Living School Middle · Years 5–8 · Lismore

Middle school, reimagined — where your child builds things that matter

Catalyst is our research-backed programme for the years when curiosity, confidence, and character are hard-wired. Real projects. Real audiences. Real belonging — with NESA rigour and a clear path to our IB Academy.

Book a Middle School tour Explore student projects

See the campus our students helped shape →

These years aren’t something to survive. They’re the perfect time to build character, confidence, and capability — on purpose.
The School the Kids Built

If you’re reading this, you probably already feel it

Your child is changing fast. Friendships shift. Motivation wobbles. Some days they’re bored; other days overwhelmed. You’ve heard middle school described as years to “get through.” We disagree — deliberately.

What many families feel

  • Subjects in silos — knowledge for the test, not the world
  • Students as receivers of content, not designers of learning
  • Little room for voice, pace, or passion in the middle years
  • Wellbeing bolted on after a crisis — not woven through every week

What Living School offers

  • Project-Based Learning around keystone questions and authentic challenges
  • Transdisciplinary work — Maths, Science, Humanities, Arts visibly connected
  • Student agency — co-designed pathways, choice within curriculum guardrails
  • Whole child — WellNests, mentoring, VAST; care is the culture, not a poster

Same academic standards you expect. A completely different experience of school.

  • Years 5–6 enter Middle School intentionally — not dropped into a senior campus too early
  • Year 8 leads the younger cohort — building confidence before senior social dynamics
  • Every student has the same Family Group mentor for four years — a village, not a revolving door

Meet Catalyst — learning with a keystone question, not a worksheet stack

Students start with a question that matters — often tied to the UN Sustainable Development Goals — investigate across subjects, build and present to real audiences, then reflect on ethics and growth through VAST (Values, Attitudes, Skills, Trust). Teachers facilitate; learners own the work. NESA outcomes and formal assessment still anchor the programme.

Keystone pattern

Question that matters → investigate across subjects → build and present → reflect on learning and ethics (VAST).

Catalyst curriculum: Middle School learning lens for inquiry, design and project cycles.
Catalyst curriculum lens — inquiry, design, and project cycles.
Student presenting at a Learning Exhibition
Public learning — exhibitions, showcases, and real audiences.

Proof you can see

Halve It — our signature sustainability challenge

Middle School students don’t just study sustainability. They design solutions — manifesto, prototype, action plan — and invite the community to invest funds, offer expertise, or donate materials. Each project aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Discover

Inquiry into a real problem — research, empathy, and a design manifesto.

Design

Prototype a sustainable solution grounded in Catalyst project-based learning.

Do

Take action with community support — funds, expertise, and materials.

Seven focus areas students explore:

  • Waste
  • Water
  • Wellness
  • Pollution
  • Energy
  • Environment
  • Nutrition

Year 8 leads the Halve It Festival — a student-run learning celebration that caps Semester 1. This is public learning: portfolios, presentations, and projects you can walk through as a family.

See live student projects

Student project showcase

Explore by Halve It focus

Select a focus area to filter student projects. Each connects to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Student projects

View all Halve It projects

Three moments families ask about — learning in place, together, and on show.

Learning from elders in context
Land as educator: purposeful work beyond the classroom.
Integrated learning beyond the classroom
Integrated projects — not isolated worksheets.
Exhibiting completed projects to a real audience
Connect: people, place, and real challenges.

Care · Create · Connect

Three pillars — one design, every week. Wellbeing, innovation, and community stay in the same timetable.

Pillar one

Care

WellNests, Family Group mentoring across four years, and VAST culture. Wholebeing coordination and Learning Support embedded — we grow capacity, not impede based on pathology.

Pillar two

Create

PBL plus problem-, phenomena-, and passion-based pathways. Students are producers of knowledge. Digital badges recognise skills, understanding, values, and attitudes alongside formal reporting.

Pillar three

Connect

Footsteps anchors learning in community and place. Thriver (Erdkinder-inspired) builds responsibility, integrated outdoor experience, and inner strength.

A school year you can actually picture

Every term & semester

  • Learning Exhibitions each term — student work on show; you see progress, not just a grade
  • Pre-assessments and goal-setting — your child knows where they’re going
  • Challenge Week opens each semester — whole learner via HOLO (emotional, intellectual, physical, expressive)
  • Three-way interviews led by your child, with mentor and you
  • Formal reporting aligned to NSW NESA outcomes, plus commentary on the learner
  • PAT Reading & Maths and NAPLAN where applicable
  • Year 8 Halve It Festival — student-led celebration, Semester 1

Beyond the timetable

  • Footsteps — service, professional shadowing, leadership in community
  • Thriver — land as educator, purposeful work, emotional and social development
  • WellNests — proactive wellbeing woven through the week
  • Co-designed pathways with educators (interest, purpose, passion)
  • Semester elective-style units — outcomes-aligned, student-chosen
  • Specialist pathways in Music, Languages, PE with student voice
  • Rotating spaces — environment as “third teacher” (Malaguzzi)

Celebrating momentum — 2023 to 2026

This isn’t a brochure promise. It’s what’s already happening — and what your child steps into.

  • 2023 · Foundations Nature Symposium, Interest Groups, Middle Market, UN & state award recognition, Open Days, PBL & Student Agency Symposium.
  • 2024 · Integration Nature Symposium grows, Halve It launches, Middle School Dance tradition, Future of Education Summit, Resilient Schools webinar, UN award winners honoured.
  • 2025 · Pathways & wellbeing WellNests programme, Middle School Social Club, Survivor: Civilisation experience, Catalyst Curriculum named and embedded.
  • 2026 · The school the kids built Students co-designing their Middle School home, professional documentary training, Catalyst fully articulated across Years 5–8.

Where Middle School sits in your child’s journey

One school. Three Learning Neighbourhoods. One coherent path — from curiosity to global capability.

Primary · K–4

Being, Belonging, Becoming

Harness natural curiosity. Literacy and numeracy without destabilising sense of self. Year 4 as leaders.

Middle · Years 5–8

Catalyst

Agency, rites of passage, transdisciplinary PBL. Year 8 leadership. VAST skills alongside academic achievement.

Academy · Years 9–13

Purpose & global pathway

New transition, purposeful challenge, pathway to the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.

“I’ve started to question the cliché about middle school as an unavoidable period of misery… it’s also the perfect time to proactively build character and confidence.” — Phyllis Fagell, 2019

VAST — the ethical engine of Catalyst

Values — integrity, kindness, responsibility to self, others, planet. Attitudes — openness, resilience; “stuck” moments become growth work. Skills — communication, critical thinking, collaboration, disciplined practice. Trust — in self, peers, and the learning culture.

“Character, resilience, and a deep sense of purpose are the bedrock upon which academic achievement stands. VAST isn’t an add-on — it’s the essence of what we do.” — John Stewart, Conductor & Founder, Living School

Rigour without factory schooling

When Mathematics, Science, Humanities, and Arts lock together around a real challenge, students see why each discipline matters. Relevance drives engagement; purpose fuels passion.

IMPACT strand

Innovation, Modelling, Principles, Application, Communication, Technology — woven through projects aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

LEGACY strand

Language, Expression, Global, Art, Culture, Yonder — depth, culture, and long-horizon literacy.

What parents tell us they’re looking for

Will my child be seen?

Family Group mentoring across four years. Wholebeing Coordinator. Learning Support focused on capacity, not labels.

Will they stay engaged?

Projects with real audiences. Choice within curriculum guardrails. Flexible pacing for strengths and stretch areas.

Is it academically serious?

NESA outcomes. PAT. NAPLAN. Challenge Week. Exhibitions. Formal reports. IB pathway ahead.

Can we be part of it?

Open Days. Exhibitions. Halve It Festival. Community investment in student projects. We’re co-learners, not a service provider.

The school the kids built

Our Middle School is taking shape in the heart of Lismore — and students are in the design room, not just along for the ride. The School the Kids Built is a world-first opportunity: young people shaping their learning environment while learning to film, narrate, and produce the documentary of that journey.

See the campus our students helped shape

Why the world is asking for this now

The middle years reward schools that honour agency — especially when the alternative is passive compliance.

“Only one in three students is highly engaged in school.” — Anderson & Winthrop, 2025
“Learning happens with choice and agency.” — Dr Timothy Quinn, 2025

Ready to see Catalyst in person?

Bring your questions about fit, rigour, wellbeing, and the path to senior school. We’ll show you how Middle School actually runs — exhibitions, projects, mentoring, and the rhythm of a term.

Book a Middle School tour Enquire about enrolment (Years 5–8) Explore Halve It projects

Living School — where your child’s potential becomes purpose.