Avondale Primary School provides every student with a guaranteed and viable curriculum.
Using the Victorian Curriculum as our starting point teachers do the following:
Teachers use a range of assessment strategies to:
Student LearningThe following principles support Avondale Primary School’s teaching and learning.
We believe that children learn best when:
The Curriculum:
LITERACY
We have implemented a whole-school approach to the teaching of literacy at Avondale Primary School that is guided by the Victorian Curriculum.
This means that we have adopted well-researched methods for teaching literacy, and we implement these programs consistently across all year levels at our school. Spelling, thinking, grammar, comprehension, handwriting, speaking and listening skills are explicitly taught in order to prepare our students to participate effectively in the broader community.
Summary of Literacy in Victorian Schools
Reading and Viewing
Writing
Speaking and Listening
All language modes are divided into strands of Language, Literature and Literacy
A full overview of the English Curriculum can be found at:
https://victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.edu.au/english/english/introduction/rationale-and-aims
A typical Literacy Lesson at Avondale Primary School will include:
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria – Displayed and shared with children at the beginning of each lesson. These are used to give a purpose and set of specific skills students can self-monitor as they work. It helps students identify how they are going with their learning and where they can get help if not working directly with the teacher.
The structure of a typical literacy lesson will be:
5 - 15 Minutes – Tuning In/Whole Class Focus
40 Minutes – Independent Learning Tasks may include:
5 – 10 Minutes – About the concepts learnt, strategies and investigations.
We utilise a number of teaching strategies, frameworks and resources to engage our students in literacy; including:
Students’ reading and writing is assessed according to the Victorian Curriculum and the school’s Assessment Schedule through informal and formal methods. These can include student-teacher conferences, running records, observations, PM/ Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark assessments, rubrics and spelling inventories.
MATHEMATICS
At Avondale Primary School we offer a comprehensive mathematics program is designed to provide students with a strong grounding in mathematical skills, strategies and understandings. Our aim is to support students in becoming numerate and use mathematics effectively so they can successfully participate at school, at home and in the wider community.
At Avondale Primary School the Mathematics curriculum is guided by the Victorian Curriculum. The mathematics curriculum is divided into three broad areas. It is important to understand that these three broad areas are interdependent, and students will develop at their own pace along a continuum of learning informed by the Victorian Curriculum. However, there is a guaranteed curriculum that is taught at each school year and all students will be taught topics and skills within that framework.
Summary of Mathematics in Victorian Schools
Number and Algebra
· Understanding and using Numbers and Place Value
· Fractions and decimals
· Patterns and algebra
· Money and financial mathematics
Measurement and Geometry
· Using units of measurement
· Shape
· Location and transformation
· Geometric Reasoning
Statistics and Probability
· Chance
· Data collection, representation and interpretation
The proficiencies of Understanding, Fluency, Problem Solving and Reasoning are fundamental to learning mathematics and working mathematically and are applied across all three strands Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability.
A full overview of the Mathematics Curriculum can be found at:
http://victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.edu.au/mathematics/introduction/rationale-and-aims
Mathematics is taught for a minimum of five hours each week in all classrooms.
Lessons are sequential and collaboratively planned by the teachers. They are fluid (meaning that children work in groups that will best suit their learning situation at any given time) so as to ensure maximum engagement and learning achievement. The learning of all students is regularly monitored and assessed to provide appropriate learning goals at any given time.
A typical Mathematics Lesson at Avondale Primary School will include:
The structure of a typical mathematics lesson will be:
5 - 15 Minutes – Tuning In/Whole Class Focus to engage students and promote mathematical thinking.
40 Minutes – Independent Numeracy Learning Tasks may include:
Science
Technologies
ICT
At Avondale Primary School, Information Communication Technology is used to support classroom programs. Each classroom has a bank of computers and iPads.
The use of devices allows the children and classroom teachers to research content, record findings in a variety of ways and visit websites that support learning.
Health & Physical Education
The Humanities
- Civics & Citizenship
- History
- Geography
- Economics & Business
The Arts
- Dance/ Drama
- Music
- Visual Arts
Languages
CAPABILITIES
Critical and Creative Thinking
Ethical
Intercultural
Personal & Social
YOU CAN DO IT: KEYS TO SUCCESS
Victorian Curriculum F - 10Avondale Primary School is accredited under the Department of Education and Training’s CRICOS registration (CRICOS provider name and code: Department of Education and Training, 00861K). For further information refer to www.study.vic.gov.au