Mortlake College P12 has a focus on continuous improvement in every aspect of school life. We aim to maximise each student’s potential so that all will experience success. In the spirit of a development culture, the core purpose of the school, as defined in the Strategic Plan, is to improve the levels of achievement from Prep to Year 12 in all domains of the curriculum with a particular emphasis on Literacy and Numeracy. We focus on whole student development by embracing values and behaviours that will lead to the development of respectful, compassionate and connected young people. The school is committed to offering a comprehensive curriculum based on the Victorian Curriculum. We aim to provide a dynamic learning culture that promotes integrity, innovation and the individual by valuing:
Excellence and creativity in our achievements and ambitions
Integrity and honesty in our actions and relationships
Diversity in our curriculum, in each other, and in our community
Strong and open communication between our school and our community, and between our teachers, our students and our families
A commitment to social and restorative justice and a passion to protect and improve our environment and our community.
A focus on Positive Education and mindfullness
Our school has distinct learning teams to develop and deliver curriculum at the different stages of learning, acknowledging age appropriate needs and cross age abilities.
A P-6 sub school provides a comprehensive curriculum with a strong focus on literacy and numeracy. Curriculum initiatives include the Cafe, 'Daily 5' Literacy program, the 'Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden’ program, Quicksmart & MYLNS. In addition to the comprehensive classroom programs offered in literacy and numeracy, an integrated classroom curriculum program addresses the domains of Science, Humanities/History, Design and Technology, Civics and Citizenship, Health and Art. These domains are also cross referenced with the literacy program to ensure sufficient time is allocated to address the content. Specialist teachers provide instruction in Physical Education, Cultural Language (Indigenous), Respectful Relationships and Performing Arts.
In the secondary area of the school, the College is committed to achieving the Victorian Curriculum essential outcomes for all students by the completion of Year 10. These “essential outcomes” relate to levels of performance in literacy, numeracy, information communication technology skills, enrichment, social competencies and leadership skills. Students in the Middle School access a rich curriculum which addresses their individual learning needs, from those who enjoy a challenge to those who need additional learning access. All students are involved in a core curriculum that includes Mathematics, English, Science, Physical Education & Health, Humanities and General Capabilities. These subjects are complemented by a a number of elective units in the Arts, Technology, STEAM & Sport.
A broad Later Year’s program provides opportunity for early entry to VCE for talented students and a concurrent Applied Learning program incorporating VET, VCAL and School Based Apprenticeships to complement the VCE program. Students may take a straight VCE or Applied Learning program, or a combination of the two. The size of our school enables us to devise Individual Learning Pathways for each student.
Our school provides students with the opportunity to excel in a range of ‘enrichment’ programs: performing arts (which includes production, festival and eisteddfod performances); instrumental music, bike education, sporting teams and camps, including a biennial cultural study tours of NZ, and incursions and excursions at all year levels .
Extensive student leadership opportunities exist throughout the school. Our students have access to the Alpine School for Student Leadership and the Vic SRC student congress. The school is an Esmart accredited school with a 1:1 Chromebook program. We are committed to providing access to the latest digital technology and to developing respectful and competent digital citizens. A guaranteed and viable curriculum is important to the school, and particularly to our students. We have high expectations about the content we teach, the way in which we engage students in learning, and the means by which we assess their level of understanding. The school is developing a structured approach to curriculum planning that ensures a shared vision within the school on curriculum development, common documentation and common understanding of the whole-school curriculum by teachers and parents. The school has a goal to build teacher capacity to identify a student’s point of learning by assessing against the standards and developing strategies to inform learning intentions and success criteria. The data analysed regularly by teachers in their curriculum planning includes a suite of year level assessments including NAPLAN, Benchmarking, On Demand and P.A.T testing and an analysis of school performance data including student, staff and parent surveys. There is a high level of professional development and the promotion of professional autonomy in the context of participation in the school improvement and teaching and learning teams.
