SPECIAL PROGRAMS

SPECIAL PROGRAMS FOR PREP

Buddies

Each Prep child will be allocated a buddy from one of the Year 5 classes.  The older children are encouraged to welcome and support the younger children and to provide assistance in the playground when required.  Buddies often develop a special relationship and work together at various special events throughout the year.

Literacy

The Literacy Program strives to raise the levels of literacy attainment in young children in the early years of schooling.  It is based on the belief that improvements in literacy are achievable through a whole-school approach, which ensures that all students make progress and achieve success in early literacy.

At a classroom level this means allocating a daily two hour Literacy teaching block, which consists of one hour with a focus on reading and one hour with a focus on writing.  Parents are encouraged to add their names to the classroom support roster to assist in the classroom with literacy; training is provided to parents in Term 1 by the Literacy Leader.  Students are assessed regularly and with a variety of tools, to monitor growth and improvement in literacy.  Please note, for any parent/grandparent helpers, it is mandatory to have a minimum volunteer WWCC.

Brain Food

The students are strongly encouraged to bring a small container of fresh fruit/veg to eat at 10:00am to boost brain power and develop healthy habits.  We ask that the brain food is cut up into small, manageable chunks.

Early Reading

At Sacred Heart we aim to promote a love of literature in children as well as the ability to read.  Prep children will begin to take home a book to share with their family once they have settled into their new school.  Learning to read is a process that takes time, and as all children are different, they progress at different rates.  Always make reading time with your child enjoyable and praise their efforts.  Some children will enjoy their book being read to them, others will enjoy reading with their parent and others may be able to read independently.  Please see your child’s class teacher if you have any concerns about your child’s progress.

INTERVENTION PROGRAMS

Literacy

At Sacred Heart we provide a high quality English program which equips students with English knowledge and skills enabling them to become confident communicators, creative thinkers, problem solvers and informed citizens.

Every morning the students engage in purposeful activities in listening, speaking, reading, viewing and writing.  A focus on whole class, small groups and individual needs is a priority at Sacred Heart.  Content is drawn from the Victorian Curriculum.  In addition, the English program, which we use at Sacred Heart, provides a range of interventions to support children.

Included in these interventions are the following programs:

• MSL – The Multisensory Structured Language approach is based on the same principles of instruction required for effective reading instruction.  MSL includes the six essential components of reading/literacy outlined in the National Reading Panel research document as well as in the body of research known as the Science of Reading (Reading League, 2020).  Sacred Heart uses MSL as a whole class teaching approach and for one on one intervention with students from Year 1.

Mathematics

The students at Sacred Heart participate in an hour lesson of Mathematics each day. Within these sessions we cover the content of the Victorian Curriculum Mathematics learning area and where possible, we make clear the links from mathematics to all other learning areas.

We include the following in our teaching:

• Clear mathematical focus (Learning Intention and Success Criteria)
• Purposeful/rich tasks with enabling and extending prompts
• High expectations
• Making connections to other mathematical ideas from prior lessons
• Variety of assessment methods
• Purposeful questioning
• Controlled floundering – we allow children time to persevere with mathematical problems, rather than stepping in and solving problems on their behalf.

The Mathematics curriculum focuses on developing increasingly sophisticated and refined mathematical understanding, fluency, reasoning, modelling and problem-solving. These capabilities enable students to respond to familiar and unfamiliar situations by employing mathematics to make informed decisions and solve problems efficiently.

For those children who require more specialised support in Mathematics, we provide support through a Learning Support Officer (LSO) and Mathematics intervention.

Digital Technologies

Using technology is a vital element of 21st century learning, enhancing the curriculum and providing an engaging way of learning for our students.  All classrooms are equipped with interactive whiteboards to enhance learning.  There are also 70 Chromebooks in our school, with our Years 5 to 6 students having one to one access to these exciting technological learning tools.  iPads are used in Yr.1-4 students in their learning (no iPads needed in Prep).

The students are taught responsible use of technology and undertake CyberSafety lessons from Prep to Year 6.

Programs at Sacred Heart: