The school curriculum is underpinned by the Awakenings Religious Education Document and the Victorian Curriculum
Our core curriculum of Religious Education, Literacy, Numeracy and the Victorian Curriculum are specifically delivered in Units (Foundation, Year 1, Year 2, Year 3/4 and Year 5/6). The Victorian Curriculum is the curriculum designed for all Victorian schools encompassing subject areas such as Civics & Citizenship, the Arts, Languages, Science, Humanities, Communication, Design, Creativity & Technology, Health & Physical Education, and Information & Communication Technology.
Literacy at St Paul's encompasses: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening. OLSEL (Oral Language Supporting Earl Literacy) is an integral component of the Literacy Program.
Spelling Mastery and Get Reading Right are direct instruction programs focused on improving the Spelling skills of all students. These are evidence based programs that have been well researched and have shown to help improve students spelling skills.
Numeracy (Stepping Stones) is delivered from Foundation - Gr 6 in a continuum across all primary levels.
Physical Education
Physical Education (sport) is an integral part of our Victorian curriculum. Students are expected to wear their Sports Uniform and runners on their allocated PE and Sport days. These days are set according to the individual class timetable.
Assessment and Reporting
Reporting & Interviews
Reports are written on each student in June and December.
Student led interviews are held at the end of Semester 1. These interviews involve the parent, child and teacher. The student shares their achievements so far, referencing their Learning Journal, and discusses the challenges for the next semester. All parents are strongly encouraged to attend and share with teachers knowledge about their child that would enhance their participation in the Curriculum from the home perspective.
Interviews during the year can be held at the request of either teacher or parent at a mutually convenient time.
Assessment
Literacy and Numeracy assessments are ongoing throughout the course of the year.
Students in Year 3 and 5 participate in the National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN).
Religious Education
Religious EducationThe Diocesan AWAKENINGS document is used as a basis for the RE Curriculum.
Here at St Paul's we try to build a Christian family where Jesus Christ's values are experienced and lived out.
Like all normal families there are difficult as well as joyful times. It is important that we all pull together and work to make this Community a reality.
This is highlighted in the "family based' preparation for the Sacraments. The family, the primary educator in faith, prepares students for the Sacraments with support from both the school and parish.
Intervention Support
Intervention Supports are in place to offer assistance to students from Prep to Grade 6.
Literacy & Numeracy
Literacy & Numeracy intervention targets those students who need extra assistance in mainstream classes. The same applies to speech and articulation assistance and reading across all grade levels. Specialist Intervention Teachers provide additional support to classes on a daily basis to ensure all children get what they need when they need it.
Inquiry Based Learning
As part of our efforts to ensure that every child gets the best possible education, we deliver the MAPPEN Curriculum (getmappen.com) from Year 1- 6. Foundation unit utilise key components on Mappen within a play based and developmental setting. The MAPPEN curriculum represents approximately three hours of teaching time each week. It covers the content and skills from the following areas of the curriculum:
History
Geography
Civics and Citizenship
Economics and Business
Science
Critical and Creative Thinking
Ethical Understanding Capability
Personal and Social Capability
Intercultural Capability
MAPPEN also includes logical integration of literacy, numeracy, and technologies. MAPPEN provides opportunities for students to explore content and skills through real world examples. Each term, we will deliver an eight week learning sequence which is designed around one of the following concepts:
Community
Sustainability
Social Justice
Creativity
Identity
Change
Necessity
Curiosity
Over 8 terms (2 years), each child will investigates each of the concepts once. A single concept is investigated across the school simultaneously, with age appropriate content and skills being investigated at each year level. MAPPEN promotes rich conversations at the dinner table and encourages children to ask meaningful questions about their world. MAPPEN has a strong focus on building a child’s capacity to develop questions and to plan and conduct their own inquiry. It aligns with our belief that alongside the core literacy and numeracy skills, students in the 21st Century need to have opportunities to question, wonder and create. MAPPEN is a world class curriculum designed by Australian educators for Australian schools. More than 200 Australian schools are currently implementing MAPPEN.