Year 10
Year 10 at Wynnum State High School is the transition year of the senior school. Year 10 is an important year for students as they move towards senior studies in Year 11 and Year 12. In Year 10, we seek to extend our educational offerings and focus on the consolidation of knowledge, mastery of skills and development of higher order thinking skills. We aim to prepare emerging young adults for their senior schooling pursuits as well as their post senior school pursuits. The Queensland Government explicitly supports this with a new system beginning next year.
Under the ETRF (Education and Training Reforms for the Future) agenda, the Queensland Government has provided a framework to give young people greater flexibility to achieve qualifications beyond Year 10 — this could be in school, in TAFE or through other forms of training.
The Queensland government has introduced new laws that:
- make it compulsory for young people to stay at school until they finish Year 10 or have turned 16, whichever comes first
- require young people to then participate in education and training for:
- a further two years; or
- until they have gained a Senior Certificate; or
- until they have gained a Certificate III vocational qualification; or until they have turned 17
- provide exemptions for young people who enter fulltime work after they have either completed Year 10 or turned 16.
Schools are also required to develop individual Learning Pathways Plans with their students that will build on strengths and interests and identify for students areas where more work is needed for success.
The Queensland Certificate of Education replaces the current Senior Certificate. The first year that this certificate will be awarded is in 2008. The QCE is about achievement in the Senior Phase of Learning. This phase begins when students are registered with the Queensland Studies Authority (QSA) before they turn 16. A learning account will be opened which will allow students to bank their achievements. At the end of Year 12 all students will receive a Senior Statement listing all their achievements. Those students who have fulfilled prescribed requirements will receive a QCE.
Our Subject Handbook contains information to help students choose their Year 10 semester studies. Student choices should reflect abilities, recent achievements and interests while keeping in mind possible Year 11 and 12 subjects and career options.
Students in Year 10 will study units derived from the eight key learning areas. These are:
- English
- Mathematics
- Studies of Society and Environment
- Health and Physical Education
- Technology
- The Arts
- Science
- Languages other than English
What is the nature of the eight key learning areas?
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In the English key learning area students are provided with opportunities to develop confidence and skill in effective language use, enjoy and develop critical understanding of literature, and explore aspects of our cultural heritage. It also plays a key role in contributing to the development and demonstration of basic literacy skills that are fundamental to learning in other key learning areas and that enable students to actively participate in modern society.
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In the Health and Physical Education key learning area students are provided with opportunities to develop the knowledge, processes, skills and attitudes necessary to make informed decisions related to promoting the health of individuals and communities, developing concepts and skills for physical activity and enhancing personal development.
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In the Languages other than English key learning area students are provided with opportunities to develop knowledge, processes, skills and attitudes that allow them to communicate effectively and appropriately in another language. It also enables them to gain access to societies beyond their own and prepares them for the challenges of participating in a global community. Wynnum State High offers French as our language.
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In the Mathematics key learning area students are provided with opportunities to observe and investigate patterns and relationships in the social and physical worlds. Students come to understand that ways of thinking are influenced by mathematics and that mathematics is a universal means of communication about the world.
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In the Science key learning area students are provided with opportunities to develop and demonstrate the knowledge, practices and dispositions of working scientifically. They use this knowledge to explain, predict and reconstruct their understandings of the physical and biological worlds. Students come to understand that science as a ‘way of knowing’ recognises the tentative nature of scientific knowledge and the importance of human endeavour in its pursuit.
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In the Studies of Society and Environment key learning area students are provided with opportunities to develop and demonstrate knowledge about particular social, cultural, political, legal, economic and environmental relationships that characterise communities at particular times and places. Values, concepts, skills and processes are drawn from disciplines such as history, geography, economics, politics, sociology, anthropology, law, psychology and ethics. The Studies of Society and Environment key learning area centres on human fascination with the way people interact with each other and with their environments. The key learning area also encompasses other cultural studies, and studies in futures, the environment, global and rural issues, peace and gender.
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In the Technology key learning area students are provided with opportunities to develop innovative and practical solutions that meet needs, utilise opportunities and extend human capabilities. It engages students in various real-life and lifelike contexts, where they apply their knowledge and understandings of material, information, systems and technology processes to create practical solutions that meet identifiable human needs. Students develop an understanding of technology processes and the ability to apply these across a range of current and future technological fields.
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In The Arts key learning area students are provided with opportunities to develop and demonstrate alternative ways of constructing meaning and understanding in the five separate and distinct area of dance, drama, media, music and visual arts. Learning in The Arts involves students in a variety of creative means of expression and communication. They are introduced to the language, techniques, and convention of the arts areas. Through engagement in learning, students develop skills in making, presenting and performing with aesthetic awareness and sensitivity in a range of contexts and for a range of audiences. Through reflection on arts experiences, learners acquire the ability to value, challenge, and evaluate their own work and the work of others. They develop understandings of the social, cultural, historical and economic contexts that shape each arts area. As learners engage in and reflect on arts experiences, they develop their appreciation of culturally shared aesthetic values as well as a personal aesthetic.
Year 10 student achievement will be reported to students and parents on an A-E scale. This will mirror student achievement in Year 11 and 12.
Unit Choice
Year 10 students will study six (6) units per semester and MUST study a unit of English, a unit of Mathematics and a unit of Science each semester. Students may then choose three (3) units from the remaining five key learning areas.
Year Level |
Core Key Learning Areas |
Elective |
Notes on unit choice |
10 |
Students will choose one unit to study from each of these KLAs in both Semester 1 and Semester 2
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Students will choose three (3) units to study from any of these five (5) KLAs in both Semester 1 and Semester 2.
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Students study six units per semester
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Middle School Curriculum to Senior School Curriculum
- Electives
Year 8 |
Year 9 |
Year 10 |
Year 11 and 12 |
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