Year 9 is a critical year in the journey of all St Kevin’s boys. The year is spent at the College’s Waterford Campus in Richmond, a purposeful, separate entity reserved exclusively for Year 9, well removed from the main College site at Heyington. This purpose may be simply encapsulated in the Campus motto: ‘Luceat Lux Vestra’ or ‘Let Your Light Shine’.
Context
Waterford is dedicated to making the passage of boys through adolescence as successful as possible. Having a place by themselves where they are significant and having significant levels of ownership, leadership and responsibility are important factors in the success of this campus. Also important is that the boys at Waterford have a group of teachers dedicated to them and their needs.
The adolescent years are clearly a time of noteworthy change: intellectual, physical, social, emotional and spiritual. There is the further realisation that, despite these changes, these years are also formative and foundational. The maturation process inevitably concludes with formed habits, values and ideals. The special experiences and programs at Waterford are, therefore, crafted to make these changes positive and to ensure that the best possible foundation is laid, as boys become young men, and as the inquiry and broad-based learning of the junior and middle years gives birth to the knowledge, skill and understanding demanded in specific elements for the senior years.
Focus
Strongly connected with such foundations is the need to promote effective organisation and systems skills that parallel with concepts of order, process and operational efficiency and effectiveness. Beyond the promotion of organisational skills, though, is the desire to cultivate thinking students who are deeply intuitive and connected with their own learning; students aware of their learning styles and strengths, students capable of acting with independence and autonomy, students in control of their own learning habits and futures. If a student has accomplished these tasks by their year’s end at Waterford, then they will have gained an immeasurable amount from their experience. The foundations for a successful VCE year, not to mention a fruitful journey of life-long learning, are in so many ways established in the year at Waterford.
Fundamental to all learning processes is student interest and engagement. While acknowledging the inherent motivation of our learners, the Waterford curriculum has been designed to meaningfully and dynamically engage our adolescent boys. The geographic and philosophical positioning of the campus lends itself to the experiential learning opportunities that are a hallmark of the Waterford program.
Learning Structure
All boys attend classes at Waterford at very similar times as those at Heyington. There is a five day class cycle, with seven 45 minute classes each day.
Each student will require the use of an electronic device for their year at Waterford. The electronic devices are used to enhance learning, but in no way replace the dynamic and traditional teaching methods. Students are responsible for the charging and availability of their device on a daily basis.
Subjects
The following core subjects are studied by all boys:
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All boys also choose an additional two elective subjects each Semester:
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Homework
It is an expectation that all boys independently engage in learning tasks in the home each night. While always difficult to place a time frame to these tasks, it is generally recommended that each boy would engage in at least 90 minutes of learning activities. The time spent on homework will, of course, vary on a student-by-student basis, according to need, capacity, desire and demand. Given that the methodology of learning is possibly the greatest acquisition or refinement for Year 9 boys at Waterford, it is strongly recommended that boys spend a few minutes each night to review every subject studied in that day's classes. In this way, each boy seeks to further this informative classroom experience through reflection to ascertain understanding (and to record follow-up questions) as well as to convert short-term into long-term memory.
Assessment
Formative and summative assessment tasks take place throughout the Semester for each subject. The overarching philosophy of learning at Waterford lends itself to formative assessment where, through experience and reflection, each boy is given regular opportunities to engage, to more profoundly connect and to more deeply understand the particulars of each academic discipline. A variety of assessment instruments are used, including source/comprehension, analysis, research, experimentation, oral, dramatic, IT generated and test/examination style. Major cross-year level assessment tasks (CATs or Common Assessment Tasks) occur through each Semester. There is a formal week of Examinations at the end of each Semester.
At Waterford, the teaching and learning is modelled on a balance among the following four methodological principles:
1. Learning from Explicit Instruction
2. Learning for Experience
3. Collaborating to Learn
4. Connecting to the Wider World
To allow staff to fully implement these principles there are no Semester One Examinations for Religious Education, English and Science. This provides students with more opportunities for experiential learning, collaboration and connection to the world beyond the classroom. These core subjects still demand a high level of academic rigour with the 40% weighting of the examination allocated to various collaborative tasks or CERT’s (Common Examination Replacement Tasks). All subjects complete Examinations at the end of Semester Two.
Reports
Formal College Reports are available on the Parent Portal at the end of each Semester. Other formal reporting procedures occur through structured Academic Progress Interviews (parent-teacher meetings) in Term One. Staff will report frequently via the Portal on any assessments completed. Beyond these formalised experiences, boys, staff and parents are always welcome to initiate communications, be this by phone, email or meeting.
Outprac
The Outprac Program is a challenging educational program unique to Waterford in the St Kevin’s experience. It is designed to enhance the formal Waterford curriculum by providing students with practical learning experiences off-campus. Each experience is designed to complement either specific aspects of the curriculum or an aspect of global learning, holistic growth and/or personal challenge. The program capitalises on Waterford’s location by using a variety of resources in the inner city area of Melbourne.
The wider aims of the Waterford Outprac Program are to:
- provide an opportunity for experiential learning
- develop student initiative and independent research skills
- develop collaborative learning skills
- develop skills in time and task management
- encourage critical thinking and analysis skills
- provide opportunities to present ideas in unique and creative ways
Each Tutor Group attend a Year 9 Retreat Day during the Outprac Program. With their Tutor Teacher and a member of the Ministry Team, it helps students become more aware of the sacred nature of their story and that of their friends and what it means to be growing up as a man in today’s world.
RICE Program
RICE is an acronym for Rich, Investigation, Challenge and Expedition Programme. RICE is as much a dynamic learning journey, as it is a physically and mentally challenging outdoor experience. It is a truly holistic program in its scope and expectations. This unique learning journey contains five distinct phases of Planning, Preparation, Experience, Celebration and Presentation.
The major component of the RICE Programme is the outdoor education experience. During Term 1 of Year 9, boys are given the opportunity to select their preferences for one of the eleven beautiful World Heritage destinations on offer. Boys are then grouped and the planning and preparation commences during their studies at Waterford. The outdoor experience itself varies in length from 9 -10 days away from home during the middle of July each year.
In 2018 the following destinations were offered:
- Wet Tropics
- Arnhem Land
- Whitsundays
- Lake Argyle
- Snowy Mountains
- Ikara- Flinders Ranges
- Tasmania – Southern Ocean
- Hinchinbrook Island
- Macdonnell Ranges – Larapinta Trail
- Mt Barney
- Kati Thanda- Lake Eyre and Tirari Desert