As a Catholic school, the Christian vision lies at the heart of all we do. Religious Education is an important part of the curriculum at St Brigid’s.

We recognise that students come from a range of faith backgrounds, are at different stages of faith development and have various levels of faith commitment. However, we are committed to living and teaching our Catholic faith.

St Brigid’s responds to the differing learning needs of children through the provision of a curriculum offering differentiated learning programs. The Victorian curriculum provides this framework.

Students and teachers have both indoor and outdoor learning areas available to them which encourage and facilitate flexible learning, including ample scope for play and other creative activities.

Electronic communications, information and learning technologies are integral to the school’s learning environment. Both students and staff at St Brigid’s have ready access to these technologies in all learning areas, indoor and outdoor.

Learning and Teaching

We are committed to ensuring success in the competencies of literacy and numeracy, as well as a knowledge and understanding of our ever-changing world through inquiry learning from a Catholic world view, faith and life inquiry.

We see ourselves as a community of lifelong learners and provide an environment that is challenging, stimulating and fosters creativity

The units of work cover the content outlined by the Victorian Curriculum in a holistic way and are underpinned by an inquiry approach to the learning and teaching.

Units are clustered around four big concepts that cross many of the domains in the Standards. The focus goes from teaching topics to using topics to teach and access deeper, conceptual understanding.

Information and Communications Technology

Information and Communications Technology is an integral part of the learning and teaching process at St. Brigid’s, incorporating access to internet, email and network facilities. It is currently used across all year levels to enhance the learning and teaching in most learning areas.

Music

At St. Brigid’s we have a music specialist with the students attending a lesson every week. Students in year three and four have the opportunity to undertake guitar lessons. In addition, all students have the opportunity to join our School Choir. Music education at St. Brigid’s is very skill based but with a strong emphasis on developing a child’s confidence and creativity in expressing themselves through music.

Japanese – LOTE

St Brigid’s students learn Japanese from Foundation level. The LOTE Curriculum aims to develop knowledge and understanding of both the language and culture of Japan. We celebrate annually by holding a Japanese day where students are immersed in the Japanese culture.

Physical Education

Students have specialist Physical Education lessons weekly. Students are encouraged to develop basic skills of Physical Education that enable them to participate to the best of their ability in minor and major games.

STEM

All students at St. Brigid’s take part in a Science Technology Engineering Maths lesson on a fortnightly basis. Class teachers attend the specialist lesson and also provide student support during the lesson. Students can use Robotics, iPads and other resources as they are available for use at school.

Science & Sustainability

At St. Brigid’s we have a Science and Sustainability teacher.  Students have a Science and Sustainability lesson every week, these lessons aim to encouraged to develop their natural curiosity and are supported to discover answers to any questions. Students learn about biological, physical, chemical, earth and space sciences. Allowing our lessons to also incorporate our school garden, encourages connectedness to our world and nature. This experience can enhance the quality of experience and participation in life.

Literacy

At St. Brigid’s, literacy skills are taught through a language experience approach, throughout the day, as part of an integrated curriculum.

Therefore, skills are practised and information is presented in a meaningful context.
In order to become good readers, writers, spellers and conversationalists, the following three skills are constantly re-enforced through various literacy activities:

• Understanding the relationship between letters and sounds they can make (phonics).
• Using the correct grammar of both spoken and written language.
• Learning to gain meaning from text.

All attempts are encouraged as each child develops at his or her own pace. The teacher is constantly modelling reading, writing, spelling and oral language skills in a variety of real situations. Children are encouraged to take risks as they apply strategies and develop skills in their daily use of language

We promote the children’s enjoyment and appreciation of literature by encouraging the reading of a variety of materials both at home and at school. Take home books are an opportunity for children to share literature at home by:

• Reading books to another person.
• Reading books with another person.
• Listening to a book read by another person.

When reading at home, the main focus is to nurture an interest in literature and a love for reading.
At St. Brigid’s we also offer support to students in the early years, through our intervention program and small reading groups.

LLI – Levelled Literacy Intervention

Levelled Literacy Intervention is a form of literacy assistance, which aims to accelerate children’s progress in reading and writing.

Each year, some students in Year One who may be having difficulty learning to read and write, are selected for the series of Literacy Intervention lessons. Levelled Literacy Intervention enables children to become active and independent readers and writers, better able to join in the daily literacy activities of the classroom.

Selection of candidates for LLI occurs in consultation with classroom teachers, and the series of lessons is conducted by our trained Reading Recovery teacher, Catherine Murray.

The number of lessons required varies from child to child, but the series of lessons is usually completed within ten to twenty weeks. Individual lessons are held daily and each lesson runs for thirty minutes.

Parental involvement and support is welcomed and encouraged, as reading at home with children is one of the best ways that parents can contribute to their children’s successful acquisition of literacy skills.

Mathematics

Mathematics

At St Brigid’s students are taught Mathematics with strong foundational skills to enable both every day and real-world applications, as well as a firm basis for future numeracy studies. 

To achieve this, St Brigid’s Mathematics Program incorporates:

• The use of the Victorian Curriculum from Level F-10 to guide the teachers’ focus in the areas of Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry as well as Statistics and Probability.
• Pre- and Post-testing for each unit of work to enable the teacher to understand each student’s strengths and weaknesses, provide targeted teaching for each student, and measure their progress.
• Building a strong understanding of the place value system and how numbers work.
• The teaching of maths skills which build up on prior knowledge and challenge students to achieve the next level.
• Mathematics lessons which include a variety of strategies, teaching methods and opportunities to practise the skills in multiple ways.
• Building the students’ mental strategies to solve real world and everyday maths problems and to enhance their understanding of how numbers work.

Extending Mathematical Understanding

Extending Mathematical Understanding (EMU) is an early intervention program to assist mathematical learning.

This program Extending Mathematical Understanding results in accelerated mathematical learning and increased confidence for young ‘at risk’ students. A specialist teacher implements this daily intervention program, and children participate for between 10 and 20 weeks. This program is research based and aims to enhance children’s number learning, and prepare them to benefit fully from the regular classroom mathematics program.

Excursions and Incursions

Excursions and incursions are an important part of the school program.

• Supervision of children at these outings is very strict and your child is well protected.
• Attendance is compulsory.
• Each excursion is an educational experience designed to complement classroom learning.
• Parental permission is essential before children attend excursions.
• If a notice is not returned prior to an excursion your child will not be able to attend.