Middle School (7-9)
The Abbotsleigh Middle School encourages girls to become active, flexible and responsible learners. A spirit of enquiry and excitement for knowledge is at the heart of what we do in Years 7-9. This enquiry-based learning promotes curiosity and positive risk taking.
Stepping up to Year 7
The transition from primary school into Year 7 is a significant step. An enjoyable orientation program in Week 1 of Year 7 helps the girls to get to know their new environment and make friends. As well as our peer mentoring program, a strong network of senior students and staff is always available for support and advice and to assist with the settling in process.
Excitement for learning
A spirit of enquiry and excitement for learning is at the heart of what we do at Abbotsleigh. We believe that the middle years are key to expanding students’ knowledge, skills and relationships. Our program is characterised by its strong academic base and enhanced by the wide range of curricular and cocurricular programs on offer. Our state-of-the-art facilities provide opportunities for creativity in and beyond the classroom.
Class organisation
We intentionally keep class sizes small to cater for the individual needs of our girls. The Middle School and Senior College meet at weekly assemblies and school events such as sports carnivals and concerts. Class organisation provides a combination of mixed ability and graded classes to allow girls to work at a pace and depth that suits their learning needs. The emphasis is on assessment for learning in the Middle School and that process is ongoing.
Positive social impact
Through service-focused student led clubs such as Amnesty, Fairtrade and World Vision, we encourage our students to be compassionate, empathetic and outwardlooking global citizens. Abbotsleigh’s partnership with Bunda Girls’ Secondary School in Tanzania provides rich opportunities for mutual learning and service, as does our partnership with Anglicare through the intergenerational Virtual Visiting program.
Wellbeing matters
Our girls develop a strong sense of belonging through their allocation to small house tutor groups. This means our girls receive appropriate and ongoing academic and pastoral care. There are regular meetings with tutors each week along with attendance at Assembly and Chapel. In addition, our girls thrive on the healthy competition afforded by our many and varied house competitions.
Middle School curriculum
The academic program for Years 7-9 encourages girls to explore and try new things. By studying a broad range of subjects, students establish a strong base from which to make informed choices for areas to pursue in more depth in the future. All students in Year 7 and 8 study the subjects in the table below. Girls may choose two of the four offered language subjects, Year 8 choose from one of the languages studied in Year 7.
| Christian Studies | English | Mathematics |
| Science | Geography (one semester) | History (one semester) |
| Chinese | French | German |
| Latin | Music | Visual Arts |
| Technology | PDHPE | Expressive Movement / Creative Movement in Theatre |
Year 9
Year 9 students study the following core subjects, complemented by three elective subjects.
| Core Curriculum | ||
| Christian Studies | English | Mathematics |
| Science | Mandatory History | Australian Geography (Civics and Citizenship) |
| PDHPE | ||
| Electives | ||
| Commerce | Chinese | Drama |
| Elective Geography | Elective History | French |
| German | Industrial Technology | Information and Software Technology |
| Latin | Learning Support | Music |
| Photographic and Digital Media | Physical Activity and Sports Studies | Textile Technology |
| Visual Arts |
