The Googong High School Curriculum Approach

Learning at Googong High School is based on a curriculum model designed around the science of learning, taking into consideration the latest evidence around cognitive science, futures education and high impact teaching practices. Our curriculum framework tailors learning to meet the specific needs of students at different stages of their educational journey, all whilst giving them opportunity to explore their own pathways and interests and prepare for the future ahead of them.

Our Curriculum Design

We deliver the NSW curriculum with a focus on explicitly delivering teaching in a way that support all learners.

At Googong High School learning is:

Based on Learning Science: Our entire curriculum design is focused on ensuring our practice aligns with evidence of strategies that work for students. This includes aligning our practice with a wide range of fields including neuroscience, developmental psychology and sociology, broadening to fields including economics and computing science. We are committed to delivering a curriculum which is optimised for our students.

Designed to meet the unique developmental profiles of learners: We recognise that students need different types of learning at different stages of high school. Our curriculum design is built around learner profiles and their unique developmental needs at different stages of the learning journey.

Grounded in universal skills: Our metacognitive skills profile (RECONI) ensures students are explicitly taught strategies that assist their learning for now and the future.

Civic-minded: Community based projects allow our students to learn beyond the gates of the school and build a sense of pride in their town.

Future-ready: Curriculum is designed in consideration of futures research, particularly the role of human learning in a world dominated by automation, AI and global technologies.

Designed with student wellbeing in mind: Each student is supported through access to a Hub teacher, with quality individual plans developed for students with a wide range of needs.

GHS Curriculum Presentation

The following slide deck was originally presented to parents at our curriculum information night. It has been adapted for easy, interactive use for parents wanting to learn more about our curriculum. Upon downloading, we recommend playing the slideshow to access the interactive links.

Click here to download the curriculum slide deck

The GHS Curriculum Framework

Our curriculum framework supports students by ensuring each stage of their learning is built around their needs - how their brains are developing, their social skills and capabilities they need to prepare for the next step of schooling and beyond. Underpinning each stage is our metacognitive skills profiles (RECONI) - which explicitly teach students strategies they can use to aid their learning no matter where they are or what they are trying to achieve.

*Elements of our framework are subject to change as the school grows and develops.

Our Stages

RECONI - Our metacognitive profiles

RECONI stands for Regulation, Expression, Collaboration, Organisation, Navigating Information and Inquiry. These are our metacognitive skills which we teach in every subject, every year. By metacognitive skills, we mean skills that support learning but do not come naturally to us - we need to develop and use the skills regularly if we want to be good at them. These skills are highly valued by futures-based industries - they are often human capacities that cannot be easily automated.

Our goal is for students, by year 11, to be be able to automatically draw on these skills to help them with their learning whether it be in class, in the workplace or in the community.

Regulation

Expert learners monitor their own learning and are aware when they need to get help, change track or revisit prior learning in order to tackle complex tasks.

We support students develop regulation skills through strategies such as practical goal setting, recording and learning from errors and learning how to ask for and use feedback effectively.

Expression

Expert learners are able to convey ideas effectively in written, spoken and multi-modal formats. Expression skills go beyond good writing skills, they involve being able to consider the best way to approach communicating to others with clarity and purpose.

We support students develop these key skills through stepped writing processes, using writing for brainstorming and learning how to use technology effectively to express meaning and ideas.

Collaboration

Learners who thrive don't learn alone. They understand and use the power of the collective to share, build on ideas and challenge their own ways of thinking. Being able to be part of a strong team is a highly valued skillset in businesses that continue to rapidly change with modern technology.

At Googong High School, we teach students strategies to be better team players, from learning how to give effective feedback, take on explicit roles as part of a team as well as transforming information so it can be understood by others.

Organisation

Organisation is not about neat books or pretty presentations. Expert learners organise materials carefully so they can use them effectively and intelligently. Organised learners work better under stressful situations because they have systems in place to break down and manage complicated tasks.

We teacher organisation strategies at Googong High School such as structured note taking, marking-up and summarising strategies and also techniques to reinforce key ideas in the memory.

Navigating Information

In a world where the amount of information we are exposed is increasing rapidly, skills to manage the content become increasingly important. Navigating Information is about quality reading skills and more - it is about being able to process information no matter its format to help understand, question and transform information.

At Googong High School we teach metacognitive strategies to help students be conscious of how they decode information from various sources. We focus on core literacy skills, but also build upon this to navigate information in multimedia and new technologies.

Inquiry

Expert learners are self-sufficient in finding information to help them tackle complex problems. They can differentiate between 'good' and 'bad' information and resource material that will help them in any project they are tasked with. In a world being rapidly dominated by AI, they also know how to leverage new technologies to find information that is trustworthy and relevant to the work they are undertaking.

Our strategies for teaching inquiry include learning how to effectively source and reference material and how to shift research techniques in the face of open-ended challenges or new problems. We also look at strategies to safetly and appropriately use new technologies to assist, not take over, learning.

Careers and Future Pathways

Our school curriculum is being designed to provide future pathways that meet the needs of all our students.

Visit our Academies and Pathways page to learn more about our planned programs for vocational pathways and a strong careers curriculum for every student.

Helping students progress

We provide a range of supports to assist every child's academic opportunities and progress:

Want to know more about our subjects?

We can connect you with the right teacher or staff member.

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