Curriculum

English

We recognise the importance of literacy skills being a fundamental part of everyday life. Our goal at Woodlands Primary School is to develop and challenge our students’ understanding through engaging, structured and evidence based learning experiences. To help our students build upon their literacy skills we ensure that we deliver a clear, consistent curriculum for all students.

Reading

Over the past few years we have been moving to a reading instruction which is centred around the ‘Science of Reading’ and structured literacy. The Science of Reading is based around vast amounts of research which identifies how we learn to read. More information and research around the Science of reading can be found here. We understand that not all students learn to read easily and that reading is an extremely complex skill requiring consistent effective teaching. We provide an environment where we students are supported to read based on evidence based practice. 

In our classrooms, we centre our reading program around the explicit, direct instruction of the following pillars of reading: 

1. Oral language 
2. Phonemic awareness 
3. Phonics 
4. Fluency
5. Vocabulary
6. Comprehension

Each of these pillars build upon each other with the goal being that students can competently read and comprehend the text that they are reading. Our teachers work on developing students’ understanding in each of these areas, to develop confident, fluent readers. Lessons are structured and planned across year levels to ensure consistency throughout our teams. 

To complement the teaching of these components we implement the Jolly Phonics spelling and grammar program. This ensures students are systematically taught phonics. This program is taught consistently throughout our school and becomes a key component of students ability to both read and write. Similarly, our junior school uses the Heggerty program to assist with students’ understanding on phonemic awareness. 

Our students have access to decodable readers. These readers allow students to practice reading what they have been taught in class. Whilst we continue to build upon our resources, we will utilise online libraries as well as take home books. For more information about decodable readers, please see the Learning Lounge at Decodable Readers Australia.

Online Literacy Programs: 

Our online programs include – Reading Eggs for students in Years F-2, Lexia for students in Years 3-6, Essential Assessment ‘my numeracy’, Decodable Readers Australia and Nessy which is added for students who may need extra assistance with their reading skill set. These programs allow for differentiated instruction both within the classroom and at home.

Reading at home – what can you do to assist? 

We strongly encourage students to regularly read at home. Depending upon students’ needs this may involve students being read to, having a parent or guardian listen to a student read or a student reading independently. The image below identifies the importance of reading at home and its impact.

When you are at home here are some tips when working with your child/ren: 

• When your child gets stuck when attempting to decode (read) a word:

• Encourage positivity around learning. Even if you think you were ‘bad at reading’, please rethink how you speak about reading around your child. 

• Read, read, read. Reading to, with and listening to your child helps beyond measure. If you can schedule this into your routine, it may assist with it being done nightly. 
• If your child makes a mistake, this is ok, it’s a great way for them to learn. 
• Be patient, this one can be very tricky but try not to automatically say a word and give your child time. 
• Make reading special – create a space where your child is comfortable reading so it is enjoyable for them. 
• Once is not enough – encourage your child to reread a book – this will assist with their understanding of the story and with success with fluency. 
• Talk about books! The interesting vocabulary, the storyline, any new learning. Relating books to a previous experience is a great example of helping students to understand what they have read.  
• Practice spelling or sounds when these are given to your child.

Writing 

With our writing program our teachers use explicit direct instruction to deliver the curriculum content. 

Our teachers all follow the writing process so that all students are aware of the various stages of writing. This includes; planning, composing, revising, editing and publishing. Our writing program also incorporates elements of the VCOP and Big Write strategies. These programs bring the fun back into writing and most importantly, challenge students throughout the writing process.

 We strongly encourage students to practice speaking, reading and spelling at home to further consolidate the skills being learnt within the classroom. The partnership between the school and home is a key component of successful learners. 

 Oral language sets the foundation for the reading and writing skills that students develop as they progress through school. Through the use of games, turn and talk and various oral language activities our students are given the opportunity to practice respectful dialogue and active listening. Our students are encouraged to reason together, collaborate and build upon their understanding.

Inquiry

The aims of our Inquiry Learning Approach are to:

• Nurture and develop the students’ natural inquiring mind, helping them to become lifelong learners who continue to learn how to learn.

• Develop the students’ ability to pose questions and plan, research, investigate and search for answers and solutions.
• Develop the skills needed to convert information and answers into useful knowledge that can be applied to new situations and prompt further learning.
• Provide students with different ways of viewing the world, communicating about it and successfully coping with the questions and issues of daily living.
• Develop an understanding that all knowledge changes over time as people challenge, shape and contribute to it.
• Demonstrate that there are often multiple perspectives for looking at, analysing and understanding things.
• Provide learning opportunities that are more relevant as concepts are learned in context and relate to existing knowledge and experiences.
• Develop thinking processes and strategies that are outlined in the Victorian Curriculum.
• Provide rich learning opportunities that are relevant to the students and cross over all domains eg. English, Mathematics, Civics and Citizenship, Science, Health, Humanities, ICT, Critical and Creative Thinking, Technology and Art.

• Encourage students to become independent, resourceful and responsible learners.

STEM

The STEM program at Woodlands is a curriculum based on the idea of educating students in four specific disciplines — science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It is an interdisciplinary and applied approach to teaching, with skills and knowledge important for all stages of our learning, jobs and everyday lives.

Year levels from 3-6 has a weekly hour-long STEM session exploring all learning learning areas. Recent additions to the STEM area include print and design utilsing 3D printers, and programming and coding with robitics. 

The focus of STEM lessons is largely hands on, to engage students and develop their inquiry and observational skills.

Digital Technologies

At Woodlands, Digital Technologies are utilised to provide students with the tools to transform their learning and to enrich their learning environment.

eSmart
Woodlands is an eSmart school; an initiative of The Alannah and Madeline Foundation. It is a behaviour-change initiative designed to improve cyber safety and deal with cyberbullying and bullying. Since registering with the program, we have introduced many new policies and activities to improve the way our school manages cyber safety, bullying and cyberbullying.

Integrated Into All Learning Areas
Digital Technology is taught as a specialist program for all Foundation and Year 1 students to give them the basic skills and introductions of software programs such as Paint, Word, Excel etc necessary to work on their own.
Digital Technology from Year 2 to 6 is not taught as a stand-alone specialist subject at Woodlands, instead it is utilised as a tool in all learning areas, across the year levels.

Mixed Platform
Students and staff at Woodlands Primary have had access to both Windows and Apple devices for nearly a decade. In more recent years, this has grown to include Chromebook devices for students and the use of the Google Education Suite for all staff planning.

Senior School 1:1 Laptop Program
Year 3 students have access to their own personal device for the entire school year. Students are responsible for taking care of this device and not only utilise it in the classroom but take it with them to their Specialist classes to support their learning.

Year 4, 5 & 6 students use Google Chromebooks as part of their 1:1 laptop program. Chromebooks give students access to the Google Education Workspace, supporting them to create, collaborate, communicate, connect and contribute more effectively with one another. 

Junior School iPad Program
Students in F – 2 utilise iPads in their classrooms. Teachers utilise a whole range of applications that support the teaching of literacy, numeracy, inquiry and other areas of the curriculum. iPads are commonly used to support small group rotations and assist in assessment. 

Resource Rich
Along with the mixed platforms stated above, students and staff at Woodlands have access to digital displays (interactive whiteboards and LED TV trolleys), a strong network, Google Apps, digital microscopes, robotic and coding tools.

Focused on the Task, Not the Technology
Our most important Digital Technology focus at Woodlands is enabling our students to focus on the task to be accomplished rather than on the technology they are using to do the work. Particularly when using the iPads, the students and staff know that, “It’s not the app, it’s the activity.”

Media Studies

Media Studies introduces students to a broad range of media texts, developing skills in areas such as photography, filmmaking, radio, scriptwriting, webpage design and marketing. Students work collaboratively, presenting many of their projects to the wider school community.

Woodlands has its own green screen and radio studios. We broadcast a television news program ‘live’ to classrooms during the week with information on what’s happening around the school.  Woodlands FM runs radio shows on a weekly basis at lunchtime, providing students with music to listen to along with competitions, interviews and requests. Senior students are trained in television and radio broadcasting and take significant responsibility to see the shows go ‘live to air’