Clonard College ditches timetable for personalised learning program in 2026

Clonard College is rethinking education, with an alternative exam-free subject-less learning program they hope will stop students dropping out.

Clonard College students Ella Matthewson, Lila Wolfe, Olive Patterson and Sophie Walsh are excited for Big Picture Learning, coming to the school in 2026. Picture: Alison Wynd

A Geelong high school is tackling student drop-outs by introducing an exam and subject free alternative to traditional schooling.

Clonard College acting principal Jo Ryan said the school will introduce Big Picture Learning in 2026, an entirely different way of schooling where young people’s passions and interests become the curriculum.

The alternative path to intermediate and senior education already runs at some NSW schools.

It includes personalised student timetables, internships in school hours, and exhibitions instead of exams.

“Learning is not organised around subjects, timetables, multiple classrooms and teachers, or exams,” Ms Ryan said.

“This is all about connecting a young person to the world in which they see themselves moving.”

In Big Picture Learning, Ms Ryan said students developed their own personalised learning plans alongside family and teachers.

Students can also leave the classroom up to two days a week to learn through a community internship with an expert mentor in an industry or trade.

Instead of term exams students present an exhibition for family, peers, mentors and teachers.

“So there are no tests, no exams,” Ms Ryan said.

“When you come out of 13 years of education, surely you’re more than an ATAR, surely you are more than three numbers on a page.”

Between 2019 and 2022, a Geelong Advertiser analysis revealed school attendance rates declined at almost all secondary schools in the region.

Ms Ryan said this curriculum would tackle the issue and was already inviting disengaged students to join the program.

Year 9 students Ella Matthews and Lila Wolfe said they were looking forward to the real-world mentorship of the program.

“I want to do dog training and nothing really in school teaches you that,” Ella said.

These Clonard College Year 8 and 9 students have opted to start Big Picture Learning in 2026. Picture: Alison Wynd

Lila, who wants to be a physiotherapist, said it felt a “lot more practical”.

Ms Ryan said someone like Lila could augment her learning with a Cert II or III in Sport and Recreation, or add the school subject PE Theory to her timetable.

“Or she might want to work with the North Geelong Netball Academy,” she said.

In 2024, Geelong’s Sacred Heart and St Joseph’s both adopted a four-day teaching week, the unusual timetable designed to transition students from high school into the real world.

In 2026 Clonard College will introduce two student groups following Big Picture Learning programs, one at Year 9 and one at Year 10.

Each will take students through to the end of schooling.

One of the college’s first 2026 Advisory teachers, Lolita Fierro, said it was special working with the same young people throughout high school, instead of teaching a different group every hour.

“And it’s beautiful to see the students light up as they focus on their passions,” she said.

Originally published as Clonard College ditches timetable for personalised learning program in 2026