These are boys who are neither Year 12 students cut off at the knees, but nor are they Year 6 students who have suddenly outgrown their short pants.

In the establishment of a Middle School at Trinity we recognise that there are distinct differences in the needs of boys in early adolescence and in the programmes that best suit their needs. Furthermore, the Middle School programme is set within the context of the School’s fundamental belief that good classroom practice goes hand in hand with good pastoral care, and that a boy’s potential will flourish in an environment where he is valued and where he has the opportunity to pursue his interests and to discover his gifts and abilities, and where he is encouraged to grow in wisdom and stature and in favour with both God and man.

In Middle School the programme can be divided into three main phases;

• transition to Middle School in Year 7,
• consolidation in Year 8 and,
• moving on in Year 9.

The transition programme in Year 7 begins with academically parallel classes for the first term, and includes Swap Week, where parents come to School and attend classes in place of the boys, the Year 7 Camp, and a broad curriculum offering that includes sample courses in Art, Music, Manual Arts, Latin, Mandarin, French and German, as well the opportunity for more able boys to participate in graded Mathematics classes and the Extension English Programme from the beginning of the second term, and the creation of an Academic Support class for those boys who need a little more help in their academic programme.

In Year 8 boys move into streamed classes for English, Mathematics and Science and, for extremely able and academically ambitious boys, there is the Extension Programme, which runs for three years and offers a more intensive and competitive programme that requires boys to be very disciplined and self-motivated. This programme is not for everyone, but meets the needs of some very capable boys very well. In Year 8, boys may also choose from a range of subject electives for the first time, and this gives them the opportunity to pursue their interests in Languages, the Creative Arts, the Performing Arts or the Manual Arts. Year 8 also marks the commencement of the Co-curricular Programme that continues for all Trinity boys until Year 12. Boys in Year 8 must participate in either an auditioned Music group or the School’s Cadet Corps as the minimum commitment but may also join additional co-curricular activities such as the Chess Club, the Debating Society or the Media Crew if they are interested.

Year 9 is the culminating year of the Middle School programme and its highlight is the Outdoor Education Residential Programme. Each boy spends four weeks in the remote and beautiful Australian bush at the School’s Pine Bluff property on the Abercrombie River. It delivers an opportunity to be independent and consolidate the value of self-discipline, to live in community and to enjoy a programme that offers both academic and physical challenges, and a measure of the success of this programme is the number of boys for whom it is the highlight of their time at Trinity.. This is also the year when there is a concerted programme of leadership training with the appointment of Middle School Monitors, Promotions’ Courses in Cadets and the opportunity for Middle School boys to sit on a number of School Committees.

The Middle School at Trinity Grammar School acknowledges the particular needs of boys aged twelve to fifteen and signals the School's commitment to providing appropriate level instruction and support, and appropriate programmes for all of the boys of the School.