My first week at Fitzroy high school has been an extremely new and unique learning experience. Although the students and staff speak English, and their curriculum is very similar to the BC curriculum, there are so many different styles, techniques, terms, and subjects that prove I am in fact in a different country.
Fitzroy High School
The teacher I work with teaches science 10 and physics 11 and 12. Upon my arrival, I soon learned that after students have finished grade 6, they enter high school, and once in high school it is not called grade but rather year. Therefore I mainly work with year 10, 11 and 12 students.
The first couple of days, the classes were very small, and we had many prep blocks. This was due to the fact that the year 10 students were on a two-week work experience. Students organize this work experience for themselves and can go to any different work site and grasp an understanding of the different types of work available. On one of the days, I was able to go around the city visiting several students at their work experience sites. I visited childcare centers, mechanic shops, and a architecture company. This program is a requirement component of the year ten curriculums. The same idea is carried out in the year nine curriculums, however in year nine, instead of work experience, once a week, students go off into the community to complete numerous hours of community service. These programs are a great way to get students be active and part of their community, outside of the classroom. These are requirements by the state of Victoria and are a part of the curriculum.
Outside School Grounds
Furthermore, I learned about the different process that takes place when students are applying to university. Similar to the SATs, Australian students partake in SAC tests at the end of their year 12 courses. This score counts as 50% of the score that they apply to university with. The other 50% comes from their classroom work and their classroom teachers. In their year 11 and 12, the focus is heavily on academics, however they also provide opportunities for students who wish to work in trades, to leave school and get the necessary skills that will allow them to be successful in the trades industry. The school provides opportunities for students, outside of academics.
Chemistry Demo
Being in a secondary school provides many different opportunities with conducting laboratory experiments. The school is fully equipped with access to chemicals and laboratory materials. Being a chemistry graduate, I was extremely keen to partake in conducting chemistry demonstrations and labs. I talked to the year 12 chemistry teachers and she invited me to test out the demonstrations that she was going to conduct for her class on Friday. We tested out the reactions, and I was invited to be a demonstrator for her chemistry 12 class onFriday. It was an extremely different experience teaching older students. One of the differences between the grade sixes and twelve’s was the energy level. The grade twelve’s energy level was much lower than the grade sixes which I was used to.
This week was a learning week. I learned a lot about the school itself, as well as how the education system works in Australia. Next week I look forward to taking over some of the year 10 science classes and doing my chemistry demos.