PERSONAL LEARNING PROGRAM
The Personal Learning Program (PLP) is a three-year, sequential learning program aimed at
developing individual abilities and skills as well as providing the flexibility for students to
explore new areas of interest or continue learning in disciplines that align with their passions
and academic strengths. The principles of individual and meaningful learning are organising
tenets of the Personal Learning Program.
Students grow their understanding of who they are as learners through this program which
includes participation in four Action Projects each year that are incorporated into each
student’s Core learning, and the opportunity to select and study a wide range of Discovery
Courses across their junior secondary schooling.
Action Projects
Catalyst Action Projects are purposeful, problem-based activities designed to engage students
in a rich learning experience. These learning projects offer students the opportunity to explore
broader applications of their learning and apply new found skills and understanding to relevant,
real-life problems and issues. Collaboratively, students will discuss, research, analyse, create
and debate problems and issues specific to their project. Rather th an being an extension of
the curriculum, an Action Project is a medium by which students come to experience and
engage with it.
A variety of feedback and assessment methods are used. Self-assessment, reflective writing,
online networking and checklists are used to provide practical advice during the course of the
project. The challenge-based nature of each project provides tangible evidence of final
performance. Students are encouraged to present their learning in a variety of ways,
encouraging their creativity and control over their learning as well as allowing for their different
learning styles.
Students will participate in one Action Project each term in either their Science or Humanities
and Social Science Core subjects. Across Year 7-9 students will complete 12 Action Projects.
Outlines for Action Projects for each Junior Secondary year can be found on page 35 of this
handbook.
Discovery Learning Banks
The Discovery Learning Banks offer a wide range of practical and academic courses. In all
junior secondary years Discovery courses are organised into year specific learning banks. The
arrangement of Discovery courses in these important years of schooling provides significant
choice across a broad range of subject disciplines.
Across a student’s Junior Secondary schooling, they will select and complete eight Discovery
courses. Each course runs for one semester and results in up to 31 hours of instruction.
X and Y Language courses
All students will study a foreign language in Year 7; Chinese or French. In Years 8 and 9,
students can elect to continue language studies as part of their Discovery learning program.
In both these years, a foreign language can be studied over the course of a semester by
choosing the relevant X course, or as a year-long course by selecting both the X and Y courses
for a chosen language.
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