Our Year 9 and 10 combined XP Challenge takes teenagers away on rich learning adventures.
Living Academy’s XP Challenge is a program of expeditions over the course of a two-year learning stage. Students have to apply for the expeditions, which are covered in the school fees.
The Year A and Year B program means over the two-years, students have the opportunity to experience 8 excursions of varying length and challenge.
There is a focus on digital detox – so mobile phones, while able to be taken on the expedition, must be handed in for the teacher/guide to manage.
The emphasis is on creating independence and taking learning ‘out of the box’ and into real contexts.
Each expedition is married in with our KeyStone theme, which is a termly focus (ie Term 1 = Identity; Term 2 = Nature; Term 3 = Life and Living; Term 4 = Civilisation; Term 5 = Phenomena; and Term 6 closes the academic year, every year, with a Service-oriented focus).
Micro-Credentials
Our Stage 5 (Years 9 and 10) program is progressive and looks to the future. We offer micro-courses (called micro-credentials) so students can find an area of interest and have an intensive short focus that results in a certificate. These certificates then are added to a Learning Portfolio, which adds another resource to visibly reveal a student’s learning achievements.
For students who are less aligned with the traditional ‘classroom’ focus, we have developed a Design Technology Integrated Trade Pathway program. This program offers three days a week hands-on learning experience, which leads our students into trades and vocational pathways.
SEED program
For our more academic tertiary minded students, the second half of our Year 10 program aligns with an intensive preparation pathway for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. This pathway is study-oriented and works to set the expectations and support parameters for a successful introduction to the IB DP as the pathway to university.