Curriculum

Melbourne High School is committed to developing intellectual, artistic and sporting excellence 

 

Melbourne High School favours breadth and depth of learning rather than acceleration programs.  The curriculum is based on the expectation that students will have the ability and desire to meet the challenges of a broad education in a stimulating, supportive and competitive environment that caters for students intending to progress to tertiary education.  The School is committed to developing intellectual, artistic and sporting excellence so that every student has the opportunity to reach his full potential and is provided with inspirational and challenging teaching that is caring of the individual. 

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A strong curriculum continues to be a key feature of Melbourne High School. The Victorian Curriculum and the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) broadly determine our courses, but the School is responsible for interpreting course outlines and implementing guidelines that ensure challenging and worthwhile learning situations for all our students.  VET (Vocational Education and Training) continues to be a viable choice for a growing number of students. This opportunity for breadth of choice in VCE studies, together with our strong VCE programmes in English, Languages, Music, Humanities, the Arts, Commerce, Mathematics, Physical Education, Information Technology and Science, are important in giving our students every opportunity to develop their talents and achieve life and career goals.

 

At Years 9 and 10, Melbourne High School is guided by the Victorian Curriculum which sets standards in Victorian schools and provides a framework and standards from which individual schools can develop and deliver programmes of study.  The Victorian Curriculum describes what students should know and be able to do at regular intervals from the Foundation (first year of school) to Year 10.  Subject areas consist of the Arts, Music, Philosophy, English, Physical Education, Health & Personal Development, Geography, History, Languages, Mathematics, Science and Technologies. In addition, four key capabilities were added to the curriculum in 2017: Critical and Creative Thinking, Ethical, Intercultural and the Personal & Social capabilities. These are taught through existing Year 9 and 10 subjects, including Philosophy, History, Languages and Health & Personal Development.

 

The Years 9 & 10, core subjects provide a solid foundation for students to pursue any VCE Units in Year 11. The year-long core subjects are: English, Mathematics, languages, Science, Personal Development, Physical Education and Health, while Economics and Business, Geography and History are semester-long core subjects. In addition, singing, assemblies and sport collectively offer additional opportunities to develop knowledge and skills. 

 

As well, a selection of electives is available for Years 9 & 10 students. The term ‘elective’ does not imply that these subjects are of less significance than subjects in the core. In all respects, performance in the electives is considered equally with performance in core subjects. All electives, like core subjects, have assessment tasks, including end-of-semester examinations in many subjects.

 

The School continues to review the subjects it offers each year and examine ways to further engage the students with new subject offerings.

 

Melbourne High School’s curriculum is based on the expectation that its students will have the ability and desire to meet the challenges of a broad education and a stimulating, supportive and competitive environment. The curriculum is designed to cater for students intending to progress to tertiary education and to develop leadership in whatever area of endeavour they choose. Melbourne High School provides a balanced, rigorous, stimulating and challenging program directed to the development of students’ knowledge and skills for further study, the professions and life, by:​

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● maintaining a strong academic core
● promoting the attainment and appreciation of excellence in all areas of learning
● teaching directly, and implicitly, independent learning skills and strategies
● stressing sequential development of skills and subject matter
● developing enrichment teaching that encourages the full use of the intellect of students
● providing a curriculum relevant to life

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The strong academic core and elective program are balanced by the requirement that all students involve themselves in a wide range of demanding co-curricular programs. The curriculum and co-curricular programs incorporate a huge variety of support and enrichment pursuits. These include musical, artistic, dramatic, literary, sporting, recreational, education extension, leadership and personal development programs. Music is integral to the life of the students and staff. All students at MHS are actively involved in the music program, through classroom music, massed singing, House Music competitions, assemblies and in the culmination of the School year, Speech Night.