Scotch College aims to deliver a progressive and inquiry-based curriculum from pre-K to 12 for our boys.  We want to inspire a life-long love of learning and ensure we develop the learners’ preparedness for a globalised and technological world.  Throughout a boy’s educational journey, teaching and learning programmes are carefully crafted to meet personal needs of social, emotional and cognitive development. This sits within the framework of curriculum and is  a seamless transition through Junior, Middle and Senior School levels. The overarching philosophy encompasses an emphasis on three core areas; Approaches to Learning, Differentiation and Ongoing Feedback.  Across the College, the teaching and learning teams believe these areas will be the fundamental difference to maximising individual potential and building capacity for critical and creative thinking. This in conjunction with enriching and engaging learning experiences motivates and inspires boys’ with an appropriate level of challenge for their age and stage.

More and more, evidence from academic thought leaders is decisively addressing how educational practices must be improved to stimulate and empower the learner. At the College we employ the International Baccalaureate Approaches to Learning to explicitly state the desired habits, skills and traits necessary to achieve this. Specialist teachers identify and implement approaches to learning that are best fit for the year, subject and unit of work. Boys apply these skills within their learning and make progression through developmental stages of novice through to leader. It is through the acquisition and repetition of these skills in new contexts, boys’ will attain essential skills vital to enhance an independent attitude to learning.

Differentiation, another critical feature of our teaching and learning, is established through academic tracking. The process of academic tracking identifies and ensure opportunities for educational growth for each boy. Differentiated learning serves to maintain a suitable level of academic challenge, create a growth mindset and drives personal improvement. The role of the teacher is to help boys understand how to progress in their learning, and the role of the student is to full commitment to their learning. As such, we engage a model of ongoing feedback to assist students with learning how to learn more effectively. Teachers provide directed and targeted feedback, allowing student to analyse errors and made incremental improvements over time.

The well-researched and considered design of our Teaching and Learning programmes definitively address the ages and stages of each boy as they progress through PreK to 12.