Our Graduation Portfolio
At Silkwood, we set ourselves apart from traditional high schools by not standardising our program around a standardised assessment regime designed for university entry.
Instead, we focus students learning around their interests, needs, 21st-century skills, and build Personalised Learning Plans and alternative university pathways through their Graduation Portfolio.
The portfolio can be used by Silkwood graduates to pursue employment, vocational education or university pathways. Importantly, Big Picture Education Australia has made valuable connections with a range of Australian universities on our behalf. This organisation assists our students to use their portfolio in gaining entry into these universities.
For students who seek entry into other universities, an individualised pathway to the university of their choice is established through their learning plan and included as part of their Graduation Portfolio.
It is an integral part of the learning approach offered at Silkwood. The Graduation Portfolio is a compilation of a student’s work from Years 10 through to 12, and it demonstrates their capacity to explore, research and develop as a learner in their chosen fields of personal interest.
Although it supports a student’s pathway to a career, further study and university, its purpose is to focus the student on the development of their life-long learning skills, interests, dreams, business skills, personal development and sense of community citizenship.
2019 Graduation Ceremony
"Using this approach, we are delighted to say that our senior student’s results are very successful. In 2019, each graduating student who sought a university placement received it and received their offer of placement months before traditional school students."
The Graduation Portfolio includes:
- A Short Video Introduction – the student briefly shares their Big Picture story;
- A Senior Thesis Project – in-depth, original research of a topic of personal interest;
- Learning through Internship Projects - experiences and products from internships taken with expert mentors;
- An autobiography – a literary reflection on the student’s evolution as a learner;
- A series of project exhibitions;
- Collaborative Service-Learning Project – evidence of the development of community engagement and social reasoning skills;
- A Post-School Project – an exploration of future study and employment pathways, and a collection of additional qualifications;
- Their University or Tertiary study pathway (if this is the student's focus);
- A series of Learning Plans including reflections, narratives and evidence of wide reading.
The Graduation Portfolio is not offered as an easier assessment pathway. It is a substantial project which requires as much commitment and effort as traditional methods. This effort is rewarded with a more authentic, engaging and meaningful way to demonstrate a student’s talents, skills and achievements.
