INTRODUCTION
Almost all students at Sacred Heart College complete secondary graduation at the end of Year 12. This may seem a long way into the future, but Year 9 is a key step on the climb to successful school completion.

In a study into the factors that are correlated with Year 12 success, The Australian Council of Educational Research looked at a range of variables. These included; type of school, occupation of parents, socio-economic area, gender issues etc. Although all of these factors contribute to the overall result, the factor with the highest correlation for success in Year 12 is: “The results a student gains at the end of Year 9”

One of the main reasons for this is that many Year 9 students go through a flat spot in their intellectual development during this period in their lives. There can be many distractions for teenagers, as we all know. Those who work hard and develop the habit of this, as well as conditioning their minds, will do much better at the end of their schooling.

Year 9 should be looked upon as a critical year and this message will be consistently reinforced during the year. The curriculum has a strong emphasis on literacy, numeracy and research skills. We need to equip our students with the skills to become life-long learners. In preparing our students for the future where employment will demand flexibility and teamwork, time is also allocated to building and improving these skills.

One aspect that our Year 9 students look forward to is the opportunity to choose their electives and I urge students to carefully read the information in this Handbook and to talk to the teachers involved in these courses. Choosing well can mean a very happy and fulfilling year whereas poor choices will cause unhappiness and poor results.

Best wishes for a successful Year 9. Make this your most enjoyable year at school yet.

GENERAL INFORMATION

The College timetable will consist of 30 periods per week. There are six periods per day that run for 50 minutes, with one period of 70 minutes. The breakdown of periods allocated for subjects is as follows:

• Religious Education - 4 periods
• English - 4 periods
• Mathematics - 4 periods
• Science - 4 periods
• Humanities - 4 periods
• Health & Physical Education - 4 periods
• Three elective subjects per Semester - 2 periods each
  
  

Students in Year 9 are making the transition between lower school and upper school. The selection of subjects is designed to give students a breadth of education across all of the Learning Areas before starting to specialise in Year 10.

SELECTING SUBJECTS
Listed in this Handbook are the subjects that will be offered on a semester basis in 2023. Students will need to choose six subjects. French, Japanese and Music are the equivalent of two subjects each as they are year length subjects. The provision of any subject is dependent upon the numbers wishing to study it and the availability of resources.

The study of French, Japanese and Music in Year 9 requires the successful completion of these subjects at Year 8 level. When selecting subjects, students are not permitted to select the same subject twice.