A Day in the Life of...

Our Year 10 boys, midway through the subject selection process, have the opportunity, this week, to adopt a Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) timetable for a day, followed by an International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) timetable for a day. This initiative, offered by the College, is in place to support boys to make the right choice of programme and subjects for their final two years at the College.

At the end of Summer Term, the Year 10 cohort selected five courses of interest from both programmes, via the Scotch course selection website (https://home.scotch.wa.edu.au/courses/). An individual timetable was then generated for each student, based on their selections, so they could experience and learn about their chosen subjects. Both days start with an information session regarding the structure and benefits of each programme, and the requirements needed to graduate. The five periods that follow, are a combination of mini Year 11 lessons, information about the individual course requirements and an opportunity for the boys to ask any questions. Hopefully, this will assist the boys in the process of selecting their chosen subjects from the 66 courses on offer, before the due date in Week 4.

Although some boys may have already selected either the IBDP or WACE prior to these days, it remains important for all boys to understand the requirements of each programme. Last year a number of students reconsidered their choice after this experience. Each programme has its own strengths that will ultimately suit the pathway of each boy to varying degrees, but having all the information prior to finalising their decision is an imperative part of the process. In addition, it is important for the boys' strength of community, to have an understanding of their peers' academic programme, whether that be the Alternative Academic Pathway (AAP) or Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR), both in the WACE programme, or the IBDP.

We wish the boys every success in choosing the right combination of courses over the coming weeks. Should parents of Year 10 boys need any further information or support in understanding the requirements of either programme, please do not hesitate to contact Mr Frusher, our Careers Adviser or, for questions specific to the Diploma, Mr Scaife, IBDP Co-ordinator.