Curriculum 

School Wide Teaching and Learning

In each edition of our school newsletter, we share with our community an insight into the curriculum being taught within our classrooms. This reflects our school's strong focus upon continuous improvement. 

Each edition covers a different area of the curriculum, and is supported by our school-wide approaches to teaching and learning. 

School-Wide Approaches to Literacy

As you would be aware, in 2018 our school commenced the staged rollout of becoming an evidence-based school, with a focus upon delivering a structured literacy program across the school; based upon systematic phonics and the learning culture of- 

Foundation- Year Two we learn to be great readers

Year Three- Year Six we read to be great learners. 

Through our school's partnership with Macquarie University (MultiLit Suite) we have seen huge growth in our early years results. We are therefore, extremely pleased to share with our community that our school has been selected to take part in a field trial (2021) of "MiddleLit (working name)" which is targeted at Year Three/Four students. The selection process for the field trial was open to schools across Australia, and involved a rigourous process inclusive of a demographic assessment.  

As one of only ten schools selected throughout Australia, this is a huge win for our school, and will provide future benefits for students across the Dandenong Ranges. 

2021, will therefore be the first year of a three-year partnership during which our school will have unprecedented access to professional learning, data analysis support, and resourcing that will setup our students for success. 

In addition to the early years and middle years delivery of an evidence-based literacy program, we will be moving to Word-Attack (Macquarie University) to address spelling across our Year Five/Six classrooms. 

More information regarding this initiative, and what it means for our community will be provided in future newsletters.

Below is a brief overview of the schools who have been selected in the three-year partnership:

What is the demographic spread of schools involved?

• 10 schools in total, with the following breakdown: 6 in NSW, 2 in WA, 1 in SA, 1 in VIC (7 metro schools and 3 regional schools) 
• 6 state schools, 1 catholic, 3 high-fee paying independent
• 3 low ICSEA, 5 high ICSEA, 2 average ICSEA. 1 of these schools has over 50% indigenous enrolments.
• 3 schools that have implemented InitialLit-F-2. 7 schools that have not utilised Initial-Lit as a Tier 1 instructional model.
• All selected schools have shown evidence of a tiered intervention model to Literacy (not necessarily with MultiLit- can be other evidence based interventions). All schools have also shown that direct-explicit instruction, or similar, is the basis of their Instructional Model.