Secondary school

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Main entrance of Camberwell High School, VIC, Australia Camberwell High School.jpg
Main entrance of Camberwell High School, VIC, Australia

A secondary school or high school is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both lower secondary education (ages 11 to 14) and upper secondary education (ages 14 to 18), i.e., both levels 2 and 3 of the ISCED scale, but these can also be provided in separate schools. There may be other variations in the provision: for example, children in Australia, Hong Kong, and Spain change from the primary to secondary systems a year later at the age of 12, with the ISCED's first year of lower secondary being the last year of primary provision.

Contents

In the United States, most local secondary education systems have separate middle schools and high schools. In the United Kingdom, most state schools and privately funded schools accommodate pupils between the ages of 11 and 16 or between 11 and 18; some UK private schools, i.e. public schools, admit pupils between the ages of 13 and 18. [1] [2] [3]

Secondary schools follow on from primary schools and prepare for vocational or tertiary education. In high and middle income countries, attendance is usually compulsory for students at least until age 16. The organisations, buildings, and terminology are more or less unique in each country. [4] [5]

Levels of education

In the ISCED 2014 education scale, [6] levels 2 and 3 correspond to secondary education which are as follows:

Lower secondary education
First stage of secondary education building on primary education, typically with a more subject-oriented curriculum. Students are generally around 11–16 years old. [6]
Upper secondary education
Second stage of secondary education and final stage of formal education for students typically aged 16–18, preparing for tertiary/adult education or providing skills relevant to employment, usually with an increased range of subject options and streams. [6]

Terminology: descriptions of cohorts

Within the English-speaking world, there are three widely used systems to describe the age of the child. The first is the 'equivalent ages'; then countries that base their education systems on the 'English model' use one of two methods to identify the year group, while countries that base their systems on the 'American K–12 model' refer to their year groups as 'grades'. The Irish model is structured similarly to the English model, but differs significantly in terms of labels. This terminology extends into the research literature. Below is a comparison of some countries:

Secondary cohorts
LocationTerminologyEquivalent age
11–1212–1313–1414–1515–1616–1717–18
Australia [7] Year [lower-alpha 1] 789101112
GroupingJunior high schoolSenior high school
Hong Kong [8] Secondary/formS1S2S3S4S5S6
GroupingJunior secondarySenior secondary
Indonesia Grade6789101112
NicknameSD Kelas 6SMP Kelas 7SMP Kelas 8SMP Kelas 9SMA Kelas 10SMA Kelas 11SMA Kelas 12
Ireland [9] Other nameJunior CycleTransition YearSenior Cycle
Class & year6th Class1st Year2nd Year3rd Year4th Year5th Year6th Year
Jamaica FormFirstSecondThirdFourthFifthLower Sixth (6B)Upper Sixth (6A)
Year78910111213
GroupingLower SchoolUpper SchoolSixth Form Programme
United Kingdom England / Wales FormFirstSecondThirdFourthFifthLower SixthUpper Sixth
Year78910111213
Scotland S1S2S3S4S5S6
Northern Ireland 891011121314
United States [10] Grade6789101112
Nickname Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
GroupingMiddle SchoolHigh School
Spain [11] Grade [lower-alpha 1] 123412
GroupingESO (Mandatory Secondary Education) Bachillerato
ISCED level [12] 23

Schools exist within a strict legal framework where they may be answerable to their government through local authorities and their stakeholders. In England (but necessarily in other parts of the United Kingdom) there are six general types of state-funded schools running in parallel to the private sector. The state takes an interest in safeguarding issues in all schools. All state-funded schools in England are legally required to have a website where they must publish details of their governance, finance, curriculum intent and staff and pupil protection policies to comply with The School Information (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 and 2016. Ofsted monitors these. [13] [14]

Theoretical framework

School building design does not happen in isolation. The building or school campus needs to accommodate:

Each country will have a different education system and priorities. [15] Schools need to accommodate students, staff, storage, mechanical and electrical systems, support staff, ancillary staff and administration. The number of rooms required can be determined from the predicted roll of the school and the area needed.

According to standards used in the United Kingdom, a general classroom for 30 students needs to be 55 m2, or more generously 62 m2. A general art room for 30 students needs to be 83 m2, but 104 m2 for 3D textile work. A drama studio or a specialist science laboratory for 30 needs to be 90 m2. Examples are given on how this can be configured for a 1,200 place secondary (practical specialism). [16] and 1,850 place secondary school. [17]

Building design specifications

The building providing the education has to fulfill the needs of: students, teachers, non-teaching support staff, administrators and the community. It has to meet general government building guidelines, health requirements, minimal functional requirements for classrooms, toilets and showers, electricity and services, preparation and storage of textbooks and basic teaching aids. [18] An optimum secondary school will meet the minimum conditions and will have:

Also, a secondary school may have a canteen, serving a set of foods to students, and storage where the equipment of a school is kept.

Government accountants having read the advice then publish minimum guidelines on schools. These enable environmental modelling and establishing building costs. Future design plans are audited to ensure that these standards are met but not exceeded. Government ministries continue to press for the 'minimum' space and cost standards to be reduced.

The UK government published this downwardly revised space formula in 2014. It said the floor area should be 1050 m2 (+ 350 m2 if there is a sixth form) + 6.3 m2/pupil place for 11- to 16-year-olds + 7 m2/pupil place for post-16s. The external finishes were to be downgraded to meet a build cost of £1113/m2. [19]

By country

A secondary school locally may be called a high school (abbreviated as HS or H.S.), can also be called senior high school. In some countries there are two phases to secondary education (ISCED 2) and (ISCED 3), here the junior high school, intermediate school, lower secondary school, or middle school occurs between the primary school (ISCED 1) and high school.

Names for secondary schools by country

Notes

  1. 1 2 the year children are aged 11-12 years is not a part of secondary school

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Primary school</span> School for children

A primary school, elementary school, or grade school is a school for primary education of children who are 4 to 10 years of age. Primary schooling follows preschool and precedes secondary schooling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Secondary education</span> Education between primary and higher education

Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education is considered the second and final phase of basic education, and level 3 upper secondary education or senior secondary education is the stage before tertiary education. Every country aims to provide basic education, but the systems and terminology remain unique to them. Secondary education typically takes place after six years of primary education and is followed by higher education, vocational education or employment. In most countries secondary education is compulsory, at least until the age of 16. Children typically enter the lower secondary phase around age 12. Compulsory education sometimes extends to age 20 and further.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Student</span> Learner, or someone who attends an educational institution

A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middle school</span> Schooling in-between primary and secondary schools

A middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school.

Education in Malaysia is overseen by the Ministry of Education. Although education is the responsibility of the Federal Government, each state and federal territory has an Education Department to co-ordinate educational matters in its territory. The main legislation governing education is the Education Act 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in Indonesia</span>

Education in Indonesia falls under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology and the Ministry of Religious Affairs. In Indonesia, all citizens must undertake twelve years of compulsory education which consists of six years at elementary level and three each at middle and high school levels. Islamic, Christian and Buddhist schools are under the responsibility of the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Eighth grade is the eighth year of formal or compulsory education in the United States of America. The eighth grade is the second, third, or fourth year of middle school. Students in eighth grade are usually 13-14 years old. Different terms and numbers are used in other parts of the world.

Ninth grade is the ninth or tenth year of formal or compulsory education in some countries. It is generally part of middle school or secondary school depending on country. Students in ninth grade are usually 14–15 years old, but in some countries are 15–16.

Tenth grade is the tenth year of formal or compulsory education. It is typically the second year of high school. In many parts of the world, students in tenth grade are usually 15 or 16 years of age.

Eleventh grade is the eleventh year of formal or compulsory education. It is typically the third year of high school. Students in eleventh grade are usually 16–17 years of age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twelfth grade</span> Twelfth post-kindergarten year of school education in some school systems

Twelfth grade is the twelfth and final year of formal or compulsory education. It is typically the final year of secondary school and K–12 in most parts of the world. Students in twelfth grade are usually 17–18 years old. Some countries have a thirteenth grade, while other countries do not have a 12th grade/year at all.

Education in Spain is compulsory and free for all children aged between 6 and 16 years and is supported by the national government together with the governments of each of the country's 17 autonomous communities.

Educational stages are subdivisions of formal learning, typically covering early childhood education, primary education, secondary education and tertiary education. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recognizes nine levels of education in its International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) system. UNESCO's International Bureau of Education maintains a database of country-specific education systems and their stages. Some countries divide levels of study into grades or forms for school children in the same year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kuching High School</span> School in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

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The Spanish Baccalaureate is the post-16 stage of education in Spain, comparable to the A Levels in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Highers in Scotland, the French Baccalaureate in France or the International Baccalaureate. It follows the ESO. After taking the Bachillerato, a student may enter vocational training or take the "Selectividad" tests for admission to university.

References

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  2. "Entry to Eton". Eton College. Archived from the original on December 14, 2021. Retrieved January 28, 2022. ... Eton College, a boarding school for boys aged between 13 and 18.
  3. "Admissions". Harrow School. Archived from the original on January 28, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2022. Each year, the School admits about 160 boys into Year 9, in the September following their 13th birthday...
  4. "International Standard Classification of EducationI S C E D 1997". www.unesco.org. 11 April 2013. Archived from the original on 2017-03-19. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
  5. Iwamoto, Wataru (2005). "Towards a Convergence of Knowledge Acquisition and Skills Development" (PDF). uis.unesco.org. UNESCO. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-05-25. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 "International Standard Classification of Education ISCED 2011" (PDF). UNESCO UIS. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. 2012. p. 38. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 26, 2020. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  7. "The Australian educational system" (PDF). dfat.gov.au. p. 6. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  8. "Secondary Education in Hong Kong". WENR. 1 January 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  9. "A Brief Description of the Irish Education System" (PDF). assets.gov.ie. p. 2. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  10. "Digest of Education Statistics, 2011". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  11. "Educación Secundaria Obligatoria". educacionfpydeportes.gob.es. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  12. "International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED)". Eurostat. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  13. "What academies, free schools and colleges should publish online". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  14. "What maintained schools must publish online". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  15. Liew Kok-Pun, Michael (1981). "Design of secondary schools:Singapore a case study" (PDF). Educational Building reports. Voume 17. UNESCO. p. 37. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-04-04. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  16. "Baseline designs: 1,200 place secondary (practical specialism) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 5 April 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  17. "Baseline design: 1,850 place secondary school - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. gov.uk. Archived from the original on 5 April 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  18. 1 2 "Guidelines relating to planning for public school infrastructure". Department of Basic Education, Republic of South Africa. 2012. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  19. "Baseline designs for schools: guidance - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Education Funding Agency. 11 March 2014. Archived from the original on 4 April 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2017.