Curriculum Overview




Teaching and learning

Girgarre Primary School focus all literacy and numeracy learning in the first half of each day, ensuring children are focused and motivated to engage and thrive.

English

English is a core subject we aim to develop a love of reading, creative minds, strong vocabulary and spelling. Students engage in group and individual learning.

STEM

STEM covers the knowledge and skills found in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines. Student solve real-world problems in multi-age groups, promoting peer learning and deep thinking.

Maths

We aim to foster a love of maths in our students and to make them life–long mathematicians who are numerate and can apply their understanding to everyday life.

Sport and PE

PE helps develop students' sportsmanship and a healthy lifestyle. Students have the opportunity to progress through to district/regional divisions.

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Girgarre Primary School was my teaching home for one term during 2023, this was to be a 7 week placement before leaving to teach in London. Throughout my teaching career this was by far the most rewarding and eye-opening experience. The opportunities the students had was beyond anything I had ever experienced, their drive and passion for learning along with the flexible curriculum, the children were so advanced in all aspects of their education.

Emily Gezun

P-2 classroom teacher (Term 1, 2023)

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Academic Program overview

Our Academic Program focuses on establishing strong foundations in both Literacy and Numeracy skills.


We deliver all areas of the Victorian Curriculum with a particular focus on:

  • English, Mathematics, Science
  • Personal and Social Development, Health and Physical Education
  • History and Geography
  • Music and Visual Arts
  • Digital and Design Technologies.


We employ specialist teachers in both literacy and numeracy.


Students in Year 6 are elected by their peers to leadership positions, providing them with opportunities to lead school activities and events as well as represent our school within the community. Our Junior School Council (JSC) is also peer-elected with representatives being chosen from most year levels. This student-led body represents all students and provides a formal avenue for authentic student voice, with representatives meeting twice each term with staff and leadership.


Our students enjoy access to a modern and well-resourced facility, which includes a library, superb sports grounds and well-equipped specialist rooms for Art, Music, computers and technology along with our student outdoor meeting area utilised for eating and socialising in all weather.

Students have the opportunity to engage with our onsite farm animals and raised garden beds, helping to raise and care for them as part of our learning methods. Vegetable produce is harvested for use in weekly cooking lessons.

Unique learning experiences

Girgarre Primary School holds a unique position and offers students a diverse education. Offering a small school education we believe children thrive within our care in all aspects of the 'standard' curriculum along with the listed unique offerings found at our school:


  • Bike and Scooter Education
  • Curriculum-aligned excursions, most at no cost to families,
  • First school uniform included for free
  • Comprehensive week long swimming lessons
  • Secret Agent Society - a guided program to develop social awareness and problem-solving skills, especially for students with neurodiversity.
  • Performing arts discovery:
  • Melbourne theatre excursion
  • Circus excursion
  • Yearly school concert and regular presentations,
  • Opportunities for students to develop self confidence.
  • Our Outdoor Ed program offers:
  • Sailing,
  • Beach, Bush and City camps,
  • Many specialist incursions throughout the year.
  • Personal development throughout all year levels helping children grow personally and develop skills leading to healthy choices.


Literacy

Reading

Explicit instruction in the structure of the English language is provided to students through phonics, vocabulary and comprehension-based lessons across both classrooms.

Decodable texts are used as independent readers and are matched to each students' point of need, only including letters and sounds that the student have learned. There is a strong focus on phonemic awareness (listening to sounds and patterns in words) and phonics (matching letters or letter combinations to the sounds that they make).

Decodable texts are used alongside other texts (picture story books, audio texts, novels, information texts, etc.) as part of a comprehensive reading program targeting the 'Big 6' of reading instruction: oral language, phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension.


Teachers systematically introduce letters and sounds to support students' development in reading and spelling.

Our whole-school spelling program has been developed in consultation with leading literacy specialists and takes place five days per week, twenty minutes per day, in small groups tailored to students' point-of-need learning.


Writing

Big Write and VCOP is implemented across the school with sessions taking place as a weekly celebration of writing. In 2024, writing is one of our focus areas. We will work as a Professional Learning Community to develop an instructional model and scope and sequence for writing structure, text types, grammar and handwriting to embed consistent writing practices across the school.


Speaking and listening

The Kathy Walker play-based pedagogy is implemented several times throughout the week with students in P-2. These structured, play-based sessions support the development of oral language through authentic learning interactions.


Students in 3-6 participate in the Lions Club public speaking competition in Term 2 every year.


Throughout the year, students in both classes have many opportunities to develop their speaking and listening skills: classroom meetings, oral presentations, dramatic performance and Readers Theatre, as well as their daily sharing of their learnings (in any subject area) with the teacher and their peers.