SACRED HEART
Newport
Our Curriculum
Sacred Heart Primary School Newport
Sacred Heart is an inclusive Catholic education community where everyone is respected, cared for and has a strong sense of belonging. Sacred Heart provides a dynamic and supportive environment where students are encouraged to be independent and co-operative lifelong learners. We believe that students will develop the necessary skills to contribute as active and socially just citizens through a curriculum that is constructed within the guidelines of the Victorian Curriculum and personalised to meet the individual needs of each child.
Our curriculum supports students by providing learning opportunities that:
-
are rigorous and relevant
-
have core knowledge and skills integrated across the curriculum in authentic ways
-
build on prior knowledge and experiences
-
Involve students in actively, making discoveries, solving problems and explaining to others what they are doing
-
provide for reflection, evaluation and are rich in assessment
Faith Life
At Sacred Heart, we are committed to our faith community, fostering an environment where we educate the whole person and encouraging everyone to reach their full potential.
Religious Education is interwoven with the Inquiry Curriculum in a Faith Life Inquiry model ensuring a child’s developing faith is meaningful, purposeful and connected within a real life context.
We strive to build on the experiences of each student, enhance their opportunity for rich dialogue with others and allow them to form their own understandings and make deep connections with their faith as they form their Catholic identity.
We regularly celebrate together at Mass and in school based liturgies and we embrace all available opportunities to gather together with our other Parish school, St Margaret Mary’s Spotswood.
SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM
An essential element of education in the faith is the growth of people in the Christian community and the Sacramental life of the Church.
Most of the students in our school have been baptised as infants and are prepared for and celebrate the Sacraments of Reconciliation (Year Three), Eucharist (Year Four) and Confirmation (Year Six).
The R.C.I.C. Process (Rite of Christian Initiation of Children) is available for those families wishing their children to be baptised once they have entered the primary years of schooling.
For more information about the Religious Education Curriculum Framework, please see the MACS RE Framework page.
English
At Sacred Heart, we understand how vital English skills are to support all learning. We use evidence-based methods to ensure all students succeed and thrive in this area.
We understand that the explicit and systematic teaching of fundamental knowledge and skills provides the best possible environment for all students to develop the ability to read, write, spell and understand the rules that underpin the English language.
Our structured reading and writing approach includes:
-
Phonological awareness and phonics skill screening
-
Explicit teaching of phonological awareness and phonics
-
Automaticity training in the recognition of irregular words/ high frequency words
-
Guided practice to improve fluency
-
Vocabulary development
-
Explicit teaching of comprehension strategies
-
Explicit teaching of comprehension questioning techniques.
-
Daily review at the beginning of each session
-
Explicit teaching of spelling combining phonological, orthographic and etymological knowledge
Speech Pathology “Now We’re Talking”
A unique aspect of our school is the provision of Speech Pathologists onsite each week to screen and assess all preps and any students grade 1-6 that may be flagged as having difficulties in the classroom or playground.
They may be investigating:
-
Receptive and Expressive Language skills
-
Literacy skills
-
Articulation (Speech Sounds)
-
Social Communication skills
-
Voice and Stuttering
-
Behaviour and ability to attend
Mathematics
At Sacred Heart we are committed to delivering quality, evidence based teaching in Mathematics. A key to our success is planning lessons that cater for individual learning differences and develop understanding through problem solving and reasoning.
We adopt a Science of Learning theoretical approach to the teaching of Mathematics at Sacred Heart, drawing on the research about how the brain processes information, implementing different teaching strategies including explicitly teaching concepts, creating learning environments that optimise and enhance learning outcomes in Mathematics.
At Sacred Heart, we also utilise the Launch, Explore, Summarise model, integrating the science of learning. In doing so, teachers create a dynamic and effective mathematics learning environment that supports differentiation and problem solving developing strong mathematical reasoning and understandings.
Key research and strategies influencing the teaching and learning of Mathematics at Sacred Heart include:
-
Connecting new information to prior knowledge
-
Using real world contexts
-
Understanding cognitive load and presenting new material in manageable amounts
-
Using visual aids or manipulatives to help students grasp abstract concepts.
-
Encouraging a growth mindset by framing challenges as opportunities for learning and emphasizing that effort leads to improvement.
-
Providing scaffolded support structures to help students navigate complex problems, gradually releasing responsibility to the student
-
Utilising formative and summative assessment tools to provide effective and ongoing feedback
Discovery & Inquiry
At Sacred Heart, we believe in nourishing children’s sense of wonder and curiosity.
Through Discovery, our Prep - Year 2 children engage in intentional spaces and experiences providing many opportunities for them to explore, ask questions, engage with one another and deepen their understanding of the world around them. The Discovery spaces are informed by data and designed with authentic links to the Victorian curriculum, their context, interests and needs. Provocations are deliberately placed within Discovery Spaces and are connected to the intentional teaching happening in the classroom at the time, i.e. English, Maths, Faith Life Inquiry, Wellbeing. Whilst one educator explicitly unpacks and inquires into a concept with children in a Heart Space, the other educators ‘influence’ children in other discovery spaces by reinforcing content that has been explicitly taught.
Through the Inquiry Curriculum, ‘Our Project’ offers our Year 3-6 students an opportunity to engage with the Humanities, Science, Health and Wellbeing, and capabilities curriculums as inquirers. As children engage in this shared project, they develop the dispositions needed to view and understand the world in a critical and reflective way. Through explicit teaching of Inquiry processes, our children engage in hands-on encounters and learning experiences. These experiences broaden their viewpoints and deepen their interpretations of the communities and world in which they live.
We believe that our children have the right to learn about and experience our Newport context, and to use our context as a pathway to engage with curriculum documents. Children in Year 3-6 engage in Rapid Cycles of Inquiry, whereby they experience many different types of inquiry processes in a developmentally appropriate and relevant way.
Through these different processes, our children learn to problem solve, question, reflect, design, iterate and communicate their knowledge with others. We teach our children to consider the many different avenues for constructing and representing knowledge. We invite them to represent their thinking through many different languages, including the use of clay, wire, light and shadow, collage, construction and many other mediums.
Intervention & Enrichment
At Sacred Heart, we recognise the importance of offering differentiated teaching programs that allow us to tailor our students’ learning to suit their needs - with a focus on both academic and social and emotional support. Participation in our intervention or enrichment programs is decided in consultation with parents/carers and the school.
Some of the intervention and enrichment programs we offer at various times at Sacred Heart include:
-
English intervention
-
Maths intervention
-
Wellbeing & Mental Health Programs
-
Social & Emotional small group interventions based on student needs
eSafety
At Sacred Heart, we partner with ‘Inform and Empower’ to provide students with the knowledge and skills to better navigate the online world and become more aware, clever, kind and brave online citizens. These four keystones underpin all of our teaching and learning that utilises the technology and systems we use at home and at school.
Physical Education
Sacred Heart’s weekly Physical Education program is staged to develop students from Prep to Year Six and caters to their individual needs as they begin to develop fundamental motor skills, physical fitness and game awareness in a multitude of sports and activities.
Our students have the opportunity to participate in school and Inter School Competitions, competing in Swimming, Athletics and Cross Country Carnivals.
Other inter school competitions include: AFL, Soccer, Netball, Basketball, Volleyball, Cricket, T Ball, Softball and Tennis.
This includes a swimming program from Prep to Year 4 at Bayfit Leisure Centre, and a water safety program run by Life Saving Victoria at Williamstown Beach (with a goal to have every student achieve the Victorian Water Safety Certificate by the end of Year 6).
The Arts
The Arts program at Sacred Heart is developed from the Victorian Curriculum and is guided by a specialist Arts teacher.
The Arts Program at Sacred Heart School focuses on:
-
Visual Arts – Painting, Drawing, Collage, Art Appreciation, History and Theory
-
Performance Arts – Drama, Dance and Improvisation
-
Music – Rhythm, Beat, Music Appreciation, Basic Notation and Culture
Instrumental Lessons:
Students have access to a range of instruments to learn. Lessons are run by external providers and are offered after school hours, depending on the instrument selected by the child and parent, in collaboration with our lesson providers.
LOTE - Italian
At Sacred Heart, we are committed to providing a comprehensive and engaging education that includes the teaching of Italian. Our language program is designed to foster a love for learning languages, enhance cultural awareness and develop essential communication skills.
Why Learn Italian?
-
Cultural Enrichment: The Italian language is a gateway to a rich cultural heritage. Learning Italian allows our students to appreciate Italy's contributions to art, music, literature and food.
-
Cognitive Benefits: Research shows that learning a second language improves cognitive abilities, enhances problem-solving skills and boosts creativity.
Starting from the early years, students are introduced to basic vocabulary and phrases through engaging and interactive teaching strategies and activities, increasing in complexity from Prep to Year 6. Classes are interactive and dynamic, incorporating songs, games and storytelling and literature.
We utilise technology to enhance language learning. Interactive apps, online resources and language sites provide students with additional practice and exposure to the language in a safe and secure online learning environment.
Regular assessments help track students' progress. We provide constructive feedback and additional support to ensure each student reaches their full potential in learning Italian.
Library & Literature
Sacred Heart library classes aim to develop a love of reading and inspire students to become lifelong learners. Over the course of the year students are introduced to a variety of texts: non-fiction, picture story books and novels. They are encouraged to respond to a text in different ways - orally, with written responses and through art.
The juniors learn to identify and describe the role of the author, illustrator, blurb, main characters and some of the writing tools used such as repetition and alliteration.
The middle and senior students learn to identify the theme of a text, the relationship between the words and their illustrations and the development of characters. Author studies and research skills are also developed.
All students have access to the books nominated for the CBCA awards each year and celebrate those texts through Book Week activities such as a parade where students dress as their favourite characters, author visits and performances
Camp Program
Each year, all students engage in some type of Outdoor Education activity designed to extend their school day experience beyond the limitations of the school environment.
Students in Prep – Year 2 will undertake activities that extend the normal school day and include such activities as shared breakfasts / after school activities and meals/ late school finishes.
Students in Years 3, 4, 5 & 6 are involved in various camp programs throughout the school year.
Details regarding each of the Camps are distributed to families in the term prior to the Camp.
Our Camp outcomes relate to forming relationships, bonding, developing friendships, teamwork and outdoor adventure activities.
As camp activities contribute to the child’s overall development and are an integral part of the school curriculum at this level, attendance is compulsory for all students. Camps involve an additional cost for families. These costs are charged to your School Fees account and can be paid off throughout the year.
