Curriculum

4.2 The Capabilities

Crtitical and Creative Thinking
Critical and creative thinking capability aims to ensure that students develop:

• understanding of thinking processes and an ability to manage and apply these intentionally
• skills and learning dispositions that support logical, strategic, flexible and adventurous thinking
• confidence in evaluating thinking and thinking processes across a range of familiar and unfamiliar contexts

Ethical Capability
The Ethical Capability curriculum aims to develop knowledge, understandings and skills to enable students to:

• Analyse and evaluate ethical issues, recognising areas of contestability
• Identify the bases of ethical principles and ethical reasoning
• Engage with the challenges of managing ethical decision making and action for individuals and groups
• Cultivate open-mindedness and reasonableness.

Intercultural Capability
Intercultural capability aims to develop knowledge, understandings and skills to enable students to:

• demonstrate an awareness of and respect for cultural diversity within the community
• reflect on how intercultural experiences influence attitudes, values and beliefs
• recognise the importance of acceptance and appreciation of cultural diversity for a cohesive community.

Personal and Social Capability
The Personal and Social Capability curriculum aims to develop knowledge, understandings and skills to enable students to:

• recognise, understand and evaluate the expression of emotions
• demonstrate an awareness of their personal qualities and the factors that contribute to resilience
• develop empathy for and understanding of others and recognise the importance of supporting diversity for a cohesive community
• understand how relationships are developed and use interpersonal skills to establish and maintain respectful relationships
• work effectively in teams and develop strategies to manage challenging situations constructively.

4.3 Learning Areas

Through the process of inquiry, students construct their understanding of the natural and human designed world. The students develop their skills in thinking, problem solving and working collaboratively. This includes each of the curriculum subjects; English, Maths, Science/STEM, Language and Arts.

ENGLISH
The study of English helps create confident communicators, imaginative thinkers and informed citizens. It assists individuals to learn, analyse, understand, communicate and build relationships with others and the world around them. The study of English helps to develop the knowledge and skills needed for education, training and the workplace. It helps students to become ethical, thoughtful, informed and active members of society and plays an important part in developing the understanding, attitude and capabilities of those who will shape our future.

We believe the best way to promote language competence is by providing students with the opportunities to think, speak, listen, read and write about significant things, for real purposes which are important to them.

We believe all areas of language are inter-linked and it is a developmental process for all students.

The following are central to our teaching:

• English is an integral part of all areas of the curriculum
• Excursions, in-school visits and first hand experiences are seen as an important basis for promoting a positive attitude to all learning including English.
• Language competence in students is enhanced if teachers and parents work in partnership.

MATHEMATICS
Mathematics is a priority area for Edithvale Primary School. Our Mathematics program stresses the development of the individual and relies heavily on the use of structured teaching materials.

Mathematics is organised around the interaction of three content strands and four proficiency strands.

The content strands are Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability. They describe what is to be taught and learnt.

The proficiency strands are Understanding, Fluency, Problem Solving, and Reasoning. They describe how content is explored or developed, that is, the thinking and doing of mathematics. This approach has been adopted to ensure students’ proficiency in mathematical skills develops throughout the curriculum and becomes increasingly sophisticated over the levels of schooling.

We aim to ensure that our students:

• are confident, creative users and communicators of mathematics, able to investigate, represent and interpret situations in their personal and work lives and as active citizens
• develop an increasingly sophisticated understanding of mathematical concepts and fluency with processes, and are able to pose and solve problems and reason in Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability
• recognise connections between the areas of mathematics and other disciplines and appreciate mathematics as an accessible and enjoyable discipline to study.

The Mathematics Program is well resourced in the junior and senior school with concrete materials, games and equipment.

SCIENCE
The Science curriculum provides opportunities for students to develop an understanding of important scientific concepts and processes, the practices used to develop scientific knowledge, the contribution of science to our culture and society, and its applications in our lives.
The Science curriculum aims to ensure that students develop:

• an interest in science as a means of expanding their curiosity and willingness to explore, ask questions about and speculate on the changing world in which they live
• an understanding of the vision that science provides of the nature of living things, of the Earth and its place in the cosmos, and of the physical and chemical processes that explain the behaviour of all material things
• an understanding of the nature of scientific inquiry and the ability to use a range of scientific inquiry methods, including questioning, planning and conducting experiments and investigations based on ethical principles, collecting and analysing data, evaluating results, and drawing critical, evidence-based conclusions
• an ability to communicate scientific understanding and findings to a range of audiences, to justify ideas on the basis of evidence, and to evaluate and debate scientific arguments and claims
• an ability to solve problems and make informed, evidence-based decisions about current and future applications of science while taking into account ethical and social implications of decisions
• an understanding of historical and cultural contributions to science as well as contemporary science issues and activities and an understanding of the diversity of careers related to science
• a solid foundation of knowledge of the biological, chemical, physical, Earth and space sciences, including being able to select and integrate the scientific knowledge and methods needed to explain and predict phenomena, apply that understanding to new situations and events; and to appreciate the dynamic nature of science knowledge

STEM

Our exciting and engaging technologies curriculum enables students to participate in coding and robotics lessons to become confident and creative developers of digital solutions through specific ways of thinking about problem solving.

Aims
The Digital Technologies curriculum aims to ensure that students can:

• design, create, manage and evaluate sustainable and innovative digital solutions to meet and redefine current and future needs
• use computational thinking and the key concepts of abstraction; data collection, representation and interpretation; specification, algorithms and development to create digital solutions
• apply systems thinking to monitor, analyse, predict and shape the interactions within and between information systems and the impact of these systems on individuals, societies, economies and environments
• confidently use digital systems to efficiently and effectively automate the transformation of data into information and to creatively communicate ideas in a range of settings
• apply protocols and legal practices that support safe, ethical and respectful communications and collaboration with known and unknown audiences.

LANGUAGES:
The Language Other Than English offered at Edithvale Primary is French. The French program aims to provide students with the opportunity to gain an insight into another culture and its language. At Edithvale we are fortunate to have an experienced teacher in this area. Our focus is on interactive learning, meaning that the language is learnt through games, songs and  communicative activities.

THE ARTS

The Arts program aims to extend our students’ creative and expressive skills by providing activities in the following areas:

VISUAL ARTS
Learning in Visual Arts involves students making and responding to artworks, drawing on the world as a source of ideas. Students engage with and develop knowledge of visual arts, skills, techniques and processes, and use materials as they explore a range of forms, styles and contexts.

The students undertake an extensive program that aims to develop

• confidence, curiosity, imagination and enjoyment and a personal aesthetic through engagement with visual arts making, viewing, discussing, analysing, interpreting and evaluating
• visual arts techniques, materials, processes and technologies
• respect for and acknowledgment of the diverse roles, innovations, traditions, histories and cultures of artists, craftspeople, designers, curators, critics and commentators

MUSIC
The aims of the program are:

• To develop enjoyment and understanding of music and encourage communication of musical thinking
• Instrumental Music lessons are provided at additional cost to parents during school hours. Instruments taught are keyboard and guitar.

PERFORMING ARTS
Student performances occur throughout each year.

School performances promote the Creating and Making dimension of The Arts. Moreover, they broaden the students’ range of experiences, develop self-esteem and confidence and teach them the discipline of working as a team.

THE HUMANITIES
This includes Geography, History, Civics and Citizenship and Economics and Business. At Edithvale Primary School, our Humanities program places emphasis on the local community and is taught as part of Inquiry Focused Learning.

In Civics and Citizenship and Economics and Business, students explore the systems that shape society, with a specific focus on legal and economic systems. Students learn about Australia’s role in global systems, and are encouraged to appreciate democratic principles and to contribute as active, informed and responsible citizens. In History and Geography, students explore the processes that have shaped and which continue to shape different societies and cultures, to appreciate the common humanity shared across time and distance, and to evaluate the ways in which humans have faced and continue to face different challenges

Within the local context the following areas are given particular attention:

• fostering awareness and concern for the environment
• developing new behaviours related to the well being of the environment
• encouraging active participation.

Many local excursions to the beach, wetlands and other local resources form a valuable part of this program.

4.4  OTHER ACTIVITIES

School Camps
School Camp Programs are conducted for students in Years 4, 5 and 6. The students are generally away for 2 to 3 days. The program is activity-based with emphasis on social development, in particular self-esteem and personal independence. Throughout their schooling, students should participate in a variety of camping experiences.

The cost of all camping programs is covered by the parents.