Catalyst • Junior Secondary Curriculum • Handbook 2021
Catalyst key learning threads
Personal
Learning
Program
Core Subjects
Core subjects refer to subjects and classes that all
students will study for a whole a semester. They
include English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities
and Social Sciences, Health and Physical Education
and Religion, Philosophy and Ethics. In Year 7 and 8,
students will also study core Arts and Technologies
courses. Foreign Language studies (or Academic
Intervention) is also a core component of each
student’s academic program in Year 7. Further details
relating to the Academic Intervention Program are
outlined in the following pages.
Action
Projects
Core
Subjects
Year 7
Discovery
Courses
Personal Learning Program
Year 8
The Personal Learning Program (PLP) is a
sequential learning development of individual abilities
and learning skills. With direct links to the Western
Australian Curriculum, the PLP provides a dynamic,
student-focussed learning experience, connecting
skills important to 21St Century learners to Service,
Science, the Humanities, Technology and the Arts.
Year 9
The PLP consists of two key learning threads: Action
Projects and the wide range of Discovery Courses.
Throughout each term, these provide learning
experiences that help students understand their
learning preferences and progressively develop a
toolkit of skills and strategies to serve them in senior
years of study and beyond.
Action Projects
Investigative, problem-based action projects see
students engage with the curriculum in purposeful
and meaningful ways. The projects are designed
around substantive and relevant issues requiring
research, critical thinking, analysis and collaboration.
A dual emphasis on both process and product
ensures students develop skills that transfer across
their academic program as well as informing their
personal learning preferences..
Our Goal
Students traversing their middle years are regularly
questioning who they are as learners. Our Catalyst
program is designed to help these young learners
come to understand their strengths, interests
and learning preferences in a way that will
complement their future studies. Most importantly
our junior secondary curriculum has, at its heart,
the desire to see all our students love their learning
and feel confident and optimistic about what their
future schooling and beyond may hold for them.
Discovery Courses
These elective courses provide an enhanced range of
learning options, offering students the opportunity to
pursue academic studies in areas of interest.
The design of the Discovery Learning Banks
emphasises opportunity, choice and flexibility.
A student may also undertake a full semester of
in-depth study with a single course.
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