Dear Parents/Caregivers and Year 8 students,
The high school curriculum is divided into 3 stages of two years each. The first stage of high school finishes at the end of Year 8 (Stage 4). Throughout Stage 4 all subjects are compulsory. The emphasis in the curriculum is on giving students a broad range of subject experiences.
The second stage covers Years 9 and 10 (Stage 5) and leads to the award of the NSW Record of School Achievement (RoSA). In this stage, students study a compulsory core curriculum plus they choose three subjects to focus on in more depth. To gain the NSW Record Of School Achievement (RoSA), a student must satisfactorily complete the core curriculum, three 200 hour subjects and Sport through Stage 5. The compulsory curriculum consists of English, Mathematics, Science, Geography, History and Personal Development, Health and Physical Education.
To gain the NSW Record of School Achievement (RoSA) at the end of Year 10, students must meet all NESA requirements which include:
1. Satisfactory effort and application in all subjects.
2. Regular attendance at school.
3. Satisfactory attendance at Sport.
4. Completion of all set assessment tasks and exams.
In Year 10, our school uses a regular monitoring system to check on student application and performance and to ensure students are satisfying NESA requirements. Students must complete a series of prescribed school based assessment tasks and exams which determine their Record of School Achievement (RoSA) grade in each subject.
With regard to choosing elective subjects, students should read the information in this handbook and talk to teachers, parents and other students who may have done a particular course. The best advice is for students to select subjects that they like, they are interested in and those where they are doing well. If a student already has a particular career in mind then they should check about any subjects that it would be useful to study. The school Careers Adviser can be of great help here.
Parents are reminded that some electives involve subject fees to cover consumable items above the basic curriculum essential to facilitate a particular course. If there is financial hardship, parents may apply to the school for support to cover any subject fees.
Yours sincerely,
Brad Hughes