What we teach

We teach some of the key skills and knowledge that help people to thrive in the world.

Curriculum Framework – Victorian Curriculum

We aim to provide a variety of engaging, hands-on, nature-based, and therapeutic programs aligned with the Victorian Curriculum.

Communication, Language, Literacy & Reading

Our teaching in this subject aims to help students:

Communicate with others in a range of learning environments and social situations
Make choices, obtain information, question and be actively engaged in learning activities
Communicate ideas, develop and express creativity and imagination

The English curriculum is presented in curriculum levels from Levels A-D and F-10.

Mathematics

Our teaching in this subject aims to:

Develop functional & useful mathematical and numeracy skills for everyday life
Help students to become confident, proficient, effective and adaptive users of mathematics
Make connections between areas of mathematics and apply mathematics to real world problems
Develop a positive regard towards numeracy and appreciate mathematics as a discipline (history, ideas, problems & applications)

Health & Physical Education

Health and Physical Education is a key component of our curriculum. We aim to:

Provide support for all of our students to develop and maintain their physical, mental, social and emotional health
Focus on the importance of quality of life, which includes a healthy lifestyle and physical activity
Develop individual motor skills, build strength, flexibility and endurance
Teach complex movements and patterns and participate in team games

Students regularly participate in walking, yoga, massage and swimming.

The benefits of practicing yoga include improved motor skills, flexibility, increased strength, anxiety reduction, and self-regulation. Core breathing techniques are a lifelong skill for self-regulation.

We focus on building motor skills to support both classroom & daily living skills:

Bilateral coordination
Crossing the midline
Balance
Motor coordination
Visual motor integration
Fine motor skills
Fundamental motor skills such as running, jumping, catching, and throwing as the foundation skills for sport-related movement

Swimming and walking are therapeutic and rhythmic activities, supporting anxiety reduction, building physical fitness, and encouraging our students to be outdoors.

We have the services of a remedial masseuse who provides massage for our students weekly.

Visual arts

We encourage students to have fun and explore their creative capacities. The Arts enable students to explore ideas, make and share visual artworks, use cognitive, emotional, sensory and aesthetic ideas using different mediums

Integrated studies

Integrated Studies involves combining curriculum areas to increase general knowledge and understanding of a range of topics. Different areas such as history, geography, critical and creative thinking, literacy, numeracy and science may be incorporated into the themed unit of work.

Personal and social learning

The Personal and Social Capability is essential in enabling students to understand themselves and others, and manage their relationships, and learning more effectively. The capability involves students learning to recognise and regulate emotions, develop empathy for others and understand relationships, establish and build a framework for positive relationships, work effectively in teams and handle challenging situations constructively.

The Personal and Social Capability supports students in becoming creative and confident individuals with a sense of self-worth, self-awareness and personal identity that enables them to manage their emotional, mental, spiritual and physical wellbeing, with a sense of hope and optimism about their lives and the future. On a social level, it helps students to form and maintain healthy relationships and prepares them for their potential life roles as family, community and workforce members.

Excursions

We support students physical and social development by connecting students with the community. We provide opportunities for our students to engage in community-based activities by exploring our beautiful natural landscape as well as building social and community connections. Students frequently head to the supermarket to buy ingredients for cooking, swim at Jamieson, walk the local rail trails and regional short walks. These excursions have life skills or a health and wellbeing focus.

Life skills program

Students are engaged in various life skills activities in the classroom and community. Cooking and kitchen skills span all ages and abilities and may include:

Healthy eating and nutrition
Foods from different cultures
Gardening, growing and sourcing local fresh produce
Hygiene and food handling skills
Daily living and life skills such as reading a recipe, problem solving, coordination, patience and time management.