YEARS 1-6
Welcome to the Broad Street and New Street communities
The Broad Street Community house our students who are in years 1-3, providing a strong transition from the Nest. Music and Visual Arts specialist program are also facilitated out of Broad Street. The New Street Community house the year 4-6 students together with the Environmental Life Science and Sustainability Program.
Magpie Groups
There is significant awareness of others, empathy, tolerance and respect between students since establishing these groups together with our values, and children have fostered a strong sense of community across the school. Our older students, primarily but not exclusively, bring leadership and mentoring to each group and our younger students bring wonder and enthusiasm.
Our classrooms are designed by staff and children to be welcoming and comfortable spaces. These spaces are low in visual clutter, high in natural light, flexible to encourage collaborative work, and provide a significant amount of choice for children as they engage in their learning.
CURRICULUM
Maths and English
Each day all classes have scheduled time for concentrated English and Mathematics learning. English and Mathematics is integrated into our inquiry focus as well as being intentionally integrated into other learning areas.
While a Magpie Group may work together during English and Mathematics times, we also work in smaller groups. Planning occurs by staff working within Professional Learning Teams. This ensures that there are common expectations, consistent resources, a broad range of interventions and clear communication about students’ needs.
Teachers plan against the Australian Curriculum in English and Mathematics, incorporating the General Capabilities of Literacy and Numeracy.
Specialist Lessons
All students from year 1-6 participate in a 50 minute specialist lesson once per week. Specialist subjects include Health and Physical Education, Arts (Music/Visual) and Science and Sustainability.
Health and Physical Education
Health
Students at Alberton participate in health lessons that focus on different areas that are important to overall health and wellbeing. Some of these include personal safety, food and nutrition, along with contributing to healthy and active communities.
Physical Education
During Physical Education lessons, students participate in a variety of different learning opportunities. Focus in placed on maximum individual participation as well as working collaboratively in safe, secure settings. Students partake in challenges and activities that encourage practicing and refining human movement and skills relating to a variety of different sports. Students apply basic rules and scoring systems, and demonstrate fair play when participating in physical activities.
Arts (Music/Visual)
Music
Students at Alberton Primary have the opportunity to engage with music through specialist music lessons once per week, instrumental music lessons, the choir and school band. The nest and each magpie group participate in a weekly music lesson developing skills in listening, performing and composing music.
Art
Visual Arts has been a strong focus at Alberton Primary. Students from years 1-6 are engaged in Visual Arts through their weekly specialist lesson, which involves students developing skills, techniques, and processes through a range of art forms, styles and contexts. Those students who have a passion for the arts are also able to develop and extend their learning through the specialist art program. This program gives middle and upper primary students the time and skills to develop their own art over a year long program, culminating in an exhibition celebrating their learning and development as artists.
Choir
The Alberton Primary choir provides students in years 4-6 with another way to engage in music and performing arts. The choir is a part of the Primary schools music festival held annually in September which gives students the opportunity to perform with over 300 other government schools at prestigious venues in a showcase of their practice and development as soloists and a choir.
Band
Alberton Primary School has formed an ensemble band to include children from year 4-6. This program operates one afternoon per week, with a qualified band teachers.
Life Sciences and Sustainability
At Alberton, all students take part in weekly Life Sciences and Sustainability lessons run by the Life Sciences Team. This integrated approach to learning sees students participating in life science inquiry, gardening, cooking, aquaponics, and animal science.
This specialist subject empowers students with the capacity to create more sustainable and healthy futures that positively affect their own wellbeing and that of their community and planet.
Science and STEM
Students within this subject are assessed against the science Australian Curriculum through authentic learning experiences where students can apply their knowledge across multiple concepts.
Students take a STEM approach by using the engineering design process to create real world solutions at school and in the community. This supports extensive vocabulary development and intellectual ‘stretch’ for all learners at Alberton and equips them with the 21st century skills needed to support the workforce of tomorrow. This includes the ability to address and take care of an ever-changing climate and environment as responsive and informed citizens within their local and global community.
At Alberton we strive to connect students to their wider community through initiating and developing sustainable science partnerships. It is of the belief that Alberton can take the lead by taking sustainable action and becoming expert learners.
Garden
Alberton Primary School has a long tradition of environmentally focused education with learning through sustainability, recycling, and conservation. This tradition inspired the creation of the APS Life Sciences Centre Garden which transformed an unused area of the school grounds into a very productive food space, using permaculture principles and a thriving beneficial insect ecosystem. The garden is filled with a large variety of ornamental and edible plants which work in harmony to provide a welcoming refuge for flora, fauna and humans alike. It also provides all students the opportunity to be involved and learn a variety of garden and observation skills with activities structured to meet curriculum goals and wellbeing needs.
PEDAGOGY
Inquiry-based Learning - 'Investigation'
Students learn best in inquiry through being engaged, connected and active participants in their learning. We believe that Inquiry Learning using an Inquiry framework develops learners who think critically and creatively, answer questions, take action and apply their learning. Teachers at Alberton play a critical role in the Inquiry cycle through explicit planning and teaching of Inquiry skills and process in support of developing student agency where learners take increasing responsibility for the learning using common language and understandings. Teachers build the field of student’s knowledge through provocations and intentional questions, and monitor students learning through a number of formative and summative strategies that strongly align to the Australian Curriculum and EYLF. Every two years a scope and sequence is developed for Preschool to Year 6 that strongly aligns to the Australian curriculum, assessment and reporting of HASS, Technologies and General Capabilities including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Perspectives, intercultural perspectivesand critical and creative thinking skills (EYLF for Nest Students). One Investigation unit is taught each term under a ‘Big Idea’ to support student choice over a two-year progressive cycle.
Social Education
Teachers educate our students on safe practices taught in the “Child Protection Curriculum” so they can live in our world making safe and appropriate choices.
Wellbeing Frameworks
Research indicates a direct correlation between student wellbeing and successful academic performance. Wellbeing at Alberton Primary School incorporates the science of wellbeing and positive psychology to empower individuals to flourish and positively impact the wellbeing of others. The explicit teaching and content are influenced by a number of social and emotional learning programs and practices, such as ‘Berry Street Education Model’, ‘Geelong Grammar Positive Education’ and the Child Protection Curriculum.
As students progress along their life-long learning journey, the tools and vocabulary within this collaborative curriculum, will encourage self-regulation, an ability to identify and manage their emotions, nurture resilience and build their awareness of character strengths. Embedded throughout is the importance of relationships, as well as the practice of mindfulness and present, centered and grounded activities that connect to the ‘here and now’.
