Teaching and learning

Meridan State College is an innovative and award winning P – 12 learning community that engages and supports students through a futures-oriented education, where their learning today will enable them to create a successful future.

Current educational research has been used to inform the teaching, learning and organisational culture of the College to ensure students are engaged in a continuous learning journey across the different phases of learning – the early years, the upper primary years, junior secondary and senior secondary.

This has led to the design of three distinct sub schools that are responsible for providing teaching and learning experiences suited to meet student developmental needs and interests, the school and community context and the P-10 and Year 11-12 Queensland Studies Authority and National Vocational and Education Training guidelines.

Primary School

Our primary programs ensure the implementation of a relevant and innovative curriculum that has a distinct focus on equipping students with the essentials of literacy and numeracy knowledge and skills. The primary curriculum complements the basics of literacy and numeracy by providing a curriculum plan that implements the F-10 Australian and P-10 Queensland curriculum in all relevant subject areas to provide a broad and balanced range of learning opportunities to our students. The Australian and Queensland curriculum documents are critically examined to build a primary curriculum that is locally relevant to our student cohorts and are sequenced to build deeper understandings through continuity and progression of learning across the primary years.

The primary school curriculum plan recognises the critical time for students to build foundational literacy and numeracy skills in the early years and develop to more thorough understandings of basic core literacy and numeracy concepts in the middle primary years. Our upper primary programs embed fundamental literacy and numeracy skills required for success in future learning within all learning areas and as a lifelong learner.

The Meridan Way of teaching reading, spelling, literacy and numeracy ensures the consistent implementation of key pedagogical practices to maximise student learning outcomes. It is our philosophy that improvements in student learning are dependent on ongoing improvements in pedagogy. Professional learning is focused on this area to enhance the capabilities of our teaching teams.

Teachers generate purposeful data about literacy and numeracy achievement, track progress and measure individual student growth in their learning. This data informs curriculum planning and resourcing decisions. Teachers are able to purposefully plan through class snapshots, a variety of ways to engage students to assist them to achieve the expected learning.  Through the Meridan Primary Intervention and Extension plan timely additional support for identified students is provided.

Our primary school five core values underpin a safe, friendly, disciplined and supportive environment. Our primary school environment and sequenced curriculum planning allows students to develop the thinking dispositions to become successful learners, confident and creative individuals and active and informed citizens.

More information on Primary Curriculum Programs

Junior Secondary

Junior  Secondary provides the link between the Primary and Senior schools. To support students through this journey we maintain a focus on delayed specialisation and consolidation of core literacy and numeracy skills. Students gradually experience different subjects with specialised teaching staff, they access different learning environments and familiarise themselves with the secondary campus.

Literacy and Numeracy are supported, developed and consolidated throughout Years 7-9. In addition to distinct Literacy and Numeracy based activities across most of the Key Learning Areas, students participate in Literacy and Numeracy blocks throughout the year. This time is spent targeting individual and/or cohort weakness areas through core class and Flexi Learning activities.  Every term students also engage in a "Turbo Day" where they complete targeted Literacy and Numeracy games and activities in all subject areas on that day.

Quality outcomes and continuous improvement for students are being enhanced through the creation of a unique, student-focused sub school structure; our ‘Community Structure’.  Year 7 students are allocated to a ‘Community’ and remain together, in Community Classes, during their journey through the Junior Secondary years. This establishes a sense of belonging and ownership of learning, by teaching teams and students, within a positive learning climate.  In year 7 their Community Teacher takes students for Maths, Science, English and Humanities. For Years 8 and 9 this is taken over by a partnership of two community teachers (Maths/Science and English/Humanities). A Community Leader follows the students through the three years to provide support and promote student well-being.

The gradual increase in number of teachers working with each student is reflected in the core subjects and the community structure, as it is for elective and specialist subjects. As students move up through this sub-school they work with a broader combination of classes and teachers.

Student achievement and wellbeing is facilitated in each Community, via a range of dedicated programs, designed around precision teaching and personalised learning, and is supported by ongoing professional development for staff. These innovative programs include the:

• Flexi Learning Model
• Data informed classroom project and differentiation – 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 model
• Academically Talented Programs in Mathematics, English and Science
• Mentoring and Steps to Success programs
• PIE – Prevention, Intervention and Extension Model

These programs have been strategically developed to ensure students are able to work and learn at a supportive pace that is most suitable and relevant to their individual strengths and requirements, enabling a differentiated approach to learning, which is data-driven. The most exciting outcome is that students are accepting responsibility and being accountable for the planning, organising, participating in, and reflecting on their learning!

A key contributor to the success of Junior Secondary is the Steps to Success (STS) program. Students participate in two 70 minute STS lessons per week in order to guide their learning journey. This program supports students to achieve the best possible outcomes. The program is successful as it integrates students’ social and emotional needs into an academic curriculum. Added to this, current research indicates that the earlier we engage students in learning programs around education and career planning, the more successful students will be, in making good choices about subjects and careers, and effectively setting and working towards learning goals. Active mentoring, goal setting, and tracking of performance via mentor teachers, core teaching teams and Community Leaders, is an essential part of this program, as it focuses students on their performance.

More information on Junior Secondary Curriculum Programs

Senior Secondary

Our senior programs offer our students a diverse range of academic and vocational pathways through the senior phase of learning, which are focused on ensuring all students are best prepared for life after school. Through a strong focus on our performance improvement agenda, students are supported to identify learning pathways and selection of a suite of subjects that will enable them to achieve success.

Our aim is for each student to achieve a Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE), a VET qualification and where relevant, access to a tertiary pathway. To enable this, students are able to study a broad range of subjects appropriate to their career or tertiary pathway. These subjects include:

• Authority and Authority Registered subjects as per syllabus documents set out by the Queensland Curriculum Assessment Authority (QCAA) previously known as Queensland Studies Authority (QSA).
• Certificate I, II and III and Diploma courses delivered on campus.
• School based apprenticeships or traineeships (SATs).
• Technical and Further Education (TAFE) and external Registered Training Organisations (RTO) offerings – Certificate II, III and IV and Diplomas
• University courses (e.g. University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) – Headstart).

To maximise opportunities for students to achieve success in their desired pathways, subjects are grouped to support this. Students are provided with advice and guidance to carefully select a suite of subjects from these groups that best fit their learning and future needs. This reflects that sub school’s philosophy of ensuring students are undertaking the right subjects within the right pathways, and the valuing of both academic and vocational curriculums.

As students move through the senior years they each move along a learning journey carefully constructed to ensure they are best prepared for their future direction. Each student’s learning journey consists of three pathways that are focused on ensuring each student’s individual success.

These pathways are the:

• Personal Development Pathway
• Performance Pathway and
• Career Readiness Pathway.

The Personal Development Pathway is delivered through the Pathways to Success Program and encompasses the skills students need be active and well-rounded citizens. Within the context of supporting student well-being and learning, students explore the topics of leadership, team skills, interpersonal skills, decision making, personal health and self-awareness and responsibility.

The Performance Pathway refers to the suite of curriculum subjects students have selected to undertake involving academic and vocational studies that will provide the prerequisite skills and knowledge to achieve in their chosen area. This pathway involves significant focus on ensuring each student achieves high standards in their learning.

More information on Senior Secondary Curriculum Programs