Curriculum

Positive Behaviour & Values Education

Statement of Philosophy that includes Government School’s Vision, Mission, Values and Objectives

Our school’s vision is to prepare young people to become active, engaged and responsible citizens of the local and global community. It aims to prepare students to contend with a very dynamic 21st century in which creativity, cooperative work, connectedness to the world and adaptability are key features. The school aspires to provide a contemporary approach to teaching and learning in its purposeful learning environment.

The school values achievement, excellence, curiosity, respect and responsibility, perseverance, integrity, inclusiveness, respect for diversity, honesty and equity. Sitting at the centre of its work, the school believes in high expectations in all students and a commitment to effort.

The programs of, and teaching in, the school will support and promote the principles and practices of Australian democracy including a commitment to:

An elected government.
The rule of law.
Equal rights for all before the law.
Freedom of religion.
Freedom of speech and association.
The values of openness and acceptance of differences and diversity.
The safety of all children.

Positive Behaviour Support Framework School Key Values

At Strathmore Primary School there is a school-wide approach towards positive student behavior referred to as the “Positive Behaviour Support” Framework (or PBS). There are three areas in the framework, being; Safety, Respect and Learning. In each learning space, a Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) Matrix is displayed, outlining specific actions that are expected with regards to Safety, Respect and Learning across activities at school. This covers the classroom, the yard, events or on excursions as well as when using the internet or other forms of digital learning. The Matrix acts as a consistent guide for students to know how to behave and learn positively in these contexts.

Strathmore Primary School has aligned its School Values with the PBS Framework. For each area of the PBS Matrix, Key Values have been selected following a process that involved surveying students, the student-led “Resiliency Project”, teachers and parent members of School Council. The graphic below demonstrates the alignment between the areas of the PBS and the School Values.

SAFETY

Act safely and show care for others

Key Value: RESPONSIBILITY

RESPECT

Respect people and property

Key Values: HONESTY, RESILIENCE & INCLUSIVENESS

LEARNING

I am open to new learning and take responsibility for my effort

Key Values: INSPIRE, EXPLORE & CHALLENGE

The Learning Key Values of Inspire, Explore and Challenge were selected as part of the School Strategic Plan in 2014, to represent the values that are held regarding the teaching and learning program at the school. The school’s Positive Behaviours and Values help to create a sense of community and belonging at Strathmore Primary School where learning occurs at the optimal level.

Values Education – “Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships”

The school uses the Department of Education and Training’s “Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships” age-appropriate resource as part of its Values Education program. Throughout the year, students are engaged in age-appropriate learning about values and behaviours that support development and understanding of:

Emotional Literacy
Personal Strengths
Positive Coping
Problem Solving
Stress Management
Help Seeking
Gender and Identity
Positive Gender Relations

Through the Values Education program, students are also educated about safety, including cybersafety, anti-bullying and age-appropriate awareness of risks to safety in the community, including environmental, physical and emotional safety, risks posed by other persons and how and where to seek help when safety is compromised.

Class Dojo

Acknowledging Positive Student Behaviour

At Strathmore Primary School, we believe that it is important to acknowledge positive behaviours and efforts of students. There are often opportunities for students to be acknowledged in special events, however, as a school, we believe it is also important to acknowledge the “everyday” positive behaviours displayed by students. Teachers use the program “Class Dojo” to acknowledge positive behaviour by students at school. Students can be awarded Dojo points at any time of the day for Safety, Respect and Learning, which are the three key areas of the school’s PBS framework. Students accumulate these points over the year and additionally, each week, “Dojo Champions of the Week” will be identified from each class in the school as well as one for each specialist program. These students will be acknowledged at Assembly and will receive a certificate in class acknowledging their positive behaviour.

Support

If at any time, you would like to raise an issue regarding the needs of your child/ren in relation to learning or social/emotional matters, classroom teachers provide a good first port of call. Additionally, please feel free to make contact with the Assistant Principal or Principal, particularly if there is a need to discuss more sensitive or complex information. Strathmore Primary School prides itself on being a school that implements a thorough approach towards supporting students with learning and wellbeing. Good communication between parents, teachers and school leadership enables this to occur.

Literacy

The English curriculum as drawn from the Victorian Curriculum, comprises Reading, Writing and Speaking and Listening. Strathmore Primary School engages all students in growing their literacy skills and becoming literate.

Strathmore Primary School provides a developmental Reading, Writing and Spelling program. Our school is committed to the Early Years Literacy Program (Prep to Year 4) and the Middle Years Literacy Program (Years 5 & 6). Parents, specialist teachers and classroom teachers provide support for our literacy program, individually, collaboratively and inclusively in our classrooms.

Currently, we are implementing the whole school writing program, ‘Big Write’ and ‘VCOP’ through Andrell Education (http://www.andrelleducation.com.au/). This program engages students in writing by enabling them to fluently engage with, critique and improve their writing, through the focus of vocabulary use, connectives, sentence openers and punctuation use.

Throughout the school, Literacy skills are taught within the context of the English program and the Inquiry Curriculum Program.

Numeracy

The Mathematics program at Strathmore Primary School aims to develop the students’ numeracy skills, language, understanding and fluency, so that the children are able to solve problems and participate in situations involving Mathematics in their day to day life. The program is delivered through daily lessons where the children experience Mathematics in practical and engaging tasks. The students’ progress is monitored and measured against the Victorian Curriculum.

ICT

Strathmore Primary School makes use of a range of technologies in the implementation of learning tasks. The school offers our students the best possible opportunities in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

iPad Program

Strathmore PS students are exposed to a range of technology in their learning spaces. Students use iPads for learning with a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program continuing to be rolled out across the school starting in the senior school and expanding into the junior school. Learning spaces are equipped with TV screens or Projectors with Interactive Whiteboards and students and teachers have the ability to screen cast iPads and teacher notebooks for learning and sharing opportunities. Recent additions to our tech in school includes Lego Robotics and Spheros. We look forward to building an even bigger Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) profile in our school as we add to our resources.

Interactive Whiteboards (IWB) and Flat Panel Screens

The school has purchased IWBs /Flat Panel Screens for all classrooms. Some of these are fixed screens as well as mobile screens on movable trollies. Some classrooms are equipped with IWBs using projection and Apple TV technology.

These Screens are current technology, and highly engaging pieces of equipment for the children. Screens can be used to view teaching videos and learning tasks. They have access to anything that is on the teacher’s note book computer, including internet sites and resources.

Library

Our Library at Strathmore Primary School is a place where children engaging in reading is the focus. It is well stocked with picture books, junior novels, novels, non-fiction and a variety of reference books. We aim to provide an environment where children enjoy reading, especially in our comfy furniture. Children learn skills to help them make the best use of the Library such as understanding that picture books have one letter, novels have three letters and non-fiction uses the Dewey Decimal System.

Physical Education

Strathmore Primary School provides a high quality Physical Education (PE) program for every child. It is designed to develop positive attitudes, knowledge and skills that equip students for a healthy and active lifestyle. Our comprehensive program provides children with a wide range of physical and sporting experiences focusing on the sequential development of fundamental motor skills, games, gymnastics, dance, athletics, swimming, health-related fitness and sport education. To implement the P.E. program, we have access to excellent facilities including a full sized stadium, tennis equipment, basketball/netball and bat tennis courts. We also run school-based house competitions to promote a sense of community and connectedness.

Italian

Our specialist LOTE Italian program provides a broad introduction to both the language and culture of Italy in visual, spoken and written form.
The children learn to communicate in a Language Other Than English and gain intercultural knowledge and language awareness by listening, speaking, reading, writing and watching. This results in the children being able to speak and write with confidence through the means of basic geographical orientation, correct pronunciation and the practice of simple conversational phrases in dialogues and role play.

There is a strong emphasis on song and practical activities to encourage participation, confidence and engagement.

The children become proficient in counting, expressing the time, learning colour vocabulary, offering greetings, knowing family members and answering questions.

Strathmore Primary School is a strong advocate of Individualised Learning and utilises ICT tools such as Languages Online and other language resources to facilitate this learning process in Italian LOTE.

Visual Arts

In the Arts programs at Strathmore Primary School, students have the opportunity to create, make, explore and respond to Art works in a variety of ways. Students make links between the Arts and other subject areas. Our Arts programs have specific goals or targets and we approach teaching the arts in different ways, depending on the specific type of art form.

The Art program at Strathmore Primary School introduces students to a broad range of visual art forms. It is designed to develop creative thinking and expression, and to give students basic skills within the areas of painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, textiles and construction. Exposure to a wide range of artworks gives students the ability to respond appropriately to art in their world and provides a creative influence for their own work. Project themes also facilitate cultural, environmental, historical, social and emotional learning. Students are given the opportunity to participate in contests and community exhibitions. Achievement in Art is celebrated through display of student artwork around the school.

Music

Through our Music program students gain skills and techniques in a wide variety music and performing arts disciplines. Through this program, students are exposed to a wide range of music, works that they may not otherwise encounter. Students have many opportunities to create their own music, and the opportunity to reflect on it as part of the learning process. Cooperative learning and our school’s PBS values provide students with positive social and emotional development. This aspect also helps to develop leadership within our students.