Victor Harbor High School is the public high school for the South Coast and receives the majority of students from: Victor Harbor R-7 School, Port Elliot and Goolwa Primary Schools. The school has a strong commitment to excellence through its comprehensive 8-12 curriculum. Our students are supported to develop positive and productive relationships within the school and community and to achieve their personal best. We believe in all students being supported to achieve their personal best in terms of their academic learning and their social-emotional wellbeing. We explicitly teach our values which were developed in consultation with our community in 2003/4.
We also host exchange students through registered exchange organisations eg. Rotary, or through an exchange program which is organised directly with schools.
The school has reciprocal Sister School agreements with schools in Indonesia. Students and staff visit Victor Harbor during our school year.
Our School Purpose Statement is "At Victor Harbor High School we challenge all students and staff to achieve their personal best and enhance wellbeing in an optimistic, innovative environment so we can better contribute to our futures and our local and global communities".
We therefore aim to build the curriculum around the needs and aspirations of each individual student.
In the Middle School (Year 8 and 9) all students complete a set curriculum in Year 8 that provides them with a taste of all of the required learning areas. In Year 9 students are provided with choice for some of their subjects and are able to select more specialist courses in areas of interest. In both year levels students are grouped with others of similar ability and aspiration for periods of time in Mathematics and English.
When students enter the Senior School in Year 10 they select a curriculum pathway. Each pathway consists of a number of essential subjects. Once completed successfully the student is prepared for further involvement in that pathway when they leave school. Two pathways lead directly to University whilst the remaining pathways lead into employment (such as apprenticeships) or further education at TAFE in areas of child or aged care, nursing, sport, recreation and fitness, furnishing, hospitality, and creative media.
As well as completing their pathway subjects students choose additional subjects based upon their interests, skills and strengths. Victor Harbor High School's innovative approach to senior secondary education, allows students entering the senior school in Year 10 to be able to access SACE subjects through our vertically integrated timetable structure. This means that students are able to select subjects from the offerings at any year level. The subjects that a student selects are determined by their chosen pathway, any pre-requisites that exist and their personal readiness for particular subjects. For example, some students may choose to accelerate into a Stage 2 subject whilst they are in Year 11 whilst many students choose to complete a Year 11 subject when they are in Year 10.
We also have a strong focus on mentoring. Students are placed into mentoring groups with others who have selected the same pathway. The mentoring group is led by a teacher who is experienced in the pathway. They provide students with knowledge and experiences that further their understanding of the pathway and the possibilities beyond schooling.
