Admissions Handbook 2011 - The Southport School

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28 The Southport School “If you want to get your point across to a boy, speak low, slow and loud and use motion to attract and keep attention. Don’t depend on facial information as this is often overlooked by males,” said Greg, who also said this holds for husbands as well as boys! “You can engage boys in books by talking about time-lines or an exciting event first, which gives males a point of reference from which to engage in the book.” Greg said it was important to remember that boys do have emotions, yet they often lack sufficient emotional vocabulary to enable them to express their feelings, again because of hard wiring developmental differences. “This can become quite crucial for males as they become adults and make it difficult for them to connect with others when the world is not going according to plan. As parents and educators it is up to us to help them develop their vocabulary to allow them to verbally express themselves in times of emotional need, but also to understand boys, and men, may not need to ‘talk things through’ as much.” A great believer in the brain differences between boys and girls, and armed with a growing bank of evidence to support this, Greg says it is important to find the right way to ‘reach’ boys in order to ‘teach’ them. “This starts as easily as identifying the learning styles of individual students and then applying teaching techniques to suit,” said Greg. “At TSS we are encouraging teachers to find out the learning styles of their individual students. One simple model we use is VAK. Visual learners learn by seeing, auditory learners learn by hearing and kinaesthetic learners learn by doing. “I have a theory that the school curriculum, mostly in words, advantages auditory learners, many of whom, being well rewarded by the school system, return as teachers and teach in their auditory style, relying predominantly on talking, reading and writing.” However, Greg says between 30 and 40 per cent of students are visual learners and many others are kinaesthetic learners. Visual learners need to ‘see’ the whole before they can understand the ‘parts’. “For a visual learner, skim reading first to get the whole picture and then going back and reading in detail is the best approach. Visual learners need lots of charts, mind maps, diagrams, maps, and to use colours to highlight important information.” On the other hand, kinaesthetic learners need to be able to move around regularly, take frequent breaks, use bright colours when re-writing notes, and to trace key words with their fingers. “At TSS we want our teachers to ensure, over a day, and over a unit of study, that all learning styles are catered. “As a boys’ only school, we have many visual and kinaesthetic learners, and we encourage our teachers to have a globe or map of the world in class, and a time-line along the wall so boys can ‘see’ and ‘point’ to where things are in the world, and on the time-line of world events. This plays to their relatively advanced spatial relations intelligence.” This simple approach and change in traditional teaching thinking not only helps visual and kinaesthetic learners but all learners by associating what they are learning with a place and a time – and learning by association of concepts is a very effective learning technique. “Recently we also began exploring a more advanced learning style system called Paragon, which is based upon Myers-Briggs personality theory, so our learning styles are linked to our personal styles and thinking style preferences,” said Greg. “By reintroducing our parents to the Boys’ Education Information Sessions we aim to strengthen the bond between the School and parents to create a cohesive team effort to help all our students grow to their potential in a nurturing and safe environment.”
Admissions Handbook 29 Curriculum Matters From the Studies Department A sincere welcome to all newcomers – boys and parents – to the TSS Studies Department. Our goal is to help each boy feel a great sense of satisfaction that will come when he knows he has achieved his personal academic best. We are confident our curriculum from Prep to Year 12 reflects fully current educational thinking, aligning with the K-10 Australian Curriculum due to be implemented by all Australian schools by 2013. Nine Key Learning Areas – English, Mathematics, Science, Human and Social Sciences, The Arts, Languages, Health and Physical Education, Technologies and TSS Religious Education program ‘Life & Faith’ shape our curriculum offerings up to the end of Year 9. Years 10, 11 & 12 offer boys a Foundation Education that allows them to prepare for tertiary studies and the world of work via OP, or non-OP pathways and Vocational Education. In Years 11 & 12, we offer three study pathways. The Southport School offers a wide range of Queensland Studies Authority (QSA) subjects which will lead to an Overall Position (OP) for university entrance as well as Authority-Registered subjects which do not lead to an OP, but can contribute towards a tertiary entrance. Vocational offerings include a Certificate III in Business with The Southport School as the Registered Training Organisation (RTO) as well as opportunities to complete certificate courses through external RTOs. Boys wishing to gain these nationally recognised qualifications issued under the Australian Quality Training Framework can undertake school-based traineeship/apprenticeships or attend an outside training organisation such as TAFE. Boys who choose the non-OP (or QTAC Rank Score) pathway will make their subject selections from a combination of traditional OP subjects and non-OP subjects including: English Communication, Prevocational Mathematics, Industrial Technology, Information Communication Technology, Recreation and The Study of Leadership). An expression of our determination to stay abreast of current educational and societal imperatives is the extensive technology program we offer. Boys are required to experience information, design, materials and systems technology to some degree, and some students elect to continue studies in all or some of these to the end of Year 12. Whilst TSS offers extensive computer labs, boys are welcome to bring their own computer device to school and to most classes. Thus, boys should leave The Southport School with a very sound level of technological literacy. Furthermore, the development of explicit thinking skills and communication strategies is high on our agenda as is the promotion of boys’ reading. In summary, the curriculum at TSS is challenging and caters for the needs and interests of all boys. Opportunities abound for boys at every level of ability and potential, with significant opportunities in extension activities through involvement in the Gifted & Talented and Honours Programs. For all TSS boys, the rewards for determination and effort in the academic realm are many and varied with chances for all to
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Page 4 and 5: Table of Contents Headmaster’s We
Page 6 and 7: Curriculum Handbooks ..............
Page 8 and 9: Student Accident Insurance ........
Page 10 and 11: 2 The Southport School Welcome from
Page 12 and 13: 4 The Southport School School Missi
Page 14 and 15: 6 The Southport School Senior Schoo
Page 16 and 17: 8 The Southport School Quick Contac
Page 18 and 19: 10 The Southport School The House S
Page 20 and 21: 12 The Southport School Melbourne H
Page 22 and 23: 14 The Southport School School Rule
Page 24 and 25: 16 The Southport School Homework Pr
Page 26 and 27: 18 The Southport School Smoking Dru
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Page 32 and 33: 24 The Southport School Anti-Discri
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Page 38 and 39: 30 The Southport School succeed and
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Page 42 and 43: 34 The Southport School Gifted Educ
Page 44 and 45: 36 The Southport School Outdoor Edu
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Page 48 and 49: 40 The Southport School The Chapel
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Page 52 and 53: 44 The Southport School Fees Lesson
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Page 56 and 57: 48 The Southport School Sports Unif
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Page 60 and 61: 52 The Southport School Tuition Fee
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Page 64 and 65: 56 The Southport School Withdrawal
Page 66 and 67: 58 The Southport School Fees Policy
Page 68 and 69: 60 The Southport School iii) The Sc
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