Curriculum

The 2008 Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians states that ‘Education equips young people with the knowledge, understanding, skills and values to take advantage of opportunity and to face the challenges of this era with confidence.’ While this may be the collective responsibility of all stakeholders, we believe that each child is a unique individual who needs a secure, caring and stimulating atmosphere in which to grow and mature emotionally, intellectually, physically and socially, emotionally, morally and spiritually. Teachers, in particular, set the tone and priority of Pastoral and Academic care by their witness and example.

John Therry Catholic High School is founded on the Marist philosophy, ‘To educate children first you must love them, and love them equally’ (known as St. Marcellin’s ‘Golden Rule’) as well as honouring all of the work in the school and those who undertake it.

 Therefore, our curriculum aims at providing students with learning experiences that prepare them for life beyond the school premises and provide our students with an environment that is safe, supports risk-taking, and invites a sharing of ideas. There are three elements that we believe are conducive to establishing such an environment

The John Therry Secondary Educational Program draws on the CEO Wollongong Guidelines for Developing a Quality Secondary School Educational Program and incorporates the Diocesan frameworks- the Path to Life framework and the Diocesan Learning & Teaching framework. The program provides a clear whole-school plan of how quality Catholic learning, teaching and assessment will occur for all learners.

John Therry offers the following learning experiences for students:

Learning support programs with targeted intervention

transition programs from primary to high school

Vocational Education & Training – Business Services, Hospitality, Entertainment, Construction, Sport, Fitness & Recreation, Information Digital technology and various TAFE delivered courses

Under the guidance of a Literacy Coordinator, a whole school emphasis on literacy and numeracy with focussed lessons in Years 7 & 8

• as an certified school, an emphasis on elearning in classrooms centred around the 1:1 laptop program

as an ASIC certified school, an emphasis on Financial Literacy as short courses and across a number of Key Learning Areas

a whole school emphasis on curriculum differentiation to support individual needs

the promotion of assessment for learning, assessment of learning  and assessment as learning  to enhance assessment experiences which improve learning