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In 2008 Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School will offer Year 7 students the first stage in a new Transition Programme that aims to incorporate the best teaching and learning practices for students of this age. The aim of the Transition Programme is to provide a smooth transition from the Primary School environment into the Secondary School environment.
At the core of the development of the Transition Programme is the understanding that this time in a student’s life is a time of transformation. In the pre-adolescent to adolescent years students will experience a multitude of signification changes in terms of their physical, psychological, social, emotional and intellectual development. The Transition Programme aims to help students manage these changes in a positive way. It will do this by creating an environment that balances challenge with safety. The programme will provide an academic scaffold that challenges students while also providing the safety of a comfortable physical environment and a caring core teaching group.
Curriculum Structure
The strength of the Transition Programme lies in the development of relationships between students and teachers. It is for this reason that the Transition Programme Curriculum will be developed in such a way that students will be taught by a core group of teachers who will be responsible for the development and implementation of this programme. There will be three classes of Year 7s in 2008 and two in 2009. Each class of students will have a Year 7 teacher who will be, in the main, responsible for teaching core subjects. While each Year 7 teacher will be responsible for a specific class, students will be taught at different times by one or more of the other Year 7 teachers. The overall structure of the Transition Programme will allow for students learning opportunities that will vary in terms of group size. Depending on the needs of the students and the programme being delivered, students may be taught in small groups with one teacher or in a larger group with two or three teachers.
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The philosophy of providing integrated learning activities is another strength of the Transition Programme. The Year 7 timetable will be developed in such a way that block learning periods will be allocated so that the Year 7 group as a whole will be available at the same time. This will allow the Year 7 teachers to develop programmes with the students that will move beyond the separate subject approach. Students and teachers will be able to work together to develop themes that will allow for the development of outcomes across several Learning Areas. The first theme that will be developed at the beginning of the year will be ‘Myself as a Learner’. Students will work with teachers to explore different learning styles and develop an understanding of how they learn best. This theme will also incorporate strategies for learning, such as organisational methods, structures for note taking and library research methods. This approach will provide the benefit of opportunities for curriculum negotiation and interdisciplinary integration, while also allowing for subject specific content development lessons where needed.
Physical Structure
The Transition Programme will be conducted from a Year 7 Centre comprising two or three of the current Primary classrooms. As of 2010, the Programme will be conducted from a purpose built Year 7 Centre in the Secondary School that will cater for the needs of a maximum of 104 students (4 classes). It will be an area that maximises flexible use of space for curriculum delivery, to suit the needs of very small groups through to multiple classes. There will also be an allocated outdoor recreational space situated near the Year 7 Centre to allow students to engage in both structured and informal physical activity at various times of the day.
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