Curriculum

Literacy

At Seaholme Primary School we believe Literacy education is fundamental to children’s success at all levels of education from early childhood to tertiary. Effective Literacy programs enable students to see connections between reading and writing and allow them to engage in extended dialogues about their learning. We pride ourselves on our excellent achievements in Literacy and constantly strive to continue to improve. We work collaboratively in teams to plan our Literacy lessons that are based on current educational research and cater to the individual needs of all of our students. Students participate in ten hours of literacy a week, one hour of Reading and one hour of Writing per day.

At Seaholme Primary School, we aim to develop a love of literature so that all students leave with the Literacy skills they need to succeed.

Writing

In Writing, the teachers follow the Writer’s Workshop Model with a whole class focus. The teacher explains the learning intention, based on students’ needs, create success criteria and use worked examples to ensure the students know what they are learning. Students apply what they have learned while working either independently on a writing task or in small group with students of similar learning needs. One on one writing conferences allow students to discuss their work and set individual writing goals with their teacher. The teacher models writing and think aloud as they show the students what successful writers do. Mentor authors are also used to show students how real authors work and highlight the strong links between reading and writing.

Inquiry

Seaholme Primary School uses a guided inquiry approach where all students across the school explore the same concept. We explore eight concepts over a two-year cycle. These include Community, Sustainability, Social Justice, Creativity, Identity, Change, Discovery and Connections. These inquiry units are also an opportunity for us to explicitly teach the Victorian Curriculum Capabilities which include; Critical and Creative Thinking, Ethical Capabilities, Intercultural Capabilities and Personal and Social Capabilities.

During the first week of each inquiry unit, students are immersed in the big-picture concept into which they will be inquiring. Immersion tasks often include a video or hands-on experience that provide opportunities to pique students’ curiosity, allow for the sharing of ideas and encourage clarifying questions.
Students undertake a pre-test to determine what they already know about the content and skills they will be learning during the unit. These tests can be repeated at the end of the learning sequence to monitor student progress.

During each unit, students are introduced to two Habits of Mind. They learn the focus of each habit and have an opportunity to practise it within the context of the content that they are learning. Links to these habits are made throughout the curriculum, providing a powerful mechanism to teach thinking dispositions to students.

Students work individually or in groups as they are exposed to and practise the skills necessary to complete a rich task. Students are introduced to different thinking tools and cooperative strategies and opportunities to connect what they are learning with their lives. Halfway through each unit, students have the opportunity to develop questions that they have about what they are learning. During this time students from grades three to six are prompted to plan and conduct an independent inquiry into one of their questions.

Each unit culminates in a rich assessment task. Students use rubrics to guide their progress and to assess peers. Many units include an opportunity for students to share their completed project with parents and visitors. During the final task in each unit, students are prompted to consider how they will use what they have learnt in the future. They record a reflection, share their ideas with others or create a product to remind them of the skills and knowledge that they have gained.

PE

“You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.” – Wayne Gretzky

Physical Education is an integral component of the school curriculum at Seaholme Primary School. Physical activity is not only fun, it is essential to our children’s growth and development. Each year level participates in the P.E. specialist program for one hour a week and completed at least one additional hour of physical activity with their classroom teacher.  The P.E. specialist lessons focus on physical activity, playing games, and developing skill sets and knowledge for different games, activities and sports.

In Foundation to Grade 2 the emphasis is on engagement and participation. Activities are designed to be fun and generally non-competitive and focus on building each student’s fundamental motor skills, good sporting behaviours, confidence and resilience. The program is designed to develop body and hand-eye coordination, as well as social and cooperative skills, to enable students to productively work with a partner or as a member of a team. Fundamental motor skills include catching, kicking, trapping, running, throwing, bouncing, leaping, dodging, punting, forehand and backhand and two-handed side-arm striking.

 In Grade 3/4, students continue to consolidate fundamental motor and games skills, and begin to develop specific skills for sports and competitive activities. These include skills such as, shooting and dribbling in basketball, kicking, bouncing and hand passing for AFL football and running techniques and individual skill components for a range of athletics disciplines.

 By the time students reach Grade 5/6 they are increasingly involved in interschool sporting programs for which there is a higher emphasis on individual game skills, good sporting behaviours, as well as cooperative team play. There is a greater focus on developing understandings of sport specific rules, tactics, equipment and the mechanics involved when playing different individual and team sports. During the course of every year, Grade 5 and 6 students train and compete in teams for the interschool sporting program, which occurs during Terms 1 and 2.

 Students across the school are also offered opportunities to be physically active and develop life-long healthy habits and routines:

• Students from all year levels are provided the opportunity to participate in sports clinics in a broad range of sports from outside agencies such as; AFL, Basketball Victoria, Cricket Victoria or Altona Badminton Association. These activities vary year on year according to availability.
• Students can self-nominate to trial to represent the school through the interschool swimming carnival.
• An intensive swimming program operates for students in Grades Foundation to 4 and generally runs over a two-week period during the year.
• A beach safety program operates for students in Grades 5/6 annually.
• Students from Grades 3-6 train and compete in the school cross country event. This event leads to interschool teams competing at district and regional events.
• Students in Grades 3-6 participate the school athletics carnival. Students compete to earn points for their school house. This event also acts as the trials for our interschool athletics team. That team represents the school at the district interschool athletics carnival.

STEM

“It is not about the technology; it’s about sharing knowledge and information, communicating efficiently, building learning communities” – Marion Ginapolis

At Seaholme Primary School, each grade is allocated a one-hour session per week for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) with additional resources shared throughout the school to be used in the classrooms to enhance their everyday learning. STEM activities are designed to be open ended with the students coming up with a solution to a problem or challenge using a variety of materials as well as digital technologies. Questioning, discussion, co-operation, teamwork and critical and creative thinking are all explicitly taught and fostered. Students use their creativity to design, test and modify their solutions allowing for self-reflection and peer reflection which builds their understanding of how things work and stimulates new ideas they could use or develop further in the future. 

STEM presents a unique and dynamic blended learning environment where students learn scientific methods that can be applied to everyday life. Experiences extend beyond the classroom and connect to real world applications, which adds depth and meaning:  students have the opportunity to engage in coding and 3D design. Seaholme Primary School has been able to access local community support, such as the ExxonMobile Bright Futures Grant, to purchase Sphero Robotics, Lego Mindstorms, 3D printers and 3D design software that support and enhance the learning of all of our students.