Science
Updated: Feb 2000
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| Case Studies - Ballajura Community College Multi-learning Area Teams and a Collaborative Curriculum Focus
  Ballajura Community College (BCC) was planned during the early nineties by a committee comprising representatives from the Western Australian Education Department, local district officers and nearby school principals. These representatives decided to create a school that was educationally responsive to the needs of the young adolescent and a concept for a new school was created and developed for this rapidly growing area of Perth. A Year 7 to Year 9 middle school was opened in 1995 with plans for an adjoining Year 10 to Year 12 senior school. Year 7 students were included in the school helping to alleviate the problem of overcrowding in local primary schools. The foundation principal and two deputy principals participated in extensive community consultation to develop the school purpose statement and ethos.
Ballajura Community is dedicated to learning, excellence, equity and care. Our mission is to ensure that students develop the understandings, skills and attitudes to enable them to fulfil their potential and contribute to the development of society. Ethos We at Ballajura Community College are committed to:
BCC is structured in the form of a middle school (Years 7-9) configured into multi-learning area teams where students are part of a smaller group within the larger school. Classes are blocked together so the students do not have as many teachers or class periods as they do in traditional high schools, but more than they did in primary school. The timetable is more flexible than that of a traditional high school and includes large blocks of time in the students' homerooms. In 1995 there were five learning teams, four of which were considered to be general teams with one team leader, five staff and 160 students. The fifth team consisted of specialist teachers in music, art, technology and enterprise, Italian and Indonesian. Students went to the fifth team while the general learning team teachers had collaborative planning time. In 1996 there were nine learning teams of staff and students, six general learning teams with a team leader, six staff and 180 students. The seventh team was the specialist team for music, art, drama, media and dance teachers, the eighth team was a technology and enterprise team and the ninth team was LOTE and Student Services. In 1997 a senior school was formed for the Year 10 students and this was expanded to accommodate Year 11 and Year 12 in 1998 and 1999. In 1997, the school had six general learning teams in the middle school, two teams forming the senior school and the other four teams consisted of learning area specialist teachers of arts, technology and enterprise, health and physical education and LOTE who teach across all Years 7-10.
A Collaborative Curriculum Focus The overall vision for curriculum development at BCC was to facilitate a gradual movement from generalisation in Year 7 to specialisation in Year 10, in preparation for post-compulsory courses. The teams of teachers at BCC collaborated and planned their curriculum using the Outcome Statements and the draft Curriculum Framework (1997). Teachers also drew on their experience with existing curriculum documents. An integrated approach was facilitated in Years 7, 8 and 9 by modules of work in each learning area being designed around themes. The modules were repeated in alternate years and each team planned strategies to assist students to achieve outcomes in all learning areas. The purpose of the modules written by the teachers was to ensure adequate coverage for entry to post-compulsory pathways and to provide a guiding overview for teachers to plan their programs of work. Literacy, numeracy and technology were the priorities at BCC in 1997 and teachers were encouraged to integrate these skills across all learning areas.
Science, Mathematics and Technology & Enterprise in an Integrated Approach Teachers in each learning team collaboratively planned integrated modules of work around a common theme with the aim of making the module relevant and related to the real life experiences and the interests of the students.
In 1996 the themes were developed for Year 9 students and were repeated in 1997.
Example: Click here to see the module.
The focus of each module was either an excursion or a theme day. These days were designed to highlight the integrated curriculum and flexibility in planning. Visitors from the community and the school administration participated in theme days and students exhibited individual and group work and developed a number of activities related to the theme.
Student self evaluation occurred each term in conjunction with portfolios of work. Alternative forms of assessment strategies such as in-class performance, student portfolios, peer and self assessment were considered as important as more traditional methods. Student reports were provided twice per year with their levels in each learning area and detailed information being included in the report once a year.
Overall, the interviewed teachers were positive about their experiences at BCC and with an integrated curriculum. The Acting Principal in 1997 believed that the outcomes of the school were positive because students were happy about their schooling experiences and that this led to BCC having the lowest truancy rate in the district.
The Acting Principal's words that we are moving in the right direction at BCC encapsulate the general feelings of the staff. The staff recognise that there are areas that need improvement and that, in retrospect, they would have done some things in different ways, but overall they are confident and in most cases committed to and enthusiastic about their integrated curriculum.
We would like to thank teacher Vicky Forth and the Acting Principal, Jan Sampson, for their time and the commitment they made to the preparation of this case study.
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