CLASS

Introducing CLASS

If you have a student in Year 8 you may have noticed by now that they have a new subject on their timetable - CLASS or Cultural Literacy, Arts and Social Sciences. This is a one semester course introduced this year to run against STEM or Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. That is, if your child is studying STEM this first semester, the second semester they will study CLASS.

The primary aims of CLASS are to develop student’s abilities to think critically, respond creatively and to improve student’s awareness of their own culture and cultures outside their own experience. In short, we aim to develop independent thinkers who are confident, original and open to new ideas and ways of perceiving and responding to the world. It is also hoped that by developing these skills and being exposed to new experiences, students will also grow in self-confidence, tolerance and respect for others.

The students have commenced their first Unit of study- ‘Express Yourself’ where they will learn the skills of photographic portraiture; explore the concept of identity, how it is formed and changes over time; and how to project and support their own identity artistically, socially and politically. Their assessment for this semester will be a photographic self-portrait demonstrating the skills they have learnt and how they can represent their own identity.

Miss McKay and myself look forward to an interesting and creative year,

Mr Keen