Welcome to the Adolescent Community

Every Year 7 student is part of an advisory group of around 10-15 students and one dedicated advisor. The advisor meets with their advisory group every morning and afternoon to touch base and care for their environment. Adolescents also meet with their advisory group every day for 30 minutes to sit down and discuss topical issues, get support with tasks, or work independently. On Friday, adolescents will have a 1-1 or small group learning conference with their advisor to check in and review student progress and provide important feedback.

In addition to their advisor, adolescents will work alongside a number of specialists and guides within the Adolescent Community.

The continuum of education at MIC ensures a smooth transition between cohorts with new concepts always building upon previous learning and knowledge. Year 7 students generally find the transition from Senior Primary to Adolescence an exciting change, and with this excitement comes a little bit of nervousness. Unlike Senior Primary, adolescents move from class to class and with this new developmental stage, young adolescents are asked to take more ownership over their education with continuous support from their Guides as well as family.

Odyssey is a 10-day travelling, learning and adventure experience in which adolescents get to know their peers and work alongside one another to manage new experiences and challenges. Adolescents will experience Odyssey for four consecutive years – Years 7, 8, 9 and 10.

In Years 7/8, the first week of Odyssey is an opportunity for the young adolescents to get to know each other and their Guides before being joined by the Year 9 and 10 students.

In Years 9/10, the first week of Odyssey consists of  leadership learning experiences in preparation for their leadership responsibilities within the Adolescent Community. In the second week, the Year 9 and 10 students build bonds of care and trust with the Year 7 and 8 students while acting as leaders in a series of challenges. 

Year 7 students will be put into key lesson groups with a mixture of peers from the different advisories. These groups will change each term, allowing them to share key lessons with all of their peers. Here is a link to an example timetable for your review.

As this is a new level of responsibility, Year 7 students are supported by their Guides to follow their timetable, as it requires them to relocate to different classrooms for each lesson.

Formal lunch is at 11.45am each day with all of the Year 7 and 8 students sitting at tables and eating together in the Pavilion. Lunch is hosted by student table leaders and provides the adolescents opportunities for developing civility within their community. 

 A community shared lunch is also prepared and served in the Pavilion every Wednesday.

MIC is a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) school in the Adolescent Community which means that each student is required to bring their own laptop. This document details the technology requirements, at both a minimum and a recommended level. This laptop is required for the start of the school year in 2021. While it would be beneficial for students to bring their laptop during transition week, it is not necessary as the school has devices including chrome books which students can use during that week if necessary.

Yes, Education Perfect is the online platform we use to facilitate the learning of languages other than Mandarin. Languages offered include German, French, Italian, Spanish, Indonesian, Japanese, Arabic and Maori. All language lessons, irrespective of which language is being learned, are overseen by an Adolescent Guide.

Yes, there are lockers in high school and most students use their locker to store their belongings during the day so that students only need to take with them what is needed for a particular lesson. The lockers are centrally located and easily accessible during the school day.

Yes, in the Adolescent Community it is advisable for students to take their laptop to all of the morning key lessons. Laptops can be stored in lockers in the afternoons however as they are not required for the Practical Work lessons.

No, while students have the freedom to choose how they undertake a project or piece of work, the subjects are set in Year 7. Students can begin to choose their preferred subjects from Year 11.

There is a balanced approach to academic studies and personal, holistic growth of the individual. There are many opportunities for personal growth built into the curriculum with a strong emphasis on the progression of growth and leadership opportunities.

For example, in Clubs and Teams, younger adolescents in Year 7 and Year 8 participate, while students in Years 9 and 10 design the program and lead the groups, and in Years 11 and 12, students can run their own Montessori+ program and even earn a part-time salary.

In the micro-economies, students are an ’employee’ in Year 7 and Year 8, they are a ‘manager’ in Year 9 and Year 10, and assume the role of ‘CEO’ in Year 11 and Year 12.

All of the usual subjects are taught in the Adolescent Community, but they are taught in an integrated, hands-on way. In Year 7, students will study english, maths, science, history, geography, civics and citizenship, economics and business, technology, the arts, and health and physical education.

Even though subjects are taught in a hands-on, Montessori way, the curriculum has been cross-referenced to the Australian Curriculum to ensure it ticks every box. For more on this see the Integrated Curriculum video above.

In the 7/8 and 9/10 couplets, assessment is both formative (informal and in real-time) as well as summative (based on work submitted). Students build a portfolio of work over the year and they receive ongoing feedback from Guides so they have the opportunity to improve what they have submitted if they choose to.

Students then ”present” their work at the end of the year to parents, teachers and peers.

Grades are given each semester for each subject based on a 5-point scale as per QCAA guidelines, however a stronger focus is on the continuous feedback students receive from their Guides.

In the Adolescent Community students follow a timetable with set lesson times, which is an adjustment to what students are used to in Primary. However, set lesson times do begin to be in place increasingly in Senior Primary ensuring a smooth transition for Year 7 students.

Although lesson times follow the timetable, there is time each day for independent work as well as time each week for Community Projects, Micro-economies, Clubs and Teams and Community Projects – as well as a longer Advisory session on Fridays so there is still quite a bit of time away from ”set lessons” each week.

While the timetable is set and subjects are also set in Year 7, work undertaken is very much self-led. Key lessons in the morning cover specific topics and learning outcomes, however each student has agency in choosing how they use what they have learned during Practical Work lessons outside in the environment in the afternoons.

Generally, work isn’t set for home specifically. Any work that is required to be completed at home is work and assignments that have been set and are due – students can complete this work at school during class time or individual free time, or at home.

Yes, students can use these when they are outside for their break.

A number of factors are taken into consideration when allocating students to Advisory Groups, including existing friendships. However, this can also be an opportunity to make new friends. It’s important to remember that the Adolescent Community is quite different to Senior Primary in that students don’t learn with the same group all day. In the Adolescent Community, students move to different classrooms for different subjects, and the students in each class will be different as well. Even if a close friend in Year 7 or 8 isn’t in your Advisory Group, there will be ample opportunities to learn and socialise with that friend throughout the day.