Year 9
Investing in your child's future
Year 9 is a critical juncture in a student’s educational journey. It is a time of rapid mental and physical development and a desire for independence – a time where they look to parents, teachers and peers to help shape their attitudes, perspectives and character.
With the right programs and support, students embrace this challenge with purpose and confidence. When we raise the bar, they exceed expectations, and when they are nudged out of their comfort zone, they respond with courage, curiosity and resilience.
Academic Program
The Year 9 academic program runs from Monday to Thursday, with The Impact Program on Fridays - a day dedicated to real-world learning and personal development. Year 9 is also the final year students learn in single-gender classrooms for select core subjects.
Your child will also have a choice to study the areas of:
- French language and culture
- Japanese language and culture
- Global Studies
Kilvington recognises that in order to prepare students for a future workplace, we must deliver beyond a knowledge based curriculum. A broad selection of contemporary, engaging, competency based electives allow students to direct their own learning and showcase their achievements.
- Change the Game
- Creative Studio
- Culinary Life
- Forensic Technologies
- Screen and Media
- Rise of the Drones
- Own the Stage
- Your Rights
Impact - Aspire. Empower. Thrive.
The Impact Program is a Year 9 holistic and unique program that gives our students the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes to help thrive at school and life after Kilvington.
It is built on real-world experiences, developing core competencies, encouraging ‘thinking big’ and creating connections based on respect and trust.
The Impact Program is about doing school differently. As students transition from being a child to an adolescent, it’s about steeping them in real life experiences and bringing Year 9s out of the formal structure of the classroom.
— Mark Williams, Dean of the Impact Program
Impact | Semester 1
The Impact Program begins with Emerge, a special transition experience held at the end of Year 8. During this time, students work together to create a shared set of cultural commitments, setting the tone for a positive and respectful year ahead.
This foundation helps and encourages students to feel empowered to contribute, grow and succeed. It’s a genuine exercise in student voice - encouraging agency, ownership and a strong sense of community.
As the program unfolds, students explore independence and responsibility. Through activities like navigating Melbourne’s CBD, they develop essential life skills in safety, awareness and self-confidence.
A full week is spent launching the Impact Program early in Term 1. Students spend several days familiarising themselves with the CBD and learning about a range of social issues with City Cite before beginning 'It’s Everyone’s Business' at Monash University. Guest speakers share about disadvantage, addiction, religious tolerance, and challenges facing refugees.
Mentor groups rotate through various workshops on Friday afternoons. Initially these visits focus on social issues with the aim of eliciting empathy and inspiring passion that will drive the 'It’s Everyone’s Business' social enterprise projects. Later, excursions centre around iconic Melbourne landmarks which celebrate our sporting, indigenous, multicultural, and artistic heritage.
This unique partnership with Monash University empowers students to create a social enterprise proposal designed to positively impact a social issue such as homelessness, racism, domestic violence, disability, isolation, inclusivity, or mental health. Students develop business, design and presentation skills while creating and refining their group product or service.
The project fosters effective collaboration, communication, problem solving, creativity, critical thinking, and digital literacy. Social enterprises in and around the CBD are visited for inspiration and advice. The whole process culminates in an Expo Evening where each team pitches their comprehensive, polished concept to peers, staff and parents.
Impact | Semester 2
The Year 9 Health curriculum is taught explicitly through the Impact Program, rather than in school classes. This gives students an intensive style of learning in a setting conducive to discussion and reflection.
Four distinct areas of Health are explored: Physical, Social, Mental and Sexual. Training hikes are conducted in and around the Melbourne CBD in preparation for the Transformative Expeditions.
Students also participate in workshops conducted by a variety of external expert providers.
Essential elements of wellbeing for adolescents include a healthy relationship with food and exercise, and adequate sleep to sustain and support growing bodies and minds.
Students require effective stress management strategies and proactive study habits to prepare thoroughly for assessments, including examinations, as academic demands increase. The importance of mindfulness in fostering wellbeing is also emphasised.
The Impact Program promotes interpersonal competencies, emotional awareness and the articulation of personal values and beliefs. Respectful Relationships, vital at school and beyond, are discussed in depth. Students are prompted to consider how their words, actions and attitudes influence themselves and others, both positively and adversely.
Gendered inequality and unconscious bias are explored, with an emphasis on encouraging students to make positive decisions in their relationships.
Growth occurs beyond the boundaries of one’s comfort zone. Compulsory Transformative Expeditions challenge students socially, emotionally, culturally and physically.
Students chose between the Cape York Indigenous Homelands Immersion and Great South West Victoria Expedition. Both require significant preparation, maturity and grit.
Students come home feeling a real sense of accomplishment, community and appreciation.
For a more detailed look into Kilvington's Impact Program, please view our guide.