Middle Years 

(Years 7 - 9) 

I am the Middle Years Senior Leader and currently teach English to students in the Middle Years (7-9). I am passionate about the teaching of English and believe the teaching of ‘literacy is ‘everybody’s business’ and an essential component of all curriculum areas.

The Middle Years team recognises 

the importance of schooling in the Middle Years and the unique needs of adolescents during this phase of their schooling. To this end, we are committed to providing programs that are responsive to students’ developmental and learning needs, and which are engaging and rewarding. Rest assured that when your child enters the Middle Years, he/she will be in very capable, compassionate and caring hands.

The curriculum and well-being program provided in the Middle Years have a global perspective, preparing students for citizenship in a democratic, multicultural society.

They are encouraged to:

  • Be themselves, showing tolerance and respect for the rights of others.

  • Appreciate difference

  • Grow in self-respect, taking responsibility for their own actions and conduct.

  • Become leaders and responsible learners, experienced in decision-making.

At YAS we recognise the unique needs of students in the Middle Years who are:

  • Young adolescents who are aged from 11 - 15

  • Going through many changes physically, socially, emotionally and are developing an awareness of their sexuality.

  • Forming their values and are developing their ide

  • as and opinions.

  • Making decisions about their lives and how they choose to respond to the world around them.

  • Developing stronger friendships and are becoming aware that building positive relationships plays a very important role in their life.

At Yankalilla we support student in the Middle Years by:

  • Nurturing positive relationships between; students, teachers, parents and care-givers.

  • Having small class sizes.

  • Promoting resilience and positive social, emotional and physical development.

  • Making learning meaningful, relevant, challenging and fun.

  • Ensuring that students participate in intellectually challenging activities at their own level of ability.

  • Developing an inclusive curriculum that supports the different individual needs and learning styles of our students.

  • Negotiating parts of the curriculum and assessment tasks to allow students to pursue areas of interest and to encourage them to reflect on their learning.

  • Supporting diversity through mixed ability classes.

  • Organising class structures to specifically improve student outcomes.

  • Working together in individual, whole class, group and sub-school teams.

  • Integrating the curriculum in many ways.

  • Arranging for teachers to work together in teams to provide a broad and balanced curriculum.

  • Providing access to up-to-date teaching methods and equipment in a fair and equitable manner.

  • Encouraging students to show leadership within the classroom and the school at large.

  • Celebrating successes and achievements throughout the school year.

  • Accessing up-to-date technologies to assist learning.

  • Encouraging communication between home and school.

  • Implementing common assessment methods across the Middle School that reward effort and application to school work.

  • Creating links with the Junior and Senior Schools and outside community organisations.

We believe we have a special and unique 

Middle School at Yankalilla. We are fortunate to be working within a Reception to Year 12 School so that the Middle Years can be seen within the context of all of the years of schooling. We work with the Junior School, Senior School and our feeder schools at Rapid Bay and Myponga to ensure the transition through school life is as smooth as possible and to give students the opportunity to mix with, and enjoy contact with all the students at our school.

You can find out more about our Middle Years schooling at Yankalilla Area School in our handbook below.

Anna Symonds, SENIOR LEADER - MIDDLE YEARS