Senior Years
Melbourne Girls Grammar offers a contemporary and challenging Senior Years Program for girls in Years 9 – 12.
Internationally recognised for its innovation, the Melbourne Girls Grammar Senior Years Program integrates academics and wellbeing for girls to access an unparalleled suite of opportunities.
We teach girls how to self-manage and be independent learners within positive and supportive environments, developing the resilience, persistence and confidence to achieve their best in any pathway they choose — for themselves and for the greater good of the community.
Our Senior Years Program is responsive to the world our girls will live, study and work in beyond graduation: we focus on developing an enterprising mindset so that our girls are academically, emotionally and socially ready for the pace and complexity of global lives.
Students leave Melbourne Girls Grammar with a distinctive education and an aptitude for pursuing their passions. They are independent, adaptable, ethical in their decision making, and highly-effective team players.
Learning Pathways
As the girls move through their Senior Years, they begin to exercise full control over the structure and elements of their learning plan.
In Years 9 and 10, they choose from standard, advanced and accelerated courses as they develop a pathway that aligns with their passions, talents and aspirations.
In the VCE, girls choose from 30 course options and work diligently towards optimising their post-school opportunities.
Students move through these phases of learning at a pace and on a learning pathway that best meets their needs.
The Learning Team is a well-rounded approach between:
- Expert Teachers
- Academic Coaches
- Wellbeing Coaches
- Pathways Planning Teachers
- Student Enterprise Manager
Our Philosophy
Designed to facilitate independence and resilience, our teachers and support staff have an unwavering focus on knowing each girl and encouraging them to stretch and challenge themselves through diverse and new experiences.
Our students must emerge from school able to flourish in a highly complex world. They will be confident in their own interests and have the capacity to manage themselves in unfamiliar contexts.
We aim to foster an enterprising mindset within our girls. They will be curious, focused on the process of learning and value the production of high-quality outcomes through sustained application, collaboration and lateral consideration of possibilities.
All elements of the Senior Years Program are designed with choice and challenge as the anchoring mantra.
Our graduates are well balanced with a global outlook, equipped with the skills and self-belief to excel and achieve their personal best.
Senior Years Handbook
Download the Senior Years Handbook (.pdf)
Wellbeing
When our girls feel well and in control of the many aspects of their lives, they can confront obstacles and challenges with confidence.
In the Senior Years, the Wellbeing Program focuses on the importance of the social, emotional, physical and academic wellbeing of our girls, ensuring they feel empowered and ready to live a life of good health.
Fit for You
An extension of the physical and co-curricular activities in which girls participate, the Fit for You profile is a tracking measure for girls to keep active and achieve their physical goals.
Between students and Fitness Coaches, active plans are developed that support all round personal fitness. Our girls develop positive habits that support their mental health and overall wellbeing for life.
Artemis Centre
Completed in July 2017, the Artemis Centre is at the heart of the wellbeing agenda at Melbourne Girls Grammar.
The purpose-built community facility features physical, social and academic environments that provide girls with a variety of diverse wellbeing program opportunities.
Its Fitness Hub is central to the Fit for You Program and hosts the Artemis physical activity sessions. Consultation rooms are available to students for one-on-one wellbeing coaching sessions, as is the Artemis Learning Commons – a quiet space that can be utilised by girls from Years 9 – 12 for independent academic learning.
Country, Culture and Connections
Every year our a whole year level cohort visits Culture College and learn from the Yolngu people in Arnhem Land. This experience forms a part of the School’s commitment to building a deeper understanding of our indigenous people, the history of Australia and the importance of preserving our 70,000 year-old indigenous culture, languages and traditions.
Student Enterprise
Building on a long history of nurturing young women who have the confidence to shape their own lives, our focus is on developing an entrepreneurial mindset and preparing our girls for life in 2020 and beyond.
At Melbourne Girls Grammar, we craft learning and co-curricular experiences that encourage girls to be creative, resourceful, adaptable, team oriented and independent.
How do we encourage student enterprise?
- Learning Beyond the Red Brick Walls: local and global opportunities, incorporating trips, exchanges, humanitarian initiatives and passion focused opportunities
- Careers Inspiration: seeking and securing internships that supplement and inform learning experiences beyond the academic domain
- Student Philanthropy: volunteer work is a highly valued component of our girls’ experiences
- Leadership: this can be individual or team based, demonstrated through participation in enterprise opportunities
Years 9 – 12
During the Senior Years, the day begins as soon as the girls start interacting with the academic, wellbeing and co-curricular programs we have to offer.
This is a time of increased autonomy within a defined, yet flexible structure with clear expectations.
It is our belief that when challenged, our girls will experience success in meeting and exceeding expectations. Our programs are designed with this in mind and provide differing levels of conceptual and literacy challenges.
Girls have access to an extensive curriculum and VCE offering, and over 55 different elective courses.
It is an expectation that all girls will undertake at least one advanced course by the completion of Year 10, however, they are able to select from advanced courses in all learning pathways.
Melbourne Girls Grammar also supports the fast-tracked completion of VCE units through its carefully constructed and closely monitored suite of Accelerated Courses. These support our girls’ pathways to the early completion of VCE units and are overseen by subject teachers, Year Level Co-ordinators and the Pathways Planning Department.
Shape of the Day
To encourage self-management and self-regulation, we have removed the notion of a ‘standard’ school day, and instead place responsibility on the student to shape their day according to the goals and priorities they have established with their Coaches.
We categorise these learning experiences as fixed and flexible.