Our Learning
St Anne's Primary School Sunbury
At St Anne’s, our aim is to develop independent, responsible learners who are actively involved in their own learning.
We believe that students learn best when they:
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feel their contribution is valued
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experience success
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are responsible for their own learning
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are actively involved in a variety of challenging learning experiences
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are engaged in their learning.
Education in Faith
At St Anne’s, Religious Education is enacted through all areas of learning and school life.
We aim to
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support and develop the spiritual, social and academic aspect of every child
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provide powerful teaching, which develops a capacity to go deeper into learning and faith inquiry
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integrate our Religious Education Curriculum with our Inquiry and Conceptual Framework, as well as the Victorian Curriculum
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encourage individuals to look at life with appreciation and gratitude, inquiry and critical thinking, where the Catholic Tradition holds an explicit, preferred and robust place
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offer interactions that demonstrate, and opportunities that live out, Jesus Christ’s teaching and mission
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invite students to come to understand, respond and engage in the world in which they live through a Catholic worldview.
St Anne’s implements the Religious Education Curriculum Framework as directed by the Archdiocese of Melbourne. The learning structure of the Religious Education Curriculum has three components:
Achievement standards in progression points
Our students will be learning about Jesus and Scripture, the Church and its role in our community, the importance of prayer, liturgy and celebrating the Sacraments. Our children will also have opportunities to develop a sense of social justice and inclusiveness
English
At St Anne’s, we endeavour to create confident communicators, imaginative thinkers and informed citizens. Students learn to analyse, understand, communicate and build relationships with others and with the world around them.
Students learn to listen to, read, view, speak, write, create and reflect on spoken, written and multimodal texts. Content and skills are explicitly taught using a variety of strategies catering for individual needs. Learning does not occur in stages, but is a continually evolving process and is therefore monitored and assessed in an ongoing manner.
Strong parent relationships where students are supported at home in their literacy is valued. Frequent opportunities for students to read, write and engage in speaking and listening experiences is encouraged.
Mathematics
At St Anne’s, our Mathematics Program aims to provide students with targeted learning experiences designed to help them develop the key skills and understandings outlined in the Victorian Curriculum. Focused teaching takes place in the areas of Number & Algebra, Measurement & Geometry and Statistics & Probability. As well as these key content areas, students are supported to develop and refine their mathematical fluency, understanding, reasoning and problem solving.
Our teachers use a range of ongoing assessment methods to identify what students currently know and to inform the next steps for their learning. It is recognised that each student has different strengths and different needs, and the classroom program is designed to both support and challenge individuals as required.
The development of efficient mental computation skills is a key area of learning, and one which teachers target strategically and in a differentiated manner. Families are encouraged to support this learning by encouraging regular practice of counting patterns, number facts and the completion of home learning tasks.
Inquiry
Each term, students at St Anne’s undertake an Inquiry that explores one of our six Big Ideas. These Big Ideas incorporate different curriculum areas and are designed to be built upon as students move through their primary schooling.
Each term, students at St Anne’s undertake an Inquiry that explores one of our six Big Ideas. These Big Ideas incorporate different curriculum areas and are designed to be built upon as students move through their primary schooling.
Each Inquiry is guided by a Big Question and several supporting questions. These questions direct the learning experiences of the class and any independent learning that students may undertake.
An Inquiry unit will typically begin with Immersion experiences, which are designed to spark student interest and to get them excited about the upcoming learning. Teachers then spend time building student knowledge about key facts, ideas and concepts. After this, students either choose an area for further investigation (by developing their own question to pursue) or are given choice in the way they undertake and present their learning (based on a task that has been outlined).
Parents or friends who have particular interests or areas of expertise are always more than welcome to contribute to our learning in Inquiry. Whether you have a job in the field of science or a passion for gardening, your support will always be welcome.
Genius Time & Discovery
Genius Time
Genius Time has been adopted at St Anne's from years 3-6 in order to allow students to explore a topic of interest to them and drive their own research and learning. It is based on the understanding that students should be motivated by independent learning goals rather than results, and should be engaged in learning that is under their own control. While learning, students reflect on how they can strengthen their learning dispositions, such as creativity or collaboration.
Discovery
Students from Prep - Grade 2 at St Anne's engage in Discovery Inquiry play-based learning. Play and learning are strongly connected. Children’s cognitive, social, emotional and physical development all flourish from being engaged in play. While playing with peers, children learn social skills such as negotiation, problem solving and leadership. While playing with objects, children enhance their fine and gross-motor skills, their creativity, and the basic skills for mathematics, science and technology. Cognitive skills such as problem solving are enhanced through play when children are given opportunities to experiment and create new ideas. Dispositions such as curiosity, risk-taking, confidence, and a thirst for learning are all naturally developed.
Specialist Overview
At St Anne's Primary School we believe that each student is unique in the way they learn and the talents they possess. We make every effort to cater for and celebrate individual learning styles both in our mainstream and specialist curriculum. Our specialists programs are a vital element of curriculum design at St Anne's, providing students the opportunity to develop key skills and competencies and further develop an awareness of their
learning preferences.
What does it look like?
The subjects currently on offer are Physical Education and Visual Arts (Prep-6), Language based Performing Arts and Music (Prep-2) and Japanese and STEM (Years 3-6). Specialist classes are held on a weekly basis with a teacher who specialises in that particular area. These subjects have their own sequence of lessons, skill development guidelines and assessment tasks,
which are communicated in the biannual school reports and tailored to the diverse needs of the students in each class.
The Arts
Art, Performing Arts, Music
The Arts are a fundamental part of our society through which individuals communicate their ideas, feelings and beliefs. Our program aims to help students develop skills, techniques and a knowledge of processes as a basis for personal expression and creativity. We recognise that The Arts can be used not only as a vehicle for self-development and expression, but also as a means to help students better understand their world.
Physical Education
Physical Education provides students with the knowledge, skills and behaviours to enable them to achieve a degree of autonomy in developing and maintaining physical, mental, social and emotional health. The Physical Education program will include integrated units of work with an emphasis on developing basic and more complex motor skills through a variety of game-
based activities and settings. It aims to provide students with the opportunity to apply their knowledge and understanding across many aspects of sport and life.
STEM
Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics
We apply a developmental approach to learning in our 3-6 STEM program. By carefully scaffolding experiences, we aim to help students develop fundamental skills and dispositions in problem solving, design, critical thinking, risk taking, perseverance and curiosity. This is done through coding, robotics, programming and engineering challenges, which all have a strong focus on collaboration and teamwork.
Japanese
Learning Japanese is essential in supporting students to deepen their humanity in an increasingly globalised world. Research tells us that the experience of learning a second language not only improves our knowledge of how languages work but also enhances our thinking skills. Students at St Anne's begin formal instruction in Japanese from Year 3.
Technology ICT
At St Anne's, we endeavour to create and maintain learning environments that enhance learning and meet the needs of all participants for the 21st Century. These contemporary pedagogies underpin all areas of the curriculum and are supported by the use of a range of contemporary tools. Students in Years 3 - 6 utilise chromebooks while students in years Prep - 2 use iPads and computers.
We believe that to be active and effective in our society, our students will need to develop competent skills in the use of Digital Technologies. The provision of Digital Technology resources supports learning by providing access to information beyond the classroom into the world. We aim to promote the 6 Cs of 21st Learning:
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Collaboration
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Creativity
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Critical Thinking
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Citizenship
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Character
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Communication
At St Anne's, we communicate with parents, students and the community through, Seesaw and Google Classrooms (Years 3-6). Click here for more information.
We are committed to developing a secure learning environment which promotes the responsible, safe and smart use of digital technologies to all students. We are an eSmart school.