CATALYST BIG SKILLS – DEVELOPING A 21ST CENTURY
TOOLKIT
To be successful in the 21st Century requires skills that previous generations never imagined.
Schools, skills and learning as we have known them to this point, are 19th Century inventions
driven by the needs of an industrial economy. Today, the landscape is significantly different;
technological advances, globalisation and the “knowledge revolution” have transformed our
world. To be successful today we believe students need a suite of transferable skills that will
enable them to adapt and contribute to this changing world.
Catalyst BIG skills
Literacy and Numeracy
A literate person in the 21st Century must possess a broad range of competencies that will
allow them to pose and solve problems in a collaborative manner, critique, analyse and create
multimedia texts and become proficient with changing technologies. Every core course,
Discovery course or program in our curriculum focuses on the development of literacy,
encouraging students to extend their range of skills and strategies including:
Personal literacy – knowledge of self, learning style, talents and abilities
Functional literacy – knowledge of spelling, grammar, mechanics of writing, rules
Emergent literacy – knowledge and competency in emerging technologies
Academic literacy – knowing how to learn, find, question
Information literacy – ability to use and assess information and information sources.
To be numerate is to have the basic mathematical knowledge and skills to effectively meet the
general demands of everyday life at home, in paid work and for participation in community and
civic life.
At Guildford Grammar School, numeracy is a fundamental component of learning across all
areas of the curriculum. It involves the ability to use, in context, a combination of:
Underlying mathematical concepts and skills from across the disciplines (number,
measurement, space, statistics and algebra)
Mathematical reasoning and strategies
General logic and thinking skills
Practical mathematical skills.
Historically, literacy and numeracy have been taught in English and Mathematics. In the junior
secondary curriculum, literacy and numeracy are a culture, rather than a subject. Numeracy
and literacy are the foundation of our Catalyst BIG skills and permeate all areas of the junior
secondary curriculum. Every subject, Discovery course or Action Project in our curriculum
focuses on the development of these important skills.
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