Curriculum Overview
The College offers a comprehensive program for student learning, Years 7-12. As students enter at Year 7, we seek to build upon students’ primary school learning experiences to create links in their studies, forming a smooth transition from our various feeder primary schools in the Macedon Ranges.
The Macedon Ranges Catholic Education Network (MRCEN), comprising Sacred Heart College and the five Catholic Primary Schools, works collaboratively to develop and enrich the transition from Primary to Secondary education.
The needs of the individual student remain clearly in focus, both in subject classrooms and in the Pastoral Care Groups. Additional, established support areas within the College include Pursuit of Excellence to extend more capable students and Learning Strategies to support students who experience diagnosed difficulties in their learning.
In Years 7-9, our adoption of the concepts of Middle Schooling has led to changes in the structuring of class groups over the past two to three years and innovations within the teaching program. Pastoral Teams at these levels undertake most of their teaching within the Year Level, seeking to strengthen continuity of student learning across the curriculum.
Beginning in Year 8 with a choice of LOTE (Languages other than English), students have an increasing opportunity to select components of their study. The Expressive Arts and Techology are the other areas of elective choice, which commence in Years 8 and 9.
In Year 10, a wide range of elective choices is offered, to prepare students for any of the three post-compulsory pathways: the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE), Vocational Education and Training (VET) or the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL). Many students combine elements of two of these certificates.
As you read the outline of the program at each Year Level, please see it not as isolated units of study, but as part of a continuous educational experience over six years—an extensive pathway with many branches—underpinned by the College’s strong commitment to providing an excellent Catholic co-education in the Mercy Tradition.
