Hillbrook Home Classes

What We Believe

The Home Class Bond – a reflection by Sarah a Year 10 student

For me, 2018 and 2019 were filled with love, laughter, tears and happiness. Year 8 and 9 Blue was my Home Class for those two extraordinary years of my life. Mr Behan, our Home Class teacher helped us all to come together as one big family. This was a school experience that was new and exciting. I was only in my second year of high school and yet I already knew so many beautiful people.

One memory that will stick with me forever was the last school day of 2019. It was the last day our home class would be together as one. Typically this is a day of celebration for most students. It’s a step towards meeting new people and forming new friendships. Yes this was an amazing thing that comes from moving to a new home class, but for the 9 Blue class of 2019, this day got all of us tearing up. As Mr Behan handed out our yearbooks we all raced for a pen and began to sign and write little messages in all 30 of them. This set off the water works for some people. Others were triggered when we watched a beautiful video made by our class mate reflecting on the past two years. It was filled with so many memories, even writing about it now gets me emotional. It was getting towards the end of the day and it was time for our last goodbyes. We knew this wouldn’t be the last time we would ever see each other but we knew that things would be different after this day. All of us girls began crying and hugging and then the boys got emotional and then we were all a mess. But the amazing thing was we all knew how much we would miss each other as we all sat together feeling the same way, with love in our hearts and memories flooding through our heads.

That was the last day of being in 9 Blue and looking back on it now, never in a million years would I change anything about it.

The Philosophy behind why we change Home Classes

One of our first considerations with class formation is understanding that adolescence can be a time of much upheaval and change. While wanting to provide some certainty during this time of their lives we are also aware students need to learn skills that can set them up for life after school, such as resilience and coping with change. It is a fine balancing act.

The reasons behind the timing of the class changes have also been well considered. Students begin in Year 7 and stay in that Home Class for one year. The Year 7s spend most of their time in the same classroom with a minimal number of teachers. They will do everything with that Home Class, even elective subjects. We believe the students are ready for a change when they begin Year 8.

Students and Home Class teachers will now stay together for the next two years, providing a mix of certainty and familiarity, while experiencing a small degree of change by being in elective subjects. The Home Class teacher will come to know their students very well over the two years and can help to keep a close monitoring eye on both their social and academic development.

At the start of Year 10 Home Classes change again and students will spend their last 3 years at Hillbrook in this Home Class. In Year 10 they will spend all their core subjects, Religion and PSD in this class, and their electives will be spent mixing with students from other Home Classes. This helps further develop their skills of meeting and working with new people and adjusting to new teaching styles.

We take considerable time to arrange new classes, taking into account both student and teacher advice while also aiming for a balance of gender, personalities, academic abilities and strengths.

Our aim is to enhance the sense of community and build new connections. Students will move to a class consisting of students they know as well as students they may have no previous interactions with.

Our hope is these new classes will provide students with an opportunity to get to know more of their peers, broaden their range of friendships, develop their social skills and provide a deeper sense of belonging to the Hillbrook community.

My best memory at Hillbrook was the day I met my best friend. I can still remember it very clearly and it was a very important moment in my life.
Catie, Year 9

Ready to Enrol?

Choosing your child’s secondary education is a big step in the life of a parent. If you are ready to take that step you can start your application now, however you don’t have to complete it all in one sitting. Once you start, it will be uniquely saved for you to return and complete when convenient. 

You can also find out more about our enrolment process, including our Enrolment Policy and Entry Year Guide.

 

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