Middle School

7 -9

The Abbotsleigh Middle School, from Years 7-9, supports students to become active, flexible and responsible learners. Enquiry based learning maintains curiosity and promotes positive risk taking.

Stepping up to Year 7

The transition from primary school into Year 7 is a significant step. At Abbotsleigh, the welcoming process commences the year before students enter Year 7, with a meeting with the Dean of Middle School and an orientation day. An enjoyable orientation program in Week 1 of Year 7 helps the girls to get to know their new environment and make friends. 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 extensive grounds and exciting facilities provide endless opportunities for creativity in and beyond the classroom; an English class might find inspiration in the gardens of our Centre for Environmental Education, while a Maths class might find applications for geometry in the Grace Cossington Smith Gallery. You just never know where our enthusiastic and innovative teachers will lead you next.

Class organisation

There are 170-185 girls in each year group and we intentionally keep class sizes small to cater for the individual needs of our girls. The Middle School and Senior College come together for weekly assemblies and school events and share most of the facilities and classrooms. Class organisation provides a combination of mixed ability and graded classes to assist with the development of relationships across the grade and to allow girls to work at a pace and depth that suits their learning needs in certain subjects. The emphasis is on assessment for learning in the Middle School so that assessment tasks are part of an ongoing process.

Academic and pastoral care

Our girls develop a strong sense of belonging through their allocation to small house tutor groups. There are regular meetings with tutors each week along with attendance at Assembly and Chapel. Tutor time provides many opportunities for our girls to receive appropriate and ongoing academic care. In addition, our girls thrive on the healthy competition afforded by our many and varied house competitions. Extra support in the form of counselling, EAL/D, disability provisions, learning support and opportunities for gifted and talented programs is also available. Our Year 9 House Leaders are chosen based on their abilities to promote our School Values and be inclusive of those in the Middle School.

The academic program for Years 7-9 encourages students 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. The subjects offered include:

Christian Studies
English
Mathematics
Science
Geography
History
Chinese
French
German
Latin
Music
Visual Arts
Technology
PDHPE
Expressive Movement/Creative Movement in Theatre

Our enquiry-based approach; multidisciplinary understanding, scaffolded challenges and rigorous learning experiences aids our students as they grow in independence and interdependence.

Head of Senior School

Head of Senior School

Mrs Victoria Rennie holds a Bachelor of Arts (English and Theatre Studies) from the Australian National University, a Graduate Diploma in Education (English and Drama) through Macquarie University and is currently undertaking her Master of Business Administration (Educational Leadership) with Charles Sturt University. She is an Abbotsleigh Old Girl and former Abbotsleigh Head of English and continues to teach our girls English. With a strong academic and pastoral background, Mrs Rennie has a genuine care for fostering positive and productive relationships within the school community. She possesses a comprehensive understanding of the changing global landscape of education and the need for schools to be aware of developing new and innovative teaching and learning models.

Dean of Middle School

Mrs Clare Haymen joined Abbotsleigh as a PDHPE teacher in 2015. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Human Movement Studies (Graduate Diploma of Education) from the University of Technology, Sydney; a Graduate Certificate of Theology through the University of Newcastle and is undertaking a Master of Education (Wellbeing and Positive Mental Health) with Flinders University. Mrs Haymen was a Year Coordinator in the Middle School for five years, before stepping into the role of Dean in 2023. She is passionate about holistic education; encouraging students to become critical, collaborative learners while developing resilience and self-efficacy through a range of academic, co-curricular and pastoral opportunities. She enjoys creating a supportive environment in which the girls can flourish.