St Mary MacKillop College PE Pathways Program: Empowering student athletes to achieve their full potential by promoting long-term athletic development.

What is PE Pathways?

The St Mary MacKillop PE Pathways Program has been designed to support students who aim to reach an elite level in their selected sport, with a focus on students’ long-term athletic development. The program is available for students in Years 10, 11 and 12, and will benefit all individual and team-based student athletes, as well as dancers. The course is individualised to each student in order to accommodate students’ training commitments and academic and sporting goals. A specialised curriculum has been developed to allow students to learn and experience new content that is not typically covered in Physical Education. The program focuses on improving students’ knowledge, skills and understanding of elite sporting performance, physical development, injury prevention and recovery.

What makes PE Pathways different to other school sports programs?

1. PE Pathways caters to students from all sports (including dance).
2. Class work is individualised to suit the sporting and academic needs of each student.
3. Class content has been designed by staff who have coached and competed in elite-level sport and worked in high-performance strength and conditioning settings.
4. The course has been developed based on modern sports science research and practice.
5. The program is founded on principles of long-term athlete development. It teaches students to know their body, maximise their athletic potential and limit injury. This approach supports students to continue to perform in their chosen sport long after they finish Year 12.

Features of the PE Pathways Program include:

• Specialised student athlete curriculum unique to St Mary MacKillop College.
• Teachers with experience as elite athletes and coaches.
• PE Pathways can be studied as part of all senior academic packages (tertiary, accredited and vocational).
• Individualised strength and conditioning programming.
• Sports-specific skills training.
• Regular access to the St Mary MacKillop College strength and conditioning facility.
• Excursions to external facilities for training and recovery.
• PE Pathways uniform.
• Guest presentations and incursions delivered by elite athletes, high-performance coaches, and specialists, such as nutritionists, physiotherapists, and sports scientists.
• Scheduled study opportunities and access to release time for study and assessment preparation.
• Leadership and mentoring opportunities, within the College and with our feeder primary schools.

How is PE Pathways structured?

Year 10: In Year 10, students participate in PE Pathways in place of the standard Year 10 Physical Education course. Current MacKillop students apply to enter the Year 10 PE Pathways Program in Semester 2 of Year 9.

Senior Studies: The Year 11 and 12 PE Pathways course is the continuation of the Year 10 PE Pathways Program. From Year 11, students can take the Accredited PE Pathways class as their fifth subject (including as part of a Tertiary package). In Year 12, students can apply to make PE Pathways an assessment-free R Unit. This course is designed to support students who are in a National or State program and are working towards continuing their sport at an elite level after school. 

The course is individualised to each student to accommodate their sporting and academic goals, training commitments, with a focus on long-term athlete development. Over one semester students will complete 55 hours of dedicated work toward their personal development in their chosen sport. This will be delivered through seven timetabled lessons a fortnight with a focus on study skills, assessment planning, strength and conditioning, and mentoring. Teachers create individualised training programs in consultation with students and their coaches. At the completion of the semester, students will have 1.0 point contribute to their Senior Secondary Certificate. 

For students choosing to study this accredited course for the full two years, they can have the 4.0 points contribute to their Senior Secondary Certificate. 

HOW TO APPLY FOR PE PATHWAYS

Who is eligible to apply for PE Pathways?

Students are enrolled in the PE Pathways Program on a case-by-case basis. It is preferable that students are competing at a representative level in their chosen sport. However, students participating in their chosen sport at a club level are also eligible for the program if the student can demonstrate that they are making progress towards competing at a representative level. Students are also required to submit a copy of their most recent Semester report. Each student’s Approaches to Learning document will be reviewed by PE Pathways staff to gauge the student’s level of application in their class work. Only students who demonstrate a high level of application across each of their subjects will be accepted into the program.

How do I apply for PE Pathways?

Please apply for PE Pathways using the forms below. You will need to login to your school Google account to access the application forms.

Applications for Year 10, 2026 and Year 11, 2026 are now open:

Apply for Year 10, 2026

Apply for Year 11, 2026

If you are not a current MacKillop student and you would like to apply for PE Pathways, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

More information

If you would like more information, please email the PE and Health Coordinator (St Peter's Campus), Ms Kate Greenacre, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..