Learning Enrichment Programs

Learning Enrichment Programs

At Our Lady's Primary School we take great pride in the fact that our students recieve expert instruction at their point of need across the curriculum. We have a Multi tiered system of supports with substantial consideration of students achieving well above curriculum standards as well as students who need their learning accelerated in order to meet curriculum standards.

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Literacy

At Our Lady's Primary School we know that literacy is the key to learning in all fields. We are led by cutting edge research and best practice in literacy instruction and employ two expert teachers in Literacy support programs. Our grade 3-6 students are provided extra support through a Multi-Sensory Literacy program run by an expert teacher. Our Grade 1 and 2 students are provided targetted literacy support within and beyond the classroom, guided by classroom learning data. We take great pride in both our excellent NAPLAN reading outcomes and ICAS award winning readers.

Competitions: Prime Minister's Spelling Bee, ICAS (Reading and Writing), Poetry and Creative Writing competitions

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Mathematics

We have both Mathematics Extension and Support programs run by leading teachers available to students from Year 1 to Year 6. We use classroom learning data to identify small groups of students who would benefit from extension and support in Mathematics. For our support program, we are most concerned at ensuring all students are confident in understanding place value and solving problems involving arithmetic. We want all of our students to be capable mathematicians for life. Our extension program supports advanced students in developing problem solving skills. We know that great mathematicians are creative and resilient problem solvers who can think outside the box. Our students are highly capable mathematicians who have scored high distinctions in all national competitions and have represented the state in advanced problem solving competitions.

Competitions - APSMO Competition, ICAS Competition (Maths, English and Writing, Maths Olympiad, Games and Explorer Competitions)
 

Digital Literacy

At Our Lady's, we have a 1:1 digital device program with iPads in Foundation and Year 1 and Chromebooks from Year 2 to Year 6. We are passionate about physical manipulatives and unplugged learning, particularly in the early primary school years. However, we also appreciate that we live in a digital world and if we want our students to succeed, we need to equip them with digital skills - enabling them to safely create content and solve problems. For this reason we have a school philosophy of 'Digital Creativity'. We seek to empower our students to master common digital tools and solve real problems or create digital products of value to our local community. Our students do not passively consume digital content, they create it. We are also an E-Smart school and teach a comprehensive E-Safety program to students at every year level.  As a result of our learning program, our students have competed and won prizes for coding and E-Safety knowledge.

Competitions: Australian STEM Video Game Competition, Tech Olympics, GROK Cyber Safety Challenge, other digital challenges and competitions. 

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Sport​

At OLPS we love sport and seek to ensure that all students enjoy sport as both a social exercise and an opportunity to improve their health fitness. Our students are explicitly taught about good sportsmanship and how to rise above competition to always do our best. Our highly experienced and passionate PE teacher and Wellbeing Leader, Jane James, runs a very popular weekly running club where students are able to challenge themselves and work towards personal goals. We have a yearly Athletics Carnival as well as swimming trials and participate in a wide range of district sport competitions, regularly performing well above the standard of similarly small schools as well as many much bigger schools. Last year our year 5/6 students were State Champions in the 'Hoop Time' basketball competition and this year both our 5/6 and 3/4 teams are well on track to winning again. At our school we have had state champions in Gymnastics, Cheer Leading, Swimming, Cross Country and our students have won sports scholarships in basketball, ballet and many other sports.

Competitions: District Swimming, Cross Country, Athletics, Hoop Time, Interschool Sport

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Wellbeing and Sustainability

Our students are all unique and, as a Catholic school, we take great pride in our role for teaching the whole student. We run a wide range of programs that support students in developing their own personal sense of wellbeing and others that empower our students to appreciate the natural world around them and advocate for sustainable practices. Our sustainability expert, Ann Skeete runs a very popular 'Green Team' who monitor and take responsibility for our school's waste management and electricity use. She also runs a weekly 'Upcycling club' where students create art from recycled materials. We are proud members of Stephanie Alexander's Kitchen Garden Program and our students are taught to plant, grow, harvest, cook and serve fresh food. Our students learn social skills as they care for our garden and take pride in our school environment.​

Opportunities: Melbourne Garden Show, Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program, Green Team (Sustainability and waste management), Upcycling Club (Recycling)

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Leadership

From an early age our students are encouraged to build self-efficacy and advocate for themselves and their peers. Through our UR Strong program, students are provided the skills they need to de-escalate and resolve conflict around the school. Students who demonstrate exceptional leadership qualities in every classroom are selected by their peers to serve on our School Representative Council (SRC). Together the SRC discuss issues in the school and come up with solutions and school improvement suggestions that regularly transform practices and structures across the school. In Year 6, our students deliver leadership speeches and are offered leadership positions based on student and staff votes. Every student earns a leadership role at our school which can be in the areas of School Leadership, Sports, Arts and STEM. As leaders all year 6 students recieve training and are encouraged to advocate for change and improvement in their area of leadership. Our students run school events and speak confidently, successfully competing in local speech competitions.​

Opportunities: Halogen Youth Leadership Conference, Rotary Speech Competition, School Representative Council, All year 6 students earn a leadership role at the school.