The Middle Years Teaching Team at Marist Regional College are excited to announce the commencement of a new subject in 2021:
INTEGRATED CURRICULUM
Global Connections has been designed using an integrated curriculum model which focuses on connecting different areas of study by emphasising unifying concepts. Each term in Global Connections, student learning will focus on a theme, guided by these concepts. For example:
- Year 7, Term 1 Theme: Active Citizens (incorporating content descriptions from Civics and Citizenship, Geography and English).
- Year 8, Term 1 Theme: Land and Spirit (incorporating content descriptions from History, Geography and English).
TIMETABLE
On your student’s timetable, you will notice that there are eight lessons a week of Global Connections. This is in place of the previous four lessons of English and four lessons of HASS.
ASSESSMENTS AND REPORTING
When students complete an assessment for Global Connections, they will be evaluated across multiple learning areas. For example, if students are writing an essay about Ancient Rome, they will receive marks on how they write (English) and what they are writing about (History). This is a more efficient assessment method and will reduce the number of tasks required by students over the year to gather the same amount of evidence of student learning.
At reporting time, students will still receive separate grades for English and HASS, although these will be organised on the page under Global Connections.
STUDENT VOICE
An important element of Global Connections is the inclusion of student voice. The Student Voice Project Group was established in Term 4, 2020 and will continue to be active through the year. This group includes Middle Years Global Connections teachers and a small group of Middle Years students who work together collaboratively to improve learning experiences in this subject. Year 7 students will soon be able to express their interest in joining this dynamic team. Not only is this an incredible growth and leadership opportunity for students, but their regular input ensures that our program remains relevant and engaging.
If you have any questions about any element of Global Connections, please don’t hesitate to contact me via email (cwinchcombe@mrc.tas.edu.au) or by phone (6432-7600) through the College Reception.