Director Learning and Teaching

It seems hard to believe, given that we are only just halfway through Term 2, but our focus turned to 2025 subject selection already in the Senior School this week. As the term flies past us (yet again) staff have begun the process of preparing subject information to guide families through the subject selection process later in the year. 

At College, students benefit from excellent career education as they move through the Senior School and are supported through their subject choices and career pathways discussions. 

At Assembly this week, some of our senior students spoke about what they are studying, why they chose particular subjects and the goals they have as they finish their secondary schooling.  The peer voice is powerful, and this was evident as we listened to our Year 11 and Year 12 students. 

As a way to highlight these student voices within our school community, I will share the thoughts of our students here on a regular basis through the newsletter. My hope is to keep the conversation going at home and provide a real-world context to some of these conversations about choices that seem a long way off at times but are closer than we realise.

Student Spotlight

Zoe Weinberg – Year 12

“Throughout my time at College, I’ve always enjoyed subjects like English, History, and Literature. So, when the time came for me to choose my subjects for VCE studies, I thought about what subjects I liked, and had fun doing, as well as what I was good at. This year, I am thoroughly enjoying all my subjects, which include Business Management, English, Australian History, General Maths, and Literature. By doing both English and Literature, I have been inspired to pursue a university degree next year in Law and Media, or Law and Commerce, which are other areas of interest for me. I get to spend ten periods a week with Mrs Nichols who teaches me both these subjects this year. Currently, in English, we are studying our Creating Texts Unit, where I have been able to explore passions of mine and incorporate them into my writing. From Shakespeare, to finance, and to the creation of Australia as a nation, the subjects I have chosen keep me engaged, and will help shape my future pathway into university next year.”

Lachie Veale – Year 12

“I am in Year 12 and currently looking down the barrel of needing to make some decisions about life after school. Currently I am studying Physics, Chemistry, Business Management and Agriculture along with English and Maths, these subjects were all selected with my end goal of pursuing a career in Agriculture and obtaining a degree in Ag. All of my subjects were selected with the help of Mrs Manifold with my specific goals in mind, and all of which are fun and engaging classes. Physics in particular - Mr Cameron makes the generally difficult concepts easy to understand through hands on pracs that help to understand topics.”

Abby Lazzari – Year 11

“

Year 11 feels surreal. This is the final year of preparation before the daunting thought of Year 12. This is the year that I have total control over my subject choices. The only required subject that you must do for Year 11 and 12 is an English subject, completed as a 1/2 and a 3/4. Most career pathways will have prerequisites, requiring certain subjects for you to do, which is why the ones that I chose are diverse in learning - Biology, Psychology, English, Literature, Math methods and History 3/4. From learning about big words like the primary somatosensory cortex to learning about how to graph a rectangular hyperbola, school takes on a whole new meaning when you are choosing what you learn and I have found that I have really enjoyed the content that we have been learning this year. My choices for my subjects, in particular Psychology, are to direct me towards a Psychology based future. I’ve been interested in this area since Year 8 which has made me one of the lucky ones as I have a base to work off. For some it’s harder because they don’t know what they want to do yet but I strongly encourage you to find subjects that you are interested in and throw yourselves into them. Even if you don’t think 'school is your thing', there are a variety of subjects that may interest you once you reach Year 11 that aren’t available to you now, such as Business management, Psychology, Chemistry, Biology, Equestrian and many other options.”

Harry McDonald – Year 11

“Hi, my name is Harry McDonald, currently in year 11, and I can’t believe I have made it this far. When choosing my subjects for this year, I chose them based off what I was interested in and enjoyed during my previous years, with no real goal. I decided that this year I would be studying English (unfortunately it is the only subject I am not allowed to drop), Chemistry, Math Methods, Specialist Maths, Chinese and Software Development units 3&4, and I am now following the goal of becoming a robotics engineer. Next semester, I will be changing one subject into Physics units 1&2, as Physics is required to get into engineering courses. After school, I plan to go to university early on and start working in robotics as soon as possible.”