Future Ready Curriculum

Our St Mark’s teaching and learning philosophy includes ‘future readiness’. Being ready for their possible futures means students engaging in relevant, authentic learning opportunities that prepare them with the skills and dispositions that will serve them in an uncertain and shifting world. Recent education literature indicates that students benefit from moving beyond the mandated curriculum and being given opportunities to engage in a series of interrelated capabilities.

The 2020 Future-Proofing Students report, the 2020 Australian Report of the Review of Senior Secondary Pathways, and the University of Melbourne’s current ‘New Metrics for Success’ project all stress the need for students to leave school having engaged with essential life skills and attributes such as employability skills, entrepreneurial capabilities, financial literacy, creativity, quality thinking skills, agency, persistence, using feedback, communication, collaboration, intercultural capability, ethics, citizenship and character.

At St Mark’s our Learner Attributes of Attitude and Effort, Reflection and Growth, and Collaboration and Communication, are explicitly taught and reported on, providing one way in which we are engaging students in developing the attributes of lifelong learners and successful people.

The St Mark’s Secondary timetable structure protects and carves out time in students’ timetables for not only academic subjects and exciting electives, but also for those things we know are important in preparing our students for a successful life.

Our Future Ready Curriculum is focused on cross-disciplinary topics, transferrable skills and future-ready proficiencies. It engages with the Australian General Capabilities, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and those things important for students to develop for ongoing success,

The Future Ready Curriculum focuses on personalised learning in which students are active agents in their learning. Students are supported to follow their passions, initiate learning projects, design learning processes, and engage in solutions to authentic problems.

Middle School Future Ready Curriculum: Years 6 to 8

In Years 6 to 8, students study the following Future Ready Curriculum subjects:

• Learn
• Explore

The Learn Curriculum

1 lesson per week for students in Years 6 to 8

In Years 6 to 8, students participate in Learn, uncovering and investigating the make-up of successful learning. This includes understanding and enacting the St Mark’s Learner Attributes, organisation for learning, research skills, information literacy, use of technologies for learning, and the foundations of the study skills students will need in Senior years.

The Explore Curriculum

1 lesson per week for students in Years 6 to 8

In Years 6 to 8, students participate in Explore, engaging in opportunities to explore themselves, the world around them, the connections between disciplines, and the ways in which they can be productive and futures-thinking learners and doers. Explore is especially focused on learners driving their own learning, pursuing passions, and engaging in real world issues. Learners explore transferrable skills, creativity, project-based and inquiry approaches to learning, entrepreneurial thinking, and how they might make a positive difference.

Senior School Future Ready Curriculum: Years 9 to 10

In Years 9 to 10, students study the following Future Ready Curriculum subjects:

• Challenge
• Enrich

The Challenge Curriculum

1 lesson per week for students in Years 9 to 10

In Years 9 to 10, students participate in Challenge. This curriculum is aligned with the Outdoor Education and Flourish programs, to support students in facing the changes and pressures of adolescence as they increasingly challenge themselves to succeed and make positive choices.

In Year 9, Challenge is focused on developing the self-regulation, discipline, work ethic, values, and growth mindset that will set students up for success in their senior years. It includes real-life learning opportunities that empower students and encourage them to pursue their passions.

In Year 10, the Challenge curriculum is focused on ‘adulting’, preparing students with the foundation for successful adulthood. It includes effective communication, personal branding, budgeting, car safety and maintenance, and first aid.

The Enrich Curriculum

1 lesson per week for students in Years 9 to 10

In Years 9 to 10, students participate in Enrich, a curriculum designed to enrich their academic study as well as their lives in and beyond school. Enrich involves a focus on empowering students and includes:

• Personalised futures planning, exploring careers, planning pathways, understanding job- ready skills, and preparing for work.
• Study skills and strategies for academic success.
• Engaging with sustainability and innovation.
• Opportunities for projects, micro-credentials, and virtual work experience.