Starting early in Year 6 eases the transition, makes a world of difference and gives children 'the edge'
Please follow the link to read more about Starting Early in Year 6 Eases the Transition.
Research indicates that moving schools at Year 8 poses more problems than at Year 6. Middle Schooling at Pedare commences in Year 6 with small class sizes. Would you like to find out more? Please contact the College Registrar, Julie Holland, on 8280 1700 or by email registrar@pedarecc.sa.edu.au
Outstanding Success at Pedare
Pedare students excel in the "Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study" (TIMSS). Please follow the link to TIMSS.
Middle Schooling
Middle Schooling at Pedare is located at the Surrey Farm Campus and is designed to recognise and cater for the unique needs of our adolescents.
Research has identified the age group 11-15 (Years 6-9) as a potentially difficult transition stage in students’ lives. Young people can become frustrated and disillusioned in their studies as they undergo dramatic physical and emotional changes, which are further impacted upon by social adjustments and the power of the media.
Middle Schooling at Pedare Christian College focuses on teaching and learning, and caring for young adolescents. At this stage in their lives, young people are encouraged to want to learn about themselves and their world. The curriculum should be integrated and learner-centred and be made more relevant to their lives.
For these reasons, Pedare chose to implement the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (IBMYP). Through this curriculum, students are encouraged to become thinkers, inquirers, communicators and risk-takers. They are also challenged to become knowledgeable, open-minded, principled, well-balanced and reflective individuals, who care about God, themselves, others and their world.
The IB Middle Years Program at Pedare commenced in 2004. The College was authorised in November 2005 as an IB World School. In 2008 Year 10 students will prepare for their transition to the Senior Schooling curriculum and they will complete all the requirements for the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program. This internationally recognised program requires students to study a second language, learn through a broad and largely integrated curriculum, and complete a Personal Project.
Pedare is also a nationally recognised best-practice school in terms of Values Education and the Safe Schools program. At the Surrey Farm Campus, we work together in a spirit of cooperation and community, embodied in our behavioural expectation under the acronym RESPECT – Respect for God, others, self and the environment.
Unique characteristics of the IBMYP curriculum
Fundamental Concepts:
Communication
Good command of one’s own language enables clear expression of ideas, attitudes and feelings. The learning of other languages extends that competence and teaches appreciation of different cultures and ways of thinking. Learning how to communicate in its many different forms, and for many different purposes, is a life skill.
Holistic Learning
Whilst insisting on thorough study of the various disciplines, the MYP accentuates the interrelatedness of them. This means helping students recognise relationships between school subjects and the world outside, and learning to combine relevant knowledge, experience and critical thinking to solve authentic problems.
Intercultural Awareness
Intercultural awareness is concerned with developing students’ attitudes, knowledge and skills as they learn about their own and others’ social and national cultures. The ideals of international understanding and responsible citizenship foster tolerance, respect and empathy.
Areas of Interaction:
Five broad areas provide lenses through which learning takes place in all subjects.
- Approaches to Learning – learning how to learn
- Community and Service – developing community spirit and providing service to others
- Environment – taking care of our place in space
- Health and Social Education – care and concern for self and others
- Homo Faber – the positive and negative impact of human achievement.
Assessment in the IBMYP
All assessment is criterion – referenced or outcomes-based.
Curriculum Model 
From Year 6 – 9 students currently undertake learning activities in nine different learning areas. These are:
• Arts – Visual Art, Drama & Music
• Christian Life
• Humanities – Geography and History
• Language A – English
• Language B – German or Chinese
• Mathematics
• Physical Education
• Sciences
• Technology – Information and Design Technology
The implementation of Middle Schooling at Pedare Christian College is both an exciting and challenging direction for our College. As a relatively young educational community, we have grown in recognition and status to become a leading light in education delivery in the north of Adelaide. Pedare Christian College is the only independent school in the Tea Tree Gully area of Adelaide to be authorised by the International Baccalaureate Organisation as an IB World School.