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Learning in the Middle School is transformed at the end of Semester 1 when students actively engage in their Signature Programs. Signature Programs are cross-disciplinary, collaborative projects aimed to foster curiosity and promote critical and creative thinking.
 
An important element of the School’s focus on Effective Thinking Cultures is the ability for our boys to think flexibly, strategically and ethically, in preparation for their lives beyond school. Leading students through the design thinking process of immersion, synthesis, ideation and prototyping, Signature Programs encourage students to find solutions to real-world challenges.
 
Excitingly, BGS is currently embarking on its largest infrastructure project ever – the new STEAM Precinct – to provide a hub for ideas, integration and innovation. Signature Programs enable students to draw upon various disciplines to explore, experiment, collaborate and innovate, embracing the concept of STEAM – Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics – education.
 
Year 8 students select from a range of options based on their personal interests. F1 is a popular choice where boys collaborate to design and build their own gas-canister powered cars, drawing upon their understanding of design, mathematics and science. Robots to the Rescue sees the boys designing, building and programming robots to solve real-world problems. Another program, GameSalad, challenges boys to master an entirely new coding language to create a functional game.

 
In Year 7, the ‘My Kitchen App Rules’ Signature Program encourages the boys to get creative, both in the kitchen and on their tablets. Students seek to develop skills in selecting and cooking nutritional foods, as well as creating a working app to advertise and promote their restaurant. In the Survivor program students develop an understanding of matter properties, including buoyancy, and use these to inform the design of a raft with challenging constraints.

Continuing to cultivate and nurture each boys’ love of learning is an important element of middle schooling at Brisbane Grammar School. Signature Programs are intentionally designed to engage boys in real-life learning experiences where they draw upon key learning dispositions, skills and knowledge from across a broad range of learning areas.

Rebecca Campbell
Head of Middle School