanding social, cultural, and religious diversity

Having high expectations and striving for personal excellence

Developing empathy and respect for others

Exploring one’s talents and developing a broad range of capacities

Developing the qualities associated with positive citizenship

Being confident, optimistic and healthy in mind and body

Taking initiative and developing as a leader

Engaging productively with local and other communities in Australia and abroad

Learning to participate in a global world

Developing a range of life skills

Being socially and environmentally responsible

This pillar involves the personal dimension of learning.

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The Story of a Geelong College Education All-Round Education

A rounded and balanced education is something that has always been appreciated by College parents as it enables their children to flourish academically at the same time as they develop different skills and capacities which help them to lead healthy, meaningful and fulfilling lives.

The Geelong College: Its Ethos, Scholars and Traditions

Over time, the College has built up a broad and liberal ethos through the work of great and committed educators. Its first Principal George Morrison, who hailed from Scotland, established very strong academic foundations for the school during its first 30-40 years. His son and successor Norman took the next important step in the College’s development by bringing the school into the ranks of the Associated Public Schools (APS), enabling it to take part in a greatly enhanced sporting competition. The next long-serving Principal Sir Frank Rolland, who steered the College through what has been described as years of ‘fulfilment’ (1920-1945), introduced many opportunities for students to develop their ‘roundedness’ through debates, drama, craft, scouts, clubs, musicals, hikes and expeditions, complementing an academic program which henceforth linked studies to real life through lectures and excursions. This kind of liberal ethos has continued to the present.

In the course of the 15 decades of its development, The Geelong College has turned out an amazing diversity of people: world class scientists like Sir Frank McFarlane Burnet (Nobel Prize in Medicine, 1960), significant community leaders like Senator John Button, entrepreneurs such as Sir Arthur Coles, while the likes of Lindsay Hassett, Guy Pearce and Robert Ingpen have played important sporting and artistic roles on the world stage. In recent times, women – who only joined the College in the mid 1970s – have begun to emerge in the senior ranks of the law, politics and business. Such people inspire our students and enable them to glimpse what their potential might be. School rituals too, and even the distinctive architecture of the Senior School campus with its central Cloisters, forge strong connections with the past, helping to shape our students’ identity and sense of purpose in life.

The Last Ten Years

The last ten or so years have brought profound change to the world and to Australia. One of our most important aims as a school has become to prepare students for living in a constantly changing world, and this has meant consciously strengthening their cultural, moral and social as well as cognitive capacities to enable them to make the right decisions in life. Our focus on looking after the whole child, the rich opportunities we offer in core and further programs (incorporating some of the major issues of our times such as sustainability, global citizenship and technology), together with an inspiring range of co-curricular experiences, have helped develop a real sense of agency and connectedness in our students.

Within the academic program, our aim has been for students to think more actively, to develop the habit of reflective action and to take intellectual risks in order to build up more robust understandings. It is our duty to create experiences that offer engagement and challenge inside and outside the classroom.

At an institutional level, we have also increased the creativity of staff and empowered them to design new programs that better meet the needs of students as well as contemporary challenges: the most obvious examples are the Year 4 Enviro (2001), Year 6 Multimedia (2004), Collabor8 (2005) and Outreach (from 2005).

The Coming Years

The world will continue to undergo enormous transformations in the years to come so, more than ever, our focus will need to be on continuing to ensure that our students develop into competent, confident, resilient and creative young people. “Education” as Yeats once said, “is not filling a bucket but lighting a fire”. It is the most important gift that can be given to a young person.

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The Australian Curriculum During the life of the Strategic Education Plan 2011-2015, the College will be implementing the new Australian Curriculum. The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) has set up management structures, employed curriculum writers, established a consultation and trialling process and a timetable for progressively developing and implementing the curriculum, assessment and reporting over the next seven years across Australia. The framing conceptualisation for the Australian Curriculum emerged from the Melbourne Declaration of Educational Goals for Young Australians (2008) which announced that students need: • A solid foundation in skills and knowledge on which further learning and adult life

can be built • Deep knowledge and skills that will enable advanced learning and an ability to

create new ideas and translate them into practical applications • General capabilities that underpin flexible and critical thinking, a capacity to work

with others and an ability to move across subject disciplines to develop new expertise ACARA has framed ten general capabilities which all students should gain: literacy, numeracy, information and communication literacies, thinking skills, creativity, self-management, teamwork, intercultural understanding, ethical behaviour and social competence. These capabilities will need to be addressed in all learning areas but it is up to individual schools to determine how they will be foregrounded in the curriculum. In our Strategic Education Plan 2005-2010, we had already begun developing these capabilities and our new Strategic Education Plan 2011-2015 will build on these further.

Assessment and reporting of the Australian Curriculum are still being developed by ACARA. There will be a five point scale for achievement A – E and the College will incorporate the assessment and reporting model as it becomes available.

There are also three cross-curricular dimensions which all subject areas will need to take into consideration: Indigenous history and culture, Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia, sustainability.

The Australian Curriculum consists of eight learning areas and will be implemented in three phases: Phase 1: English, Maths, Science and History (from 2012) Phase 2: Arts, LOTE and Geography (from 2013) Phase 3: Health and PE, Business and Economics, ICT and Design and Technology (from 2014) The implementation of the K -10 curriculum will be closely followed by implementation of Year 11 and Year 12 subjects at each phase.

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Appendix Preamble

Educational Priority ‘Elaborations’

The purpose of this Appendix is to elaborate on the College’s Educational Priorities outlined on pages 8 and 9.

The summary below will give you a sense of the ways in which the Educational Priorities will be interpreted by the school and the kinds of outcomes we will be striving for over the next five years.

Many of the elements are already in place, in whole or in part; others will be worked on further and each department or area within the school will make explicit how they intend to proceed annually.

The Elaborations which are grouped under the four Pillars of Education – Learning to Know, Learning to Do, Learning to Live with Others, Learning to Be – will be increasingly visible over the next five years:

Learning to Know Acquiring fundamental knowledge and skills across a range of subjects

A well designed, stimulating and challenging program of studies across a broad range of disciplines A focus on literacy and numeracy as well as the different subject literacies Systematic and strategic interventions to cater for different students’ learning needs Well designed formative and summative assessment methodologies being applied Regular and timely reporting to parents enabling them to support their children’s learning

Being intellectually curious and passionate about learning

Students showing a love of learning and understanding the value of learning Students having some choice about what and how they learn Differentiated learning methodologies based on students’ ability, thinking style and interests Active debate and discussion in formal and informal settings Students having opportunities to learn with outside experts and in the community

Being open-minded and thinking creatively

Students exploring ideas, experimenting and solving problems Programs that are responsive to emerging trends and new ways of operating Teaching and learning which enable creativity across all subject domains Some interdisciplinary approaches to learning

Developing the habit of reflection

Students connecting new learning to prior learning Students having time to reflect on and document what, why and how they are learning Students evaluating units of work in relation to their learning

Learning how to learn

Teachers responding to students’ personal learning needs A learning mentor program at relevant year levels Students knowing the language of learning and understanding how they learn best Cognitive skills such as concentration, memory and logical thinking being fostered Students taking responsibility for learning

Learning through understanding

A ‘learning for understanding’ framework applied in all subject areas Students engaging in higher order thinking and having opportunities to make decisions Effective and timely support for all students

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Becoming a discerning digital learner

Students being taught discernment in the use of the digital resources through a structured information literacy program Students selecting and using a variety of modes and media to communicate their ideas

Developing analytical, critical thinking and synthesising strategies

Students learning how to analyse, explain, raise important questions, develop arguments, test hypotheses, evaluate and re-evaluate within different subject areas Students learning how to summarise, conclude, infer and generalise, incorporate new information and draw even bigger conclusions

Learning in a context of uncertainty and change

Students encouraged to think flexibly, pick up ideas from different sources, connect ideas and accept ambiguity Regular reviews to ensure relevance of programs

Learning to Do Applying knowledge and skills

Students applying knowledge and skills in different ways and new situations Students demonstrating learning through learning “performances” Students having opportunities to draft, experiment and solve problems

Learning in ‘real life’ contexts

Students having opportunities to learn through themed programs, inquiry based initiatives, case studies, field work and enrichment programs Technology being used to create authentic experiences

Being self-directed and persistent

Students being encouraged to succeed through appropriate goal setting, recognising the demands of a task and modifying strategies when necessary Students enjoying structured opportunities to design, build and test; train, rehearse and perform

Being inventive and taking risks

Students having structured opportunities to use their initiative and natural inventiveness and to take calculated risks Students discussing and developing ideas as well as leveraging off others’ expertise

Working collaboratively with others

Students having regular opportunities to work in groups Students understanding how to engage productively with others, respect different skills and contributions, negotiate and deal with conflict

Exploring different pathways and planning actively for one’s future

A variety of vocational pathways available to students with different needs A timely and effective career counselling service in the Senior School Students having opportunities to explore the world of tertiary education and work through workshops, work experience and guest speaker programs

Developing a range of vocational competencies

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Students learning a range of vocational skills as part of a personal development program Students having opportunities to engage in a range of vocational studies

Learning to Be Embracing Christian values

Religious education from Prep Grade to Year 10 Collective religious worship as an integral feature of College life Aspects of morality being explored through the curriculum (eg literature) and through daily life

Valuing the spiritual dimensions of life

Students exploring faith and the different faith systems in the world Students having opportunities to appreciate the wonders of the natural world Students appreciating great art in its different forms (music, literature, painting etc) Students having opportunities for stillness, self-reflection, meditation and thanksgiving

Thinking and acting ethically

School policies, programs and actions that are ethically consistent Students engaging in discussions about ethical issues Students being encouraged to seek truth and to be honest and fair-minded Students having opportunities to hear about and experience different values systems

Developing self awareness, responsibility, judgement, autonomy and resilience

A personal development program promoting self awareness and a growing sense of responsibility Students encouraged to develop their intellectual character in all subject areas A range of support structures available for students experiencing personal difficulties

Having high expectations and striving for personal excellence

Students striving for high personal standards in all fields of endeavour Teachers with high expectations of all students and structuring their programs accordingly Students encouraged to develop a strong work ethic which underpins high quality outcomes

Exploring one’s talents and developing a broad range of capacities

A broad academic program catering for different interests and developing different capacities An enriching co-curricular program enabling students to explore and pursue their many talents

Being confident, optimistic and healthy in mind and body

A range of well-being policies to help students make good choices in life Students having opportunities to be heard in honest, open and trusting ways

Taking initiative and developing as a leader

A range of opportunities for leadership and responsibility across the school Students developing their voice and having a say in the life of the school Leadership and public speaking training available

Developing a range of life skills

Students developing a range of life skills through outdoor education, co-curricular programs, community projects and particular curriculum initiatives Students encouraged to develop social and networking skills Students able to communicate confidently with a range of people in a variety of situations

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Learning to Live with Others Cultivating positive relationships

A strong pastoral care program across the school Clear and consistent expectations of student behaviour Behavioural management strategies that ensure a positive learning culture Students being taught to negotiate and resolve conflict, using restorative justice practice where appropriate

Understanding gender and respecting gender differences

A comprehensive coeducation policy in place Girls and boys choosing subjects on the basis of interest and aptitude rather than gender stereotypes Specific gender programs catering for the needs of students Students understanding how society and the media position females and males

Understanding social, cultural and religious diversity

A range of subjects which promote a good understanding of diversity A diversity of nationalities encouraged and celebrated within the school (students and teachers) Meaningful links between international and Australian students Programs which foster intercultural understandings in developing countries and parts of Australia

Developing empathy and respect for others

Community action programs which foster respect and connection with different social and ethnic groupings Students learning to understand the Aboriginal culture and the importance of reconciliation

Developing the qualities associated with positive citizenship

Students understanding their civic rights and responsibilities in a democratic society Pro-social policies and practices being implemented in the school Students having an explicit understanding of what it means to be a good cyber citizen

Engaging productively with local and other communities in Australia and abroad

College facilities, amenities and programs available to the local community Local community services actively supported Links with different institutions and schools locally, nationally and internationally

Learning to participate in a global world

A wide range of international programs including immersion experiences Students connecting via technology with people in different parts of the world Global issues such as climate change and population dynamics incorporated into the educational program

Being socially and environmentally responsible

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Students raising funds for local and national charities and international causes A focus on sustainability in the curriculum and institutional practice strengthened Students participating in school and community sustainability programs

The Geelong College

Talbot Street Newtown 3220 PO Box 5 Geelong Victoria 3220 Australia CRICOS: 00142G

Senior School (Years 9-12) Telephone +61 3 5226 3190 Fax +61 3 5226 3717 Preparatory School Early Learning Centre (Kindergarten - three, four and five year old) Telephone +61 3 5226 8437 Fax +61 3 5223 3820 Campbell House (Prep Grade - Year 3) Telephone +61 3 5226 8433 Fax +61 3 5223 3820 Middle School (Years 4-8) Telephone +61 3 5226 8444 Fax +61 3 5222 4707 Email: admissions@geelongcollege.vic.edu.au www.geelongcollege.vic.edu.au19

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