Table of Contents
About Year 9 Subject Selection
- Advanced options – students can self-elect into advanced options at Year 9
- Acceleration options – classes taken from the offerings of the year level above – requires an application (Accelerated Learning Program – ALP).
Accelerated subjects are those undertaken from the possibilities in the year above (Year 10 or 11) and can only be taken following an Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) application.
To be accepted into the ALP, you must:
- Maintain a 90%+ attendance at school
- Achieve an aggregate score of 80%+ in their chosen subject area
- Submit all tasks for all subjects
- Have a teacher who has taught you in a relevant learning area endorse your application
ALP Review: All students in the ALP will have their performance reviewed on a semester-basis against the same criteria above. Should you not maintain the standards, you will be removed from the program and assigned to a subject from your year level. The reason for this is because the ALP is about students excelling and if you are not, you are best to try it again in the following year or choose a different subject that might suit you better.
Advanced subjects
Are those taken at the current Year 9 level. Student can self-elect into Advanced English and/or Maths but should only do so if they are achieving highly in that subject in Year 8. You should ask your current teacher if they think you will be suited to an Advanced study. However, if you have been underperforming in Year 8 and this is because you have not worked hard, you have second semester to do better and make Advanced studies appropriate for yourself.
Foundation subjects are designed for students who experience considerable difficulty in the mainstream course of study in Maths or English. Students in Foundation English will be undertaking PreVOC in Year 10. Students in Foundation Mathematics will be undertaking Skills Maths in Year 10. If you have plans to do VCE English, you must be in a mainstream English class in Year 9. If you have plans to do VCE Mathematics, you must be in a mainstream Mathematics class in Year 9.
Science for Life: Students can apply to take this course subject to teacher and parent approval. Students taking this course will not be eligible to take VCE Biology, VCE Chemistry or VCE Physics but can follow a pathway to VCE Environmental Science or VCE Psychology.
Students completing Year 9 Science for Life must complete one Semester of Science in Year 10 from:
- General Science
- Science in our World
- Creative Solutions
- Psychology
- Enviro Science
Students may also choose to do more than one of these electives.
Note: Please be aware that subjects are run depending on many factors – but in particular student numbers. Should you choose a subject that falls below a school-determined threshold, it will not run and you will be asked to select another subject from the list of subjects that are available. You will be contacted if this is the case for you.
Course Structure
Students studying a language ONLY are not required to choose a second Humanities or Art subject. However, you may opt to choose one of these as your elective.
| Learning Area | Subject | Lessons per cycle |
|---|---|---|
| Religious Education | Religious Education | 5 - year long |
| English | Foundation, General, Advanced, Accelerated Year 10 | 10 - year long |
| Maths | Foundation, General, Advanced, Accelerated Year 10 | 10 - year long |
| Science | General OR Science for Life | 10 - year long |
| Health & PE | HPE | 5 - year long |
| Humanities | History One other from: Money & Me Legal & Political Systems Geography | 5 - semester |
| Digital Technology | DigiSTEM (1 semester only) | 5 - semester |
| The Arts | 2 Arts subjects from Design and Create Print Photo Film Creative Art VisCom Dance Music Theatre | 5 x 2 Semester |
Elective Options
Languages: French or Indonesian
Some students may elect to discontinue their language study at Year 9 but we strongly encourage students to maintain their language. There are several advantages in doing so. Please discuss this with your language teacher prior to making your decision. Students studying a language still have one elective option from the table below and not doing one of these electives will not affect your capacity to take subjects at Year 10.
Students who do decide to discontinue their language study must be aware that French/Indonesian cannot be studied in Year 10/VCE.
Students not studying French/Indonesian at Year 9 will have three elective choices from the following:
Please note that you cannot take a subject twice so if you have chosen one of these as part of your core program, you cannot choose it again as an elective.
Contact
If I need to know more, who should I ask?
If you have questions about specific subjects:
Ask the relevant Learning Leader who will either answer the question or direct you to someone who can:
- RE Ms Liz Sullivan
- English / Literature / Creative Writing: Ms Lisa Bolitho
- Science: Mr Craig Canning
- LOTE Mr Eoghan Brownen
- The Arts Mrs Clare Meredith
- Humanities Mr Luke Keane
- Mathematics Mr George McMeel
- Health & PE/Outdoor Education Ms Meg Poirier
If you have questions about Pathways:
- VCE Ms Lisa Bolitho
- Applied Learning Leader Mrs Sarah Clark
- VET Ms Maggie Smith
- Careers Practitioner Ms Steph Baulch
If you have questions about subject selection processes:
Ms Jo Ryan Assistant Principal (Learning and Wellbeing)
