Learning

Subject Handbooks

Curriculum

Our curriculum is driven by our school values: excellence in learning, resilience in life, thriving in community. In all learning areas students are provided with a differentiated curriculum that allows all students to grow and experience success. Experiences such as Thrive, Community Time and authentic opportunities to share their learning, allows our students to develop resilience and become thriving members of our school and the wider community.

Year 7 & 8 Curriculum

At Lilydale High School Year 7 & 8 students study subjects from each of the eight Key Learning Areas with a focus on breadth and exploring possible areas of interest as well as trying something new. An integral part of the introduction to Lilydale High School is Thrive; one period a week in which students explore the values of LHS, reflect on their growth and set goals. Students remain with their core group for all subjects throughout the year, except their chosen Language where they have the opportunity to meet other students.

Year 9 Curriculum

The aim of Year 9 is to continue to expose students to a breadth of subjects, while balancing their ability to make choices about their interests and passions. At Year 9, students begin to make choices about their subjects and may apply for select entry courses such as the Art Enrichment Program, Athlete Development Program and Excellence in Sport Program. All students study two English electives and core subjects: Mathematics, Science, Humanities and Health & Physical Education. In addition, they are able to choose two electives from a variety of subject areas per semester. Students continue to participate in Thrive, focusing on developing their identity as a community member. This is also fostered in their choice of Community Time electives which come from a large and varied list designed to engage students with the school and wider community.

Year 10 Curriculum

Year 10 students at Lilydale High School experience a full spectrum of subjects and courses, designed to engage them in their interests and passions while preparing them for their senior years of secondary school. All students are required to study English and select a Mathematics course that is best suited to their goals and strengths. All students study a semester each of core Science and Humanities while continuing to engage in Thrive, building the sense of who their future self will be. The rest of a student's course is selected by the student and their families, from a variety of subjects offered by each subject area, including Unit 1 & 2 VCE subjects.

Year 11 & 12

Students at Lilydale High School have the opportunity to finish their secondary schooling through the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) or Victorian Certificate of Education Vocational Major (VCE VM). With support, all students select a course that is suitable for their interests and goals. Students devote one period a week to Thrive where they intentionally build and negotiate their social responsibilities and sense of self; thinking beyond their schooling to a time in which they are active members of the wider community.

Please see the course counselling and subject handbooks section for more information.

Key Learning Areas

English

At Lilydale High School, through their study of English, students will learn to communicate, understand and interact with others and with the world around them. Studying English enables all students to become confident communicators, imaginative thinkers and informed citizens. Our students read widely from a diverse range of texts which reflect the richness of the human experience. They have the opportunity to develop their voice as an author, with opportunities to publish and celebrate their writing over their six years of secondary schooling.

Mathematics

A study of Mathematics at Lilydale High School develops useful mathematical and numeracy skills for everyday life and work, where students can become confident and effective users of mathematics. Students will develop skills to investigate, represent and interpret situations, think critically, and make choices as active, engaged, numerate citizens. At Lilydale High School the learning of mathematics is acknowledged as an essential life skill, empowering students beyond the classroom. The diversity of our mathematics curriculum offered from Quicksmart Numeracy Support at Year 7 to the study of Specialist Mathematics at VCE means Lilydale High School can tailor a course for all students.

Science

Science at Lilydale High School inspires students to expand their curiosity and willingness to investigate the changing world they live in, providing a foundation of knowledge of the biological, chemical, Earth and space, and physical sciences. Students develop an ability to solve problems, evaluate and debate scientific explanations and arguments, and justify conclusions and claims with evidence. All students from Year 7-10 engage in a core Science curriculum; however from Year 10 through to senior school, students have the opportunity to select from subjects such as Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Psychology and Physics.

Humanities

The Humanities provide a framework for students to examine the human-related systems and processes that have shaped the world. At Lilydale High School, we recognise the importance of studying Humanities to enable students to become engaged and informed global citizens. Hence, for the first three years of High School, students study a year of Core Humanities that incorporates Civics and Citizenship, Economics and Business, Geography and History. Year 10 students complete a core humanities course and also have the opportunities to complete additional humanities electives.

Health and Physical Education

Lilydale High School ensures that students have the opportunity to experience a curriculum that is relevant and challenging; encouraging students to value movement and developing health literacy. We incorporate the Victorian Curriculum and the Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships curriculum into our courses, ensuring that students are learning meaningful skills and knowledge about their health and physical activity.

Arts

The Arts at Lilydale High School includes the study of Drama, Media, Music, Visual Communication Design and Visual Arts including Ceramics. Students learn as artists and audiences to play, explore, question, challenge and imagine new possibilities as they create, embody, design, represent, collaborate and communicate ideas, emotions, observations and experience. At our school, the Arts offer students a large range of opportunities both in and out of the classroom, engaging students in the opportunity to deepen an existing skillset or learn something completely new.

Technology

Studying the Technologies equips students to design, create, use and evaluate innovative solutions that meet current and future needs using a range of technologies. At Lilydale High School students can engage in a range of subjects across their schooling experience including Digital Technologies, Food Studies, Wood Technology, STEM subjects, Systems Engineering and Textiles. Each of these subjects build real world skills, and offer the ability to follow through into the senior schooling years and beyond.

Languages

Language learning provides students with opportunities to engage with the linguistic and cultural diversity of the world and its peoples. It prompts students to reflect on their experience in various aspects of social life, including their own participation and ways of being in the world. Lilydale High School values the opportunity for young people to learn an additional language, offering both French and Indonesian for students to select upon their enrollment for Year 7.

Thrive

All students spend one period a week in ‘Thrive’, a subject that emphasises the development of the whole person over their six years of secondary schooling as an engaged member of local and global communities. This time allows students to explore school values, interests and later career pathways, study techniques, elements of the Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships, and participate in health and wellbeing activities and other whole year level activities.

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