Alkira Secondary College prides itself on being a place for achieving educational excellence. The word ‘Alkira’ means ‘Big Sky’ in the language of the Wurundjeri people, and from our location, perched high on a hill, overlooking the surrounding suburbs of Cranbourne North and Narre Warren South, we challenge our students to seek the knowledge and skills that will lead them to find their place in that “Big Sky”.
Our pedagogical vision and strategic intent is built on the premise that “Alkira exists to secure the entitlements of every student”. Our aim is to provide personalised learning in a happy learning environment while supporting our shared values of respect, integrity, care and excellence. At Alkira we support our students to grow into contributing, responsible global citizens and lifelong learners.
Our students are organised into a ‘School within a School’ approach amongst four sub-schools: Cowarr, Yaan, Towera and Malloo. These sub-schools cater for students’ core classes and provide the foundation for their engagement and wellbeing; giving students a sense of belonging to a close network of peers and teachers within a bigger school setting. Heads of House and the Wellbeing Team, along with a dedicated Pastoral Care teacher, support our students in this regard. It is within this context that students experience personalised academic, wellbeing and mentoring to develop a school-wide culture of high expectations.
Alkira was the first PPP or Public Private Partnership school under the Partnership Victoria in Schools model. Our award winning facilities are modern, agile are built for pedagogical purpose. The college has an enrolment boundary zone, providing stability to student numbers during successive years of rapid increase in student numbers.
We are constantly refining our curriculum – Yr.7-10 Victorian Curriculum; Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE); Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL); and, Vocational Education Training (VET) – to build the twenty-first century skills of: collaboration, problem solving, creative thinking and entrepreneurial skills. The College has well established specialist programs to enhance and enrich student experiences. Alkira’s Sports Academy and Umpiring programs allow for high level training to be delivered in a professional setting. In addition, Master Classes deliver differentiated programs for highly able students. The Alkira Creative Arts Project (ACAP) has been established to facilitate skills and enhance the opportunities in the Creative Arts and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) learning takes place through our close link with the Casey Tech. Our school is a Casey Tech partner school that took a leading role in both the design of its building and curriculum. This partnership has enabled closer links to local industry.
Alkira has joined the University of Melbourne Network of schools (UMNOS) in order to enrich its Learning and Teaching Program and to have access to some of Australia’s leading academic minds. The Network of Schools offers a framework for achieving school goals and enhancing teacher capacity through relevant professional learning. It is through UMNOS that we hope to improve reading growth and develop in our students a love of reading.
Our College has ‘Sister-School’ links in China, India, Korea and educational links with schools in Singapore and Cambodia. Our students have abundant opportunities to undertake international tours to enhance their cultural awareness, academic and language skills through DET – Victorian Young Leaders to China and Victorian Young Leaders to India and school-based initiatives or external providers like
World Challenge who have travelled to Borneo and Cambodia.
