Years 5 to 8
The Victorian Essential Learning Standards include standards at six levels. The levels broadly associated with schooling from Years 5 to 8 are as follows:
Level 4
Level 4 is broadly associated with Years 5 and 6 of schooling.
Level 5
Level 5 is broadly associated with Years 7 and 8 of schooling.
Building breadth and depth
During Years 5 to 8 most young people experience the move from primary to secondary school. In this sense, the middle years of schooling tend to cover two distinct phases, Years 5 to 6 and Years 7 to 8. During Years 5 to 6 some young people will experience the onset of adolescence (begin puberty), while others will remain in late childhood. Differences in emotional, behavioural and cognitive development among students may be vast.
Between ten years of age and puberty, the brain destroys its weakest connections preserving only those that experience has shown to be useful. During the late childhood and teenage years, functions that carry the most messages strengthen, and the weaker ones are cut out. This process is most predominant in the area critical to controlling planning, working memory, organisation, anticipating consequences, controlling impulses and mood modulation.
Young people increasingly differentiate themselves in terms of their peers, physical attributes and competence. They begin to associate achievement less with effort, and more with skill and cognitive ability. While they may give the appearance of being engaged by novelty, to hold their interest through to achievement, young people increasingly require content that is perceived as valuable, is consistent with personal goals, and/or leads to an important outcome. In other words, during Years 5 to 8 young people increasingly come to view content as a choice, rather than an imperative.
In Years 5 to 8 young people become more complex thinkers. They begin to understand more abstract cognitive processes such as how to apply logical reasoning to both ideas and concrete objects. In other words, they begin learning how to apply many of the practical skills they have mastered in earlier years.
At secondary school students are required to be more independent, flexible and self-regulatory in the process of their learning. They begin to expand their thinking in subjects such as mathematics and scientific method. They also begin to organise their thinking in more formal ways by understanding processes such as research, critical and creative thinking and problem-solving. Consequently, they become capable of distinguishing between the processes and thinking tools specific to particular problems and ideas. They need to develop the competency of reflecting on and evaluating these processes.
However, while early adolescents become capable of thinking abstractly, their brains are still not fully mature. The areas mediating spatial, sensory, and auditory and language functions appear largely developed, but other areas are still maturing. There is also evidence to suggest myelination (or maturation of nerve cells) is still occurring. Myelination affects the speed at which messages are processed, as well as fine motor skill development.
To compensate for underdevelopment, the adolescent brain relies heavily on an area of the brain called the amygdala, which creates a tendency to react on instincts. Biologically, adolescents do not have the same abilities as adults to control their actions and to make sound decisions.
Remaining focused and modulating moods is a challenge during early adolescence. Assisting students to communicate, participate and work cooperatively, to have self-control, and to resolve conflicts thoughtfully without resorting to avoidance or aggression helps students to excel during this stage of schooling. Learning to manage emotions, predict consequences, develop optimistic thinking habits, and set goals are also skills that improve student achievement and wellbeing.
