Curriculum Opportunities

We pride ourselves on a wide range of curriculum opportunites for our students

It’s not the curriculum that we offer that sets us apart, it’s the manner in which it’s delivered

Any school can teach a curriculum. Amazing schools like ours is full of teachers actively and passionately exploring the possibilities of making their teaching practice more innovative, engaging and fun at every turn. This is the single ingredient that drives the most growth in our students.

The success we attain is not only evidenced by the assessment data – but it’s seen through the smiles and joy we see on our student’s faces as a concept is grasped. This is the indefinable element that drives us as teachers to produce and grow our own teaching skills year in, year out.

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Education in Faith

St Gregory the Great is a Catholic primary school, where we believe that Religious Education underpins all aspects of school life.

Student Wellbeing

In line with our vision statement we are called to serve the families of St Gregory the Great Parish and wider community. The spiritual, social, emotional and physical wellbeing of our students is pivotal to the continued development of the whole person.

Literacy

At St Gregory the Great School we teach English at each student’s individual point of need. We aim to provide our students with the skills necessary to thrive in an ever-changing world.

Numeracy

St Gregory the Great School believes that Mathematics encourages children to develop critical thinking skills and solve problems in the real world.

Physical Education

Visual Arts

Students demonstrate the use of different techniques, artistic mediums and processes in planning and creating artwork.

Music & Performing Arts

S.T.E.M.

STEM the teaching of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. STEM is an approach to teaching that can improve students’ problem solving and critical analysis skills.

Languages

St Gregory the Great School offers Italian and Mandarin to our students, these classes run as specialist classes over the year.

Digital Technologies

The Digital Technologies curriculum enables students to become confident and creative developers of digital solutions through the application of information systems and specific ways of thinking about problem solving.

Extra Curricular Activities

As we believe in educating the whole child, we encourage students to explore other areas of interest to them so that they are able to discover interests and talents.

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Education in Faith

St Gregory the Great is a Catholic primary school, where we believe that Religious Education underpins all aspects of school life.

As a Catholic school, we seek to live out our motto, “Loving and Learning.” We aspire to develop each person intellectually, socially, emotionally, physically and spiritually, so that they live life as faith-filled members of society, upholding Gospel values of Jesus Christ.

Our Religious Education program, which is comprehensive and engaging, provides students with opportunities to grow in knowledge and understanding of the Catholic tradition, through engagement in Prayer and Liturgy, Sacraments and living out the Gospel values.

Practicing The Catholic Faith

At St Gregory’s School, students are involved in:

- Sacramental Programs –Reconciliation, First Eucharist and Confirmation

- Regular school and class masses and liturgical celebrations

- Social justice activities including support for local and broader community charities

- Activities that promote student wellbeing

- Programs based on values education that help to develop responsible relationships and build
resilience in children

Student Wellbeing

When students’ wellbeing is enhanced, through the partnership between parish, school and home, they will be provided with the opportunity to develop the skills to respond positively to life’s challenges.

Relationships are at the heart of wellbeing.

Literacy

At St Gregory the Great School we teach English at each student’s individual point of need. We aim to provide our students with the skills necessary to thrive in an ever-changing world. Each day there is a focus on developing student skills in reading, writing and speaking and listening and lessons are structured with a shared focus for the whole class and then smaller group instruction, which supports the students in developing their specific needs.

Ongoing assessment takes place in order to inform group focus. We strongly encourage students to reinforce the reading skills that they have learnt at school by maintaining a regular home reading habit. Our school believes that every student has the right to make progress in their learning and to ensure this, our school offers early intervention through Reading Recovery and the Early Reading Intervention Knowledge (ERIK) program for students in the Junior levels when needed. We also provide other areas of support to students through the assistance of our amazing Learning Support Officers.

Numeracy

St Gregory the Great School believes that Mathematics encourages children to develop critical thinking skills and solve problems in the real world. We ensure that our mathematics lessons are differentiated, engaging and relevant to our students. Lessons are planned with student development and achievement at the forefront using ongoing observations and data that has been collected by classroom teachers. We encourage our students to discuss, explore, question and collaborate in order to gain a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts. Practical examples and concrete materials are provided to students so that they are able to experience the Maths learning in a relevant and purposeful manner. Students participate in problem solving groups which give them the opportunity to learn how to tackle mathematical problems using their knowledge of specific areas, this supports and challenges students to extend their ability.

Physical Education

Our Physical Education program aims to help students understand the importance of being physically active. We want our students to make the connection between having a healthy body and mind through various physical activities. Students not only develop specific movement skills but they are also given the opportunity to improve their skills in collaboration, communication, creativity and resilience.

Prep - Students participate in Fundamental Motor Skills (FMS) lessons which assist them in developing skills in hand-eye coordination and balancing. Students also have the opportunity to participate in the House Athletics Sports Carnival.

Years 1 and 2- Students build on their knowledge, understanding and skills in relation to movement by exploring simple rule systems and safe use of equipment in a variety of physical activities and games. Year 1and 2 students also have the opportunity to participate in the House Athletics Sports Carnival.

Years 3 and 4-Students apply strategies for working cooperatively and apply rules fairly. They refine fundamental movement skills and apply movement concepts and strategies in different physical activities to engage in sporting experiences. Additionally, Year 3 and 4 students have the opportunity to participate in the House Athletics Sports Carnival.

Years 5 and 6- Students demonstrate skills to work collaboratively and play fairly. Year 5 and 6 students participate in Summer and Winter inter school sports, cross country, the House Athletics Sports Carnival and compete in zone competition in athletics.

Visual Arts

Students demonstrate the use of different techniques, artistic mediums and processes in planning and creating artwork. They are encouraged to use appropriate art language to describe why they have created their pieces and what has influenced them. Students are encouraged to identify how artistic ideas can be expressed using diverse contemporary, historical and cultural contexts.

Music & Performing Arts

Students learn the importance of counting the rhythm in dance. They are given the opportunity to present short stories or songs using a microphone with the emphasis on rehearsing what want to say or sing. Over a two-year cycle, students are introduced to the skills of film-making and music videos and are given the opportunity to perform in the bi-annual school production.

In the Prep to Year 2 classes-students are given the opportunity to use chime bars, to play an accompaniment to a song.

In the Year 3 to 6 classes- students are given the opportunity to read music notes and use recorders to play accompaniments to songs.

S.T.E.M.

STEM the teaching of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. STEM is an approach to teaching that can improve students’ problem solving and critical analysis skills. Students are encouraged to follow the scientific process when solving problems by questioning, hypothesising, planning, creating, testing, evaluating, and sharing their results in order to find solutions to problems.

We aim to provide students with this through programs around
coding
robotics
designing
building
creating
testing
cooking
gardening
capabilities

Students at St Gregory the Great School, have access to Digital Technologies, as well as the opportunity to explore and solve problems within their inquiry units. Students use Google Apps for Education (G.A.F.E) to allow them to work through tasks and collaborate with their teachers and classmates across curriculum areas on a daily basis.
Students in Prep- Year 2 experience “Coding Unplugged”
Students in Year 3 experience coding through the computer program “Scratch”
Students in Year 4 practice engineering, robotic and coding through using Lego WeDo 2.0
Year 5 and 6 Students are lucky enough to have 1:1 Chromebooks which they are able to use to complete various S.T.E.M tasks and use “Makey-Makey” to program educational games and learn about electrical engineering through circuit making.

Languages

St Gregory the Great School offers Italian and Mandarin to our students, these classes run as specialist classes over the year.
Students in Prep begin experiencing a Language Other Than English (L.O.T.E) through My Chinese Tutor lessons once a week. This program uses a combination of a Chinese teacher based in China using Skype and the classroom teacher to provide a Chinese language and culture program.
From Year 1-6 Students are involved in learning Mandarin and Italian with a semester dedicated to each language.
Our school celebrates the diverse backgrounds of our students and each year participate in a full day of multicultural activities where the children are invited to dress up in costumes from a different country, engage in fun learning activities about other cultures and enjoy food from different places around the world.

Digital Technologies

Digital Technologies comprises of three related strands:

- Digital Systems

- Data and Information

- Creating Digital Solutions.

At St Gregory the Great, our students and teachers have the ability to develop their Digital Technologies skills through the use of laptops, iPads, touch screen desktops and interactive whiteboards which are all linked by a school-wide wireless network. We regularly upgrade and add to our range of Digital Technologies tools and programs. Each class has access to the 'Discovery Centre' room to further enhance their skills in Digital Technologies.

Students are encouraged and supported in using a wide range of hardware and software to research, create and present work. Staff members and students at St Gregory’s use a variety of online resources and each class has access to the Google Site- Student Desktop Page, which is continually updated with the latest innovations in Digital Technologies. All students in the senior school are provided with a school Chromebook and use this in their daily learning. Students have access to a Google Account and make use of Google Apps for Education (GAFE) programs to support their learning in all areas of the curriculum. Other Digital Technologies programs used by students include Mathletics, Study Ladder, Sunshine Online books, Scratch and Scratch Jr, Code.Org, Touch Typing programs and many more.

Through the integration of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) students at St Gregory the Great have opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities such as:

- Lego Robotics

- Chess

- Cooking

- Engineering

Extra Curricular Activities

As we believe in educating the whole child, we encourage students to explore other areas of interest to themso that they are able to discover interests and talents.

We offer the following activities to the students:

Metro Music
Robogals
Chess Club
Lego Club
Altar Servers
Mini Vinnies
Choir
Sustainability Representatives
Hooks and Rods
Library Club