Middle School Curriculum

Marau Kura Waenga

The major aims for learning in the Middle School are:

• to give students a sound grounding in the core subjects;

• to give students the opportunity to explore and experience a wide range of other curriculum areas with specialist teachers;

• to give students a sound preparation in the subjects they are studying for external awards and qualifications.

Years 9 and 10

The curriculum is structured so that students have the opportunity to experience a wide range of subjects, both core and options, through a wide range of learning situations and experiences over these two years.

Students should not specialise in particular subject areas at this level. Gaining a broad experience is one of our key principles and will enhance a student’s experience of life at St Andrew’s College.

Year 11

While this year is the first year of study for external qualifications for most students, courses at this level should also be broad-based so that students keep a number of different options open for themselves in the future. Students will likely start to specialise more in Year 12, and this will be continued with greater depth in final year studies.

What works well in learning in the Middle School – be sure to:

1. Set yourself both short-term and long-term goals. A Year 11 student might set NCEA Level 1 as a long-term goal and making a 1st XI sports team as a short-term goal.
2. Each week, plan your time after school so that all aspects such as homework, sports, and social life, can be fitted in. Make sure you prioritise so that the important things get done.
3. Take good notes in class, try to personalise them and file them in an efficient and systematic way.
4. Participate actively in each lesson.
5. Keep up with your homework. If there are any concerns, seek help from your teacher or other support people such as fellow students, your tutor, or the Dean. Use your homework time to review what you have been studying – this is a particularly good thing to do in those times when you do not actually have any homework.
6. Have a wall planner at home or some other form of 'organiser' and enter all dates for assessments, tests, and projects for each term. Include other events as they might impact on your academic programme. Take internal assessment seriously. Internal assessment is the ‘real thing’. It provides results which stay on your Record of Achievement. Make sure you know precisely what is required for an assessment and, if possible, practise using exemplars from the NZQA website as they provide a ‘picture’ of what is required of a student’s answer for the various NCEA achievement levels. Keep a record of your assessment results and be sure to use the Community Portal to access those results regularly, especially in the second half of the year.
7. Make sure you have written down all key dates, homework, and other events in a diary.
8. Know what is required to gain a NCEA Level qualification.