Richmond River High School
Context
Richmond River High School is a co-educational comprehensive high school located on the floodplains in North Lismore. The school's split site has extensive agricultural facilities and sporting fields covering 26 hectares. It draws its students from within Lismore as well as the broader rural community and surrounding villages.
The school is proud of its tradition of high academic and cultural achievements and excellence in many areas especially the sciences, performing arts and computer technology.
Our mission states that Richmond River High School is a caring school committed to technology and creativity. The school aim s to use its resources, both human and physical, to ensure that each individual student gains the necessary skills, concepts, attitudes and values to be effective members of society. A broad curriculum includes opportunities for students to study six in-school vocational education and training (VET) subjects as well as TAFE options.
Project team
- Karen Yager, English Head Teacher
- Gae Masters
- Dave Hanley
- Mark Ippolito
- Jeff Larkin
- Jennie McInnes
- John Duncan
- Melissa Cliff
Resource advice and support:
- Helen Cray, teacher librarian
- STLA advice and support:
- Jane Ryan (STLA)
Highlights of the project
When we designed the units we decided that our current Stage 4 programming needed an overhaul so we plunged in the deep end and created 12 units that would cover all outcomes, content, cross curricular and mandatory content for Years 7 and 8. The units were underpinned by the dimensions from the Quality Teaching discussion paper and catered for different learning styles.
ICT was an important consideration for the majority of the units.
We tried to use a variety of texts that are appealing to students. The units are flexible and provide extension activities. Many of the units have been tried and tested and the necessary adjustments have been made. Next year we will add more student work samples to the units as we teach the units.
One important consideration was the inclusion of a journal/writing portfolio for Years 7 and 8 so that students are encouraged to reflect on their strengths and weaknesses and treasure their best compositions.
Working on these units ensured that the staff was intimately involved with the new syllabus and the Quality Teaching discussion paper. The result was a Stage 4 program that we are all proud of and are excited about implementing next year. The creation of the units did take a lot of our weekends and holidays but when we look at the final results we realise that the sacrifices we made were worth it.
Materials
Stage 4 Programs and Assessment overviews include the assessment tasks of the student journal in both Year 7 and Year 8.
Through my window unit, a Stage 4 fiction unit intended as the first unit for Year 7.
Wide experience of poetry unit aims to give Year 7 students a wide experience of poetry.
All the world’s a stage unit, a Year 7 unit with a focus on drama texts.
Lights, camera, action unit, Year 7 introduction to film unit.
Australian heroes unit, a nonfiction unit for Year 7 students.
Exposing the news unit, a Year 7 unit with a focus on media texts.
Exposing the News: Gifted and Talented focus1 The sample unit demonstrates how a unit created by Richmond River High School for a mixed ability class studying the media may be further modified using the Williams model to cater for students gifted in English. It is published on the Gifted and Talented web site in the Teaching Ideas section.
Exposing the News: Gifted and Talented focus 2 This sample applies the Anderson-Krathwohl model for curriculum differentiation to the media unit for a mixed ability class, created by Richmond River High School. It is published on the Gifted and Talented web site in the Teaching Ideas section.
Dreaming tracks unit, a nonfiction unit, designed as the first unit for Year 8 students.
Close study of a novel unit is designed for Year 8 students.
Fun with poetry unit is a close study of poetry for Year 8 students.
The smell of grease paint unit is a Year 8 close study of a play unit.
Not the muffin man unit, a Year 8 unit with a focus on film texts.
Perilous journeys unit, a Year 8 unit with a focus on media texts.
Stage 5 program and assessment overviews include the assessment tasks of the student journal in both Year 9 and Year 10.
Stage 5 Marketing and Advertising unit, a Year 10 unit focusing on marketing and advertising in the travel industry.
Stage 5 Shakespeare’s warriors. This unit looks at three of Shakespeare's famous kings: Macbeth, Richard III and Henry V.
Year 10 Context and Author study. This Stage 5 unit encompasses a variety of appropriate fiction texts for close study in Year 10: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon; The Lord of the Flies by William Golding; To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
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