“Nine-tenths of education is encouragement.â€
– Anatole France

Maths & English

Mathematical & Numeracy Fundamentals.(As per the Australian Curriculum)

The proficiency strands understanding, fluency, problem-solving and reasoning are an integral part of mathematics content across the three content strands: number and algebra, measurement and geometry, and statistics and probability. The proficiencies reinforce the significance of working mathematically within the content and describe how the content is explored or developed. They provide the language to build in the developmental aspects of the learning of mathematics. The achievement standards reflect the content and encompass the proficiencies.
At this year level:

  • Understanding includes describing the relationship between graphs and equations, simplifying a range of algebraic expressions and explaining the use of relative frequencies to estimate probabilities and of the trigonometric ratios for right-angle triangles
  • Fluency includes applying the index laws to expressions with integer indices, expressing numbers in scientific notation, listing outcomes for experiments, developing familiarity with calculations involving the Cartesian plane and calculating areas of shapes and surface areas of prisms
  • Problem-Solving includes formulating and modelling practical situations involving surface areas and volumes of right prisms, applying ratio and scale factors to similar figures, solving problems involving right-angle trigonometry and collecting data from secondary sources to investigate an issue
  • Reasoning includes following mathematical arguments, evaluating media reports and using statistical knowledge to clarify situations, developing strategies in investigating similarity and sketching linear graphs.
Year 9 Achievement Standard

  • Number and AlgebraAt Standard, students solve problems involving simple interest. They apply the index laws to numbers and express numbers in scientific notation. Students expand binomial expressions. They find the distance between two points on the Cartesian plane and the gradient and midpoint of a line segment. Students sketch linear and non-linear relations.
  • Measurement and GeometryStudents interpret ratio and scale factors in similar figures. They explain similarity of triangles. Students recognise the connections between similarity and the trigonometric ratios. They calculate areas of shapes and the volume and surface area of right prisms and cylinders. Students use Pythagoras’ Theorem and trigonometry to find unknown sides of right-angled triangles.
  • Statistics and ProbabilityStudents calculate relative frequencies to estimate probabilities, list outcomes for two-step experiments and assign probabilities for those outcomes. They compare techniques for collecting data from primary and secondary sources. Students construct histograms and back-to-back stem-and-leaf plots. They make sense of the position of the mean and median in skewed, symmetric and bi-modal displays to describe and interpret data

English(As per the Australian Curriculum)

The English curriculum is built around the three interrelated strands of language, literature and literacy. Teaching and learning programs should balance and integrate all three strands. Together, the strands focus on developing students’ knowledge, understanding and skills in listening, reading, viewing, speaking, writing and creating. Learning in English builds on concepts, skills and processes developed in earlier years, and teachers will revisit and strengthen these as needed.

In Years 7 and 8, students communicate with peers, teachers, individuals, groups and community members in a range of face-to-face and online/virtual environments. They experience learning in familiar and unfamiliar contexts that relate to the school curriculum, local community, regional and global contexts.

Students engage with a variety of texts for enjoyment. They interpret, create, evaluate, discuss and perform a wide range of literary texts in which the primary purpose is aesthetic, as well as texts designed to inform and persuade. These include various types of media texts, including newspapers, film and digital texts, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, dramatic performances and multimodal texts, with themes and issues involving levels of abstraction, higher order reasoning and intertextual references. Students develop a critical understanding of the contemporary media and the differences between media texts.

The range of literary texts for Pre-primary to Year 10 comprises Australian literature, including the oral narrative traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, as well as the contemporary literature of these two cultural groups, and classic and contemporary world literature, including texts from and about Asia.

Literary texts that support and extend students in Years 9 and 10 as independent readers are drawn from a range of genres and involve complex, challenging and unpredictable plot sequences and hybrid structures that may serve multiple purposes. These texts explore themes of human experience and cultural significance, interpersonal relationships, and ethical and global dilemmas within real-world and fictional settings and represent a variety of perspectives. Informative texts represent a synthesis of technical and abstract information (from credible/verifiable sources) about a wide range of specialised topics. Text structures are more complex and include chapters, headings and subheadings, tables of contents, indexes and glossaries. Language features include successive complex sentences with embedded clauses, a high proportion of unfamiliar and technical vocabulary, figurative and rhetorical language, and dense information supported by various types of graphics presented in visual form.

Students create a range of imaginative, informative and persuasive types of texts including narratives, procedures, performances, reports, discussions, literary analyses, transformations of texts and reviews

Handwriting behaviours are not described in the year level achievement standard or the writing assessment pointers. Instead, the Authority has developed the Handwriting Continuum to support Western Australian teachers in the teaching and monitoring of student handwriting for Pre-primary through to Year 10. The Handwriting Continuum can be found under the Teaching menu in the K-10 section of this website. Teachers will need to log in to the Extranet to access this resource.

Year 9 Achievement Standard

  • Reading and ViewingAt Standard, students understand how the selection of text structures is influenced by the selection of genre and how this varies for different purposes and audiences. Students explain or show how language features, images and vocabulary are used to represent different ideas and issues in texts. Students interpret texts, questioning the reliability of sources of ideas and information. They select evidence from the text to show how events, situations and people can be represented from different viewpoints.
  • Writing and CreatingStudents understand how the selection of language features can be used for particular purposes and effects. They explain the effectiveness of language choices they make to influence the audience. Through combining ideas, images and language features from other texts, students show how ideas can be expressed in new ways. Students create texts for different purposes, selecting language to influence audience response. When creating and editing texts to create specific effects, they take into account intended purposes and the needs and interests of audiences. They demonstrate understanding of grammar, select vocabulary for effect and use accurate spelling and punctuation.
  • Speaking and ListeningStudents listen for and identify different emphases in texts, using that understanding to elaborate on discussions. They understand how the selection of language features can be used for particular purposes and effects. Students explain the effectiveness of language choices they make to influence the audience. Through combining ideas, images and language features from other texts, they show how ideas can be expressed in new ways. Students create texts for different purposes, selecting language to influence audience response. They make presentations and contribute actively to class and group discussions, using language patterns for effect.

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