l w r 6kerangvi/pdf/Kerang-Primary...and seek answers to questions. I have challenged the staff of Kerang Christian College to have high expectations for our students. I have also

Primary School

Curriculum OverviewPrep - Year 6

98 Wyndham StreetKerang, Victoria 3579P +61 3 5450 3894www.kccs.vic.edu.au

The school aims to see the following achieved:

∙ An integration of Christian faith and character in students.

∙ Excellence in Christian education from a Christian biblical worldview.

∙ A Christian community where every person is valued and nurtured in their faith and healthy relationships are promoted.

∙ Enhanced partnerships between parents, students and staff, strengthening the teaching and learning process.

∙ The provision of high quality facilities and resources.

∙ Students equipped for service and citizenship as an expression of their Christian faith.

∙ Students achieving personal excellence in academic, social, physical, cultural and spiritual outcomes.

∙ A culture of continuous improvement, professional development and pastoral support among staff and the school community.

∙ Effective communication with parents and the wider community.

Goals

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From the PrincipalThis Curriculum Overview has been prepared to enable parents to gain a better understanding of the curriculum areas covered throughout the Primary School at Kerang Christian College. Kerang Christian College is committed to providing excellence in Christian education

The Primary School curriculum aims to meet the needs of each individual student. Our staff take great care in getting to know each student and developing an awareness of their unique learning needs. We aim to prepare students for their transition into Middle School (Years 7 – 9). The curriculum at Kerang Christian College is delivered in an engaging environment with small class sizes where students are nurtured to develop a love for life-long learning.

The Primary School at Kerang Christian College provides students with solid foundation in the core academic subjects of English, Mathematics, History and Science. Students also study other core subjects, including Geography, Health and Biblical Studies. This curriculum is enriched with classes in ICT, Music, Art, Drama, Physical Education, Library and LOTE.

In preparation for the Secondary School, students are provided with opportunities to develop a wide range of skills including collaborating with others, research, critical thinking, problem solving, report writing and oral presentation.

Our students are encouraged to develop a growth mindset. This means they look at challenges and learning as an opportunity. Students are provided with chances to take risks with their learning and seek answers to questions.

I have challenged the staff of Kerang Christian College to have high expectations for our students. I have also passed this challenge on to our students. Our students need to have high expectations for themselves so they can achieve the most out of their schooling.

We provide our students with an opportunity to develop a faith and an understanding of Christian values. We aim to develop students equipped for service and citizenship as an expression of their Christian faith.

It is our prayer and desire that every student will have a positive experience at school. A positive experience involves students developing healthy relationships, achieving their personal best, maintaining physical and emotional well-being and developing a greater understanding of Christian faith and character.

Michael BondPrincipal

“Our students

need to have high

expectations for

themselves so they can

achieve the most

out of their schooling”

Michael BondPRINCIPAL

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Why a Christian School?ValuesMany families send their children to Kerang Christian College because of the values. The College shares the same values as many of the families in our school community. We believe that it is important that students understand Biblical standards and what God expects from us. We help students to develop good manners. We also want students to show respect for themselves as well as for others.

Safety Christian Schools are safe places for students. The College has a Bullying and Behaviour Policy, which we take seriously. We understand the importance of creating a safe physical environment. We also appreciate the need to create a safe emotional and spiritual environment. There is a focus on understanding the needs of each student and this includes their emotional and spiritual needs. Our students learn about consequences for their actions and understand that the school does enforce disciplinary action.

Academic AchievementKerang Christian College has a tradition of producing students who are ready to succeed in Secondary School. The College is looking forward to producing students ready for Senior Secondary School and beyond. We monitor the progress of every student in our school and understand the need to assist each student in achieving their own personal best. Our school aim highlights the desire for our students to achieve excellence. We celebrate the achievements of our students and also recognise the special individual achievements of students.

TeachersOur teachers are passionate about what they do. They love teaching children and they love the Lord. Our teachers want to develop a healthy working relationship with each student. Every teacher at Kerang Christian College is an active Christian. Our teachers share their faith with our students and create an environment where our students can develop a faith. We understand that teachers are important role models and hope that their example can inspire our students.

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English The Kerang Christian College Primary School English curriculum aims to develop students’ ability to read, write, speak and listen with confidence, purpose and enjoyment in a wide range of contexts. The English curriculum follows the Australian Curriculum: English, which is based on the three interrelated strands of Language, Literature and Literacy. The study of English provides our students with an opportunity to learn to analyse, understand, communicate with and build relationships with others and with the world around them.

Reading is a core component of the English curriculum in the Primary School.

Our reading curriculum aims to:

Phonemic awareness plays a strong role in the acquisition of sound Reading and Spelling skills. Students are taught a phonological awareness programme from Prep to Year 6.

The Primary School English curriculum provides students with an opportunity to develop a wide range of basic English skills. Students will develop:

Learning SupportA Learning Support Assistant (LSA) will work with students and staff across all levels, with an emphasis on remediation. The LSA will work closely with the key staff and with classroom teachers in implementing relevant individual education programs. The LSA will work with students individually, in the classrooms, or in small groups. Expected learning outcomes include an improvement in student academic performance and self-confidence in literacy. Students will also gain a wide range of strategies they can implement to solve problems involving comprehension, spelling and writing. These outcomes will be measured using a variety of standardised assessments.

Monitoring ProgressStudent progress and growth will be monitored and documented throughout the school year. Pre-testing and post-testing are used in classrooms throughout the school. The College has also implemented a standardised testing program throughout the school. Students complete a variety of standardised tests at the end of Term 2 and Term 4. This data allows the school to more accurately identify students who are at risk in different aspects of literacy. This data is used in conjunction with classroom assessment data, NAPLAN data and other anecdotal evidence.

∙ Handwriting ∙ Reading Comprehension (Oral and Written) ∙ Reading Fluency and Expression ∙ Spelling ∙ Writing in a variety of genres

∙ Grammar and Punctuation ∙ Vocabulary ∙ Listening Skills ∙ Public Speaking ∙ Literature – Author Studies

∙ Encourage and foster a lifelong love of literature and reading

∙ Engage children purposefully with print ∙ Develop critical literacy skills and an awareness of

a variety of genre ∙ Develop, in children, the competent and

independent use of the skills and strategies necessary to make meaning from print

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MathematicsThe Mathematics curriculum in the Primary School at Kerang Christian College aims to ensure that the learning of mathematics is a positive experience in which students develop confidence in their ability and a sense of success from what they learn. We believe that all students have the capacity to learn Mathematics and develop a passion for the subject. The Australian Curriculum: Mathematics provides students with essential mathematical skills and knowledge in Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability. The Australian Curriculum: Mathematics aims to instil in students an appreciation of the elegance and power of mathematical reasoning.

Technology is used to enhance lessons where suitable and calculators and computers are integrated into the programme.

Students study Mathematics every day for an hour. The Primary School staff use a selection of highly regarded Mathematics resources to compliment the curriculum. Resources include: Mathletics, enVisionMaths and Nelson as well as providing hands on activities to teach our Maths curriculum.

The College has a history of maintaining very small class sizes. This ensures that every student can have access to quality teacher time to ensure ongoing learning and progression is occurring in Mathematics. Immediate one to one, or small group assistance is given to students, targeting areas of concern.

The Primary School Maths curriculum provides students with an opportunity to develop a wide range of basic Mathematical skills. Students will develop a greater understanding of:

Learning SupportIt is anticipated that students will record growth in specific areas of numeracy. Selected students will work with a Learning Support Assistant to target specific learning needs in the area of numeracy. Research shows that planned interventions can make a substantial impact on children’s difficulties with calculation, improving their understanding and raising performance. A targeted intervention program can make a big difference in a relatively short amount of time. The College anticipates offering short but regular interventions, involving individualised work. It is important to find out what specific strengths and weaknesses an individual child has and to investigate particular misconceptions and incorrect strategies. Teaching should then be targeted towards particular difficulties.

Monitoring ProgressStudent progress and growth will be monitored and documented throughout the school year. Pre-testing and post-testing are used in classrooms throughout the school. The College has also implemented a standardised testing program throughout the school. Students complete a variety of standardised tests at the end of Term 2 and Term 4. This data allows the school to more accurately identify students who are at risk in different aspects of numeracy. This data is used in conjuction with classroom assessment data, NAPLAN data and other anecdotal evidence.

∙ Place Value ∙ Basic operations of addition, subtraction,

multiplication and division ∙ Problem Solving ∙ Measurement ∙ Fractions

∙ Decimals ∙ Percentages ∙ Graphing ∙ Geometry ∙ Chance and Probability ∙ Use of a range of Mathematical tools

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ScienceThe Science curriculum in the Primary School follows the Australian Curriculum guidelines. Our curriculum aims to develop in students a scientific view of the world through challenging students to explore the wonders of Science and developing an appreciation of God’s world.

Science is divided into three main strands - Science Understanding, Science as a Human Endeavour and Science Inquiry Skills. Each main strand then has different areas of its own. For example the strand Science Understanding is broken into Biological Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Earth and Space Sciences and Physical Sciences.

The Australian Curriculum: Science provides opportunities for students to develop an understanding of important science concepts and processes, the practices used to develop scientific knowledge, of science’s contribution to our culture and society, and its applications in our lives. The curriculum supports students to develop the scientific knowledge, understandings and skills to make informed decisions about local, national and global issues and to participate, if they so wish, in science-related careers.

Upper Primary School Science lessons are conducted in the Science Laboratory and the children experience a wide range of hands-on experiments.

Staff at Kerang Christian College use ‘PrimaryConnections’ as an innovative approach to teaching and learning in Science. Students study a variety of PrimaryConnections topics including:

∙ Staying Alive ∙ Weather in My World ∙ Schoolyard Safari ∙ Watch It Grow! ∙ Push-Pull ∙ Melting Moments ∙ Material World ∙ Package It Better ∙ Desert Survivors ∙ Earth’s Place in Space ∙ Marvelous Micro-Organisms ∙ Earthquake Explorers ∙ Essential Energy

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HistoryHistory is a disciplined process of inquiry into the past that develops students’ curiosity and imagination. Awareness of history is an essential characteristic of any society, and historical knowledge is fundamental to understanding ourselves and others.

In 2013, the Kerang Christian College Primary School will implement the Australian Curriculum: History addressing the content required at each level and assessing student progress against the established levels. The Australian Curriculum: History is organised into two interrelated strands: Historical Knowledge and Understanding and Historical Skills. The History curriculum replaces the subject Studies of Society and the Environment and is complemented by Science and Geography concepts.

During Primary School students study a variety of topics including:

∙ Family ∙ Community and Remembrance ∙ History of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples ∙ European Exploration ∙ The Australian Colonies ∙ The Australian Gold Rush ∙ Australia’s Federation ∙ Australian Democracy and Citizenship

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Visual ArtsThe Visual Arts Curriculum at Kerang Christian College has long promoted and encouraged creativity, expression and visual awareness in our students. The Visual Arts curriculum fosters and nurtures children’s creative abilities. Students attend weekly lessons in the Visual Arts classroom with a specialist teacher.

Staff at Kerang Christian College will be developing a greater awareness of The Draft Shape of the Australian Curriculum: The Arts documentation during 2013. The Australian Curriculum describes the Visual Arts as “… an imaginative engagement with visual and material skills and technologies, a way of designing and making thinking visible.”Some of the topics studied include:

∙ Drawing ∙ Painting ∙ Printing ∙ Collage ∙ Textiles ∙ Modelling

Performing ArtsThe Performing Arts at Kerang Christian College incudes Music, Drama and Movement. All primary classes attend a music/drama lesson each week where students develop an understanding of the part music plays in everyday life, learn to distinguish different styles and forms of music and explore new skills and technologies. Students are exposed to a wide range of instruments. Students in the Primary School have an opportunity to perform at a major school event each year. This may be in the form of a school musical, concert or presentation evening.

Students will develop a variety of skills including: ∙ Stage movement ∙ Performance ∙ Acting ∙ Mime ∙ Improvisation ∙ Script reading and role playing

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Information and Communications TechnologyICT is taught as a subject at Kerang Christian College and is also integrated throughout the curriculum of many other subject areas. We believe it is important to develop students who are prepared for the world that we live in. Students have an opportunity to learn about a wide variety of software programs as well as developing important skills such as word processing and typing.

The Australian Curriculum acknowledges the importance of ICT as both a general capability (GC) and as a learning area. The Draft Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Technologies was presented in March 2012. Staff at Kerang Christian College will begin becoming familiar with this document in 2013.

The draft document of the Australian Curriculum states that the curriculum “…will develop active and informed citizens with the capacity to be confident, creative, ethical, enterprising, environmentally and socially responsible innovators.” Furthermore, it highlights that, “Students will develop the technologies knowledge, understanding and skills to engage purposefully in the process of creating preferred futures by using a range of thinking skills, including futures and systems thinking, to generate and communicate creative ideas.”

Students learn a variety of skills and topics including: ∙ Basic typing skills ∙ Computer awareness i.e. parts of a computer, logging in, saving ∙ Windows 7 ∙ Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel ∙ Digital Art and Graphic Design

Languages Other than English (LOTE)Students in the Primary School study Auslan. Australian sign language (Auslan) is the language of the Deaf community in Australia. Students are provided with a basic introduction to Auslan signs, vocabulary development, Auslan grammar and gestures. Students have a chance to develop an awareness of some of the differences between Auslan and spoken languages.

Christian EducationStudents at the College participate in morning devotions, Christian Education classes and weekly school chapel services. Kerang Christian College aims to provide a solid foundation of academic excellence and spiritual growth towards authentic Christian living for every student. The Christian Education program aims to provide an integration of Christian faith and character in students. Christian Education is taught from a Christian biblical worldview. One of the goals of the College is to develop students equipped for service and citizenship as an expression of their Christian faith.

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Physical EducationPhysical Education is a fundamental component of the Primary School education experience at Christian College. The curriculum aims to develop fundamental skills while providing an opportunity for students to have fun. Students progress from the development of basic motor skills to the performance of complex movement patterns that form part of team games. Students are encouraged to have positive attitudes toward physical activity.

Students learn and develop skills in a variety of sports including:

SportStudents in the Primary School participate in a Learn to Swim Programme. Lessons on athletics, skipping, ball and motor skills all contribute to the physical development of the children. Annual Swimming, Athletics and Cross Country carnivals are an opportunity for students to both demonstrate their abilities and represent the College in interschool competitions. Students in Years 4 – 6 also compete in the Lightning Premiership competition, which is an interschool sport competition against other local schools.

HealthThe Health programme covers topics related to health and personal development, including Sun Smart behaviours, water safety, basic hygiene, fire safety and more. The curriculum is designed to equip students for the twenty-first century and to ensure that students develop as people who take increasing responsibility for their own physical well being, learning, relationships with others and their own role in the local, national and global community from a Christian perspective.

∙ Swimming ∙ Athletics ∙ Cross Country ∙ Badminton

∙ Basketball ∙ Cricket ∙ Netball ∙ Soccer

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Integrity, Faith, Family