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17 Graham Street, South Brisbane, QLD 4101 Australia

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Curriculum Framework

The Somerville House Academic Program is underpinned by the School's unique Curriculum Framework, fostering a strong learning community. 

Four key principles provide the foundation for all teaching and learning.

1. Engagement
Realises a shared vision for quality teaching and learning
  • Promoting robust, informed dialogue among students, teachers, parents and community, about learning and for learning
  • Providing opportunities to enhance a diverse range of individual strengths and capacities
  • Forging an inclusive learning community which acknowledges diverse experiences and expertise
  • Fostering educational leadership
Embraces collaboration and innovation
  • Fostering strong learning partnerships within classrooms, across the School community and with outside individuals, agencies and institutions
  • Implementing effective, forward-thinking, research-based pedagogies and practice across the curriculum
2. Excellence
Promotes exemplary standards and outcomes
  • Inspiring scholastic excellence
  • Facilitating intellectual and academic rigour.
Ensures strong foundations for future success
  • Engaging in a continuous cycle of feedback, review and advancement
  • Building pathways to future learning, for every student
  • Nurturing intellectual risk-taking
  • Building critical and creative thinking
3. Empowerment
Instils the value of learning
  • Establishing positive, professional learning environments to enable ownership of and rich participation in learning
  • Nurturing and celebrating a love of learning
  • Optimising a range of pedagogies, technologies, programs and learning opportunities.
Builds expertise for life-long learning
  • Encouraging standards of excellence
  • Developing positive intellectual behaviours and skills for independent, reflective learning

4. Diversity
  • Strives to reach individual potential
  • Broadens perspectives

With Christian values at its core, the School’s curriculum ensures each student from Pre-Prep to Year 12 is provided with rich opportunities for rigorous, independent learning and developing critical, creative thinking.

Our curriculum is continually informed by well-founded educational research and encourages students to continually further their expertise as learners and strive for standards of excellence. 

Students benefit from the School’s higher-than-average teacher-student ratio and its commitment to the continual improvement of teaching methods and practices through its Staff Professional Development Program.

Guidelines

Curriculum in the Early Learning Centre is informed by the Queensland Kindergarten Learning Guideline, Early Years Curriculum Guidelines and the Early Years Learning Framework. 

Courses of study in the Junior and Senior Schools meet all requirements of the Australian Curriculum and the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority syllabuses in key learning areas.

Learning behaviours valued at Somerville House

Somerville House students are encouraged to become expert learners. Our teachers nurture positive attitudes and intellectual habits that are crucial to academic success.

Positive engagement with learning
  • Participates actively in learning activities
  • Persists with learning challenges
  • Strives for improvement
  • Seeks to understand
  • Is open to new ideas, approaches, challenges
  • Approaches problems independently
  • Demonstrates curiosity
  • Takes intellectual risks
  • Is willing to take creative risks
  • Is an enthusiastic and positive learner
  • Asks relevant questions
Effective self-regulation of learning
  • Maintains focus
  • Seeks and applies feedback appropriately
  • Strives for accuracy and precision
  • Completes set tasks
  • Reflects on learning
  • Supports the learning of others
  • Contributes to collaborative tasks
  • Plans and prepares appropriately
  • Listens actively and responds