Year 9 Learning Centre

I am sitting in the new year 9 learning centre at St Johns Regional College, contemplating the future of our program for year 9 students. 

At St Johns we realized that the way we were delivering the program at year 9 was not engaging the students with their learning, so we decided to do some research on the topic. We then went to different schools that had moved to change their programs at year 9 to gather information. After doing much research we decided to create a separate centre for year 9 students to develop their interests and explore the possibilities.

Year 9 is seen as a critical year for education. It is a year where students are working out the pathways they will be taking going forwards. It is also a year when kids need to be given more choice and voice in their education so they have a chance to see where their strengths are and discover their passion. That is one of the main goals of Project Based Learning.

Project Based Learning has been around for a long time, but only recently has been rediscovered and given importance, because it is seen as a way to help kids build their 21st century study skills while working on a project. 

Project based learning involves students working on a solution to a contemporary problem using the skills required to be successful in the 21st century. The skills of critical thinking, or our ability to think independently or think for ourselves and come up with our own conclusions, which then brings up the idea of being comfortable making mistakes and seeing mistakes as part of the learning process. At st Johns we see the importance of achieving great results, but we also see that to achieve great results we need to be comfortable making mistakes along the way. Year 9 is providing the perfect opportunity for students to do this in a non threatening environment.

Another 21st century skill is cooperation. Project based learning is done in groups, where different students have to manage different aspects of the work. The workplaces of the future are all about a Synergistic approach to solving problems, synergy is the term given to reflect that when 3 or 4 people get together to work on something, the result is always better and more wholistic than if only one person works on the project.

Creativity is another focus of 21st century learning. Our ability to come up with new ideas means that we need to be comfortable expressing our ideas and realize that they don’t need to be perfect to begin with and we just need a place to start. All our projects have embeded in them the opportunity to ideate and brainstorm ideas, because we realize that we live in a world of ideas and as new better ideas take hold of peoples awareness, old ideas fall away and the world is renewed.

Communication is also a focus of our projects. Our ability to communicate our ideas with one another and to express what we are thinking is very important. Presenting to the class and speaking in front of the class will develop the students confidence and pride in themselves and this will set them up for a successful life in the 21st century.

All in all we are very exited to have the kids back for the rest of term 2 and we look forwards to seeing their projects come alive in the new year 9 centre as it continues to take shape and develop into a beacon of what is possible for students everywhere.