Curriculum and Pedagogy
A Broad & Carefully Considered Curriculum
It is a challenging task to summarise all that St Gregory’s Junior School will offer in terms of curriculum from 2018. But one thing will be certain, it will be imperative that our teachers will provide opportunities for all students to learn core skills in meaningful ways. This page hopes to provide some insight into the future curriculum direction of the Junior School. The curriculum is intentionally broad but will focus on 4 key areas:
An holistic approach to schooling – academic rigour balanced with opportunity and involvement
An inquiry framework – we want our boys and girls to begin their learning journey with a sense of wonder and a spirt of inquiry
A dynamic and robust literacy and numeracy framework
Marist Foundation – developing a community of learners that are respectful, engaged and globally connected. ‘Strong Minds, Gentle Hearts’.
A Student-Driven and Inquiry Based Framework
Our pedagogical focus on Inquiry Learning as a model of teaching and learning will promote student knowledge and understanding. This will be achieved through involvement, engagement and relevance of content, leading to a greater understanding, acquisition of skills and development of positive attitudes. This model of learning allows our boys and girls to learn by asking questions, developing their sense of wonder and a spirit of inquiry.
Personal Approach to Learning
The primary years of a child’s educational experience is crucial in establishing a positive attitude towards life and learning. Here at St Gregory’s College Junior School, we are strong believers that curriculum and content needs to be age appropriate. The use of effective pedagogies in the early years of schooling is important in supporting students to be actively engaged, creative and successful learners. There will be an emphasis on designing engaging and robust literacy and numeracy programs that cater for the individual needs of our students. A strong and holistic foundation learning program that will develop our learners – socially, physically, emotionally and cognitively.
Key Stages
Early Stage 1: Kindergarten
Stage 1: Year 1 & Year 2
Stage 2: Year 3 & Year 4
Stage 3: Year 5 & Year 6
Key Learning Areas (KLA’s)
The academic program at St Gregory’s Junior School is based upon the syllabuses of the NSW Board of Studies. The Religious Education Program is based upon the curriculum of the Diocese of Wollongong. The KLA’s in the Junior School will be:
Religious Education
English – Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening
Mathematics – Number & Algebra, Measurement & Geometry, Statistics & Probability
Science – including Technology
History and Georgrahy
Personal Development, Health & Physical Education
Creative Arts (Visual Arts, Music, Dance & Drama)
The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) recommends spending the following time on teaching each of the K–6 KLAs.
An Integrated Curriculum
Our philosophical stance on curriculum will be based around an integrated curriculum model to enhance the learning of the students by making logical and authentic links between curriculum areas. All teaching staff will be involved in developing units of work to develop an inquiry based and student centred approach to the classroom. A set of detailed curriculum mapping documents have been designed for teachers to ensure that the students learning is developed consistently and sequentially across all year levels.
Our Teachers
We are looking forward to having highly skilled educators join the St Gregory’s College Junior School in 2018. These educators will carefully track individual student progress, support and extend students to achieve specific and targeted learning goals. Teachers who meet our philosophical view on education as seen above and by being a collaborative team player with the child’s best interests at heart, always, will be employed.
