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 Head 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.
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.
There are approximately 150 girls in each year group. We actively monitor our class sizes, which vary according to the subject. Many practical subjects have classes of fewer than 20, while other classes are generally in the low 20s. 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. The core subjects of English, Science and Mathematics are streamed in both Middle School and Senior College. This allows the girls to work at a pace and a depth that suits their learning needs, while interacting with many others in the year group. The emphasis is on assessment for learning in the Middle School so that assessment tasks are part of an ongoing process.
Counselling, ESL, gifted and talented differentiation, special provisions, learning support and careers information can all be accessed by Middle School students through our Education Services team. Students are members of House groups and meet with their House Tutor regularly each week. Our varied and responsive academic care program complements our approach to learning and growing through experience.