Big Picture Academy

Advisory is a key feature of our learning design. Advisories in the Academy have smaller student numbers to allow for greater student focus on their interests and passions.

An advisor is more than a classroom teacher; they are an integral part of an environment that allows students the freedom to find themselves with the support and motivation of inspiring adults.

Advisors create a safe, trusting, and collaborative learning environment that enables students to learn through school and community experiences. The Advisor supports students to develop as unique, mature, able, knowledgeable, and responsible individuals.

Advisors are to be responsible for the educational journey of their students and their successful graduation and/or transition to work or higher learning.

Individual Student Learning Plans

• create learning plans with students and their parents that encompass the individual student's personal interests and development needs
• facilitate learning plan meetings at the start of each term with each family or guardian and internship mentor
• update and modify students' learning plans three to four times per year.

Learning Through Internships (LTI)

• facilitate searches using phone calls, shadow days, and other available means to ensure each student has an internship that aligns with their passions
• monitor students' internships through regular communication with employers/mentors

University pathways

• Students take on multiple in-depth internships, with local organisations and businesses, through Years 9 to 12. This allows students to create a Big Picture Education (BPE) Graduation Portfolio as a potential pathway to university.
• Multiple universities across Australia now accept BPE Graduation Portfolios as university admission.

Core duties

• plan the learning journey through a program of instruction that is both challenging and meets the individual needs, interests, and abilities of each student
• guide students into learning experiences and activities that focus on the mastery of the specific content area as it relates to syllabus documents
• provide supplemental and educational resources in order to support students' growth
• employ a variety of educational techniques in pursuit of educational goals and establish clear objectives for each student
• hold students accountable to the school values of Respect, Responsibility and Success and celebrate students' accomplishments
• assert students' educational and social progress through narratives, phone calls to parents, and weekly one-on-one student meetings
• maintain accurate, complete, and factual student transcripts as required by the school, NESA and the new Australian Curriculum
• be accessible to students and parents for education-related purposes outside normal school hours as negotiated with students and their families
• actively enroll parents and family members in the life and learning of their children
• attend meetings and share responsibilities for school wide events and initiatives.

The idea of leaving to learn is far more than a work experience program.

In the Big Picture Academy, we believe that learning can happen anywhere, not just inside classroom walls. Learning through internship (LTI) involves students spending minimum of a day a week within a community organisation or business of their choosing to become an active member of their team.

Internships can be preceded by interviewing an expert or spending a shadow day with an organisation. The internship can run over the school term or longer. LTIs allow students to experience more aspects of the workplace, make their own networks and make strong connections with an adult with similar interests, called a mentor.

Under the direction of a mentor, students produce meaningful work at their placements in the form of a project. Students and their mentor within the organisation design a project around their passion, one which will give the student skills while allowing them to contribute something helpful back to the organisation or business. They present their LTI project at school as evidence of their learning within their exhibition.

Project work is designed to foster broad learning as well as students’ vocational and employability skills. The internship is integrated with the student's learning goals and school-based study. Students include LTIs as part of their term learning plan.

The Graduation Portfolio is a compilation of a student’s work, typically from Years 9 through to 12, that demonstrates their capacity to explore, research and develop as a learner in their fields of personal interest. It demonstrates a student’s readiness for employment, vocational education, or tertiary entry. It can also facilitate support for entrepreneurial ventures.

The International Big Picture Learning Credential is a new form of assessment for Big Picture students. It recognises and evaluates the capacities and experiences of senior graduates more comprehensively than typical exam-based certification systems.

The final years of Big Picture students results are presented in a Learner Profile which is a showcase of a students attainments which is supported by evidence of the students work, which they curate into an interactive online portfolio. The Learner Profile is personalised and designed to reflect the students’ real-world experiences, personal qualities and academic results.

The International Big Picture Learning Credential has been designed in partnership with the University of Melbourne with the intent of providing a personalised student 'passport' to further study and career.

The International Big Picture Learning Credential is now recognised by over 40% of Australian Universities as an acceptable entrance point for Big Picture Students wishing to go to University.

• Students take on multiple in-depth internships, with local organisations and businesses, through Years 9 to 12. This allows students to create a Big Picture Education (BPE) Graduation Portfolio as a potential pathway to university.
• Multiple universities across Australia now accept BPE Graduation Portfolios as university admission.

If you are interested in applying for Big Picture Academy, please fill out the EOI

Expression of interest (EOI) form

Once complete, one of the friendly Big Picture Academy staff members will be in contact to provide more information on the Big Picture program and the application process.