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One of the most often asked questions about our school is "Why don't you go to Year
12?"
The fact is, we think there are lots of advantages in "only" being a 7 - 10 school. Consider the following thoughts... We focus on the "difficult years". The most difficult time for many adolescent boys is around 14 -16 years old. It is during this time that they really need special attention. They need to have plenty of opportunities to find out who they are, what they're good at and where they fit into the world. At Marist Penshurst, we are able to pour all of our energy into our students during this often challenging time. We can provide focus and opportunities that simply aren't offered in most Year 12 schools. We offer more leadership opportunities. Our students tend to get involved in everything. Whether it is representative sport, debating and public speaking, fundraising and charity work, extra-curricular programs, ... you name it. We run Peer Support programs, leadership camps, Activity Weeks, peer tutoring, the list goes on and on. All these programs are extremely valuable, and one of the reasons we are able to offer so many of them is because our focus is off "getting Year 12 to pass the HSC" and we are more concerned with generating valuable learning opportunities for our students, at the ages where they really benefit from it. We work hard on their education. Think about it. If you taught in a 7-12 school, where would you put most of your energy? On the Year 12 students of course. You'd have to. The HSC requires an enormous amount of preparation work and many teachers of HSC students quite rightly put most of their energy into making sure these students are well looked after. This sometimes means that there is not quite the same passion and energy left to put into the "junior" classes of years 7-10. At Penshurst, we are totally focussed on our students' education, ensuring that these first 4 years of high school are more than just a "holding pen" for the HSC. We can offer better access to resources. In 7-12 schools, the year 11 and 12 students often get first access to the school's resources. This usually means that resources such as library facilities, computer room time, AV equipment, sports equipment, etc, get prioritised for the senior students, causing much tougher access to these facilities for the junior grades. At Penshurst, we have first class facilities which are able to be accessed fully by the students without having to wait in line behind the "big kids". We have great teachers. One of the myths of 7-10 education is that teachers in 7-10 schools are somehow "lesser" teachers than their 7-12 counterparts. After all, if they were any good, they'd be teaching Years 11 and 12 right? Wrong! We have some incredibly experienced and talented teachers at Penshurst, many of whom stay in touch with HSC work through private tutoring, TAFE teaching, HSC marking panels and Board of Studies Committees. The fact is, our teachers enjoy working in a 7-10 environment because they see the educational benefits and they have passion for their students. You don't get that everywhere. We like it this way. We don't feel like a little school wishing we were a big school. We have been presented with the option of becoming a 7-12 school a number of times over the years, and we have quite decidedly said no each time. We simply believe that 7-10 education for boys is the best option. Year 11 and 12 is guaranteed anyway. All of our students have a guaranteed enrolment at Marist College Kogarah. There is a very smooth transition process from Penshurst to Kogarah, and about 85% of our students continue on to Kogarah for their last 2 years of schooling. Once at Kogarah, many of our students do exceptionally well in school life, both academically and socially. It can also be quite an advantage for a student to "make the break" to a new school at the end of Year 10 as it causes them to really consider which is the best place for finishing their education. Some students choose to do the HSC in places other than Kogarah, and they make that decision with thought and consideration, and they don't just "go with the crowd". |
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