Curriculum

Literacy

At Norris Bank Primary School we know the importance of building the foundational literacy skills needed to create literate students. This is at the core of what we do and is a guiding principle for all our teachers when we are delivering our literacy sessions. We also provide rich literacy experiences through inquiry by creating opportunities for students to apply their literacy skills to a range of subject areas.

We have a dedicated two hour daily Literacy block where children are immersed in learning experiences that build their love of literacy and their ability to access a range of texts. During this two hour block, students are explicitly taught how to become proficient readers and writers. This is done through sequenced lessons that expose students to:

Letters and the sounds they make.
Segmenting and blending sounds together
Reading high frequency words accurately and fluently,
Rich and topic specific vocabulary that is built through oral language
Comprehension skills such as summarising, retelling, finding the main idea and discussing the author’s purpose
Fluency building to ensure students master the alphabetic code
Rich texts that build student knowledge on a range of topics

We have a strong reading culture embedded at our school. Students are able to read independently throughout the day to apply the skills they have been explicitly taught. During independent reading, students are able to work on a goal that is selected by their teacher based on a range of data sets to ensure the best goal for each student.

We use both Formative and Summative Assessments to cater for every child at their point of need. Our students also use self assessment and peer assessment to assist them in their reading goals as the ability to self reflect is hugely beneficial for student learning. Throughout every literacy lesson, students are provided with feedback to ensure learning is accelerated and that new content can be mastered. Staff at Norris Bank use a variety of assessment methods such as mini whiteboards, cold calling and read aloud to monitor the learning of students and make necessary adjustments in both reading and writing lessons.

To support students to read and write, we explicitly teach spelling and handwriting on a weekly basis. This builds the capacity of our students to form all their letters correctly and to spell new and interesting words using an in-depth understanding of how the English language works.

Numeracy

At Norris Bank Primary School, we strongly believe in creating numerate students who are able to solve a range of problems inside and outside the classroom. Our Numeracy program consists of 5 intensive sessions per week. Our focus every week is to provide students with as many opportunities as possible to practice skills and apply knowledge in a way that builds fluency and confidence. We use daily review and our fluency program across all classrooms to build automaticity of number facts and foundational concepts as they allow our students to engage in problem solving or learn sophisticated content. To support a high level of engagement in maths sessions, we activate the prior knowledge and curiosity of our students through a range of activities and tasks. These tasks are designed to make students use learnt skills and knowledge to find solutions to new or novel problems. This allows all teachers to ascertain the level of achievement of all students and deliver content at the point of need for our students.

Every students’ learning is monitored using a range of assessment tasks and tools to provide an accurate representation of the learning needs for each individual. These tools range from mini whiteboards, work samples and exit tickets as we know that learning can be displayed in a multitude of ways. We use standardised assessments across every year to track growth of our students and to ensure we are supporting everyone to achieve excellent results in numeracy.

Our classrooms cover the strands outlined in the new victorian curriculum 2.0 (5 strands in F-2 and 6 strands in 3-6) in a systematic way. This allows us to dedicate enough time to the core concepts and skills that underpin the mathematics curriculums so that every child learns what is needed to be successful every year. It also ensures that we are providing enough time to the teaching of the big ideas in maths that we know are vital to success outside of the classroom.

Digital Technology

In Digital Technologies, students use computational thinking and information systems to analyse, design and develop digital solutions. The Digital Technologies curriculum recognises coding (programming) as one of the skills to support learning in this area.

Norris Bank PS currently has a ratio of 1 Student laptop to 2 students, as well as numerous Desk top Computers. Families do not have to purchase their own.

Oral Language

Oral language plays an integral part in reading and writing development. Strong receptive and expressive language allows students to engage with a range of texts at a deep level as well as articulate their ideas and thoughts relating to the learning they have completed. At Norris Bank, we teach language to students through experiences that prompt new vocabulary that is linked to a range of topics. Our inquiry sessions provide opportunities for students to respond to key questions that allow students to apply new vocabulary to express ideas, opinions and thoughts.

When students are learning the skills needed to read and write, the ability to segment and blend sounds is paramount to success. During our literacy block, students are constantly segmenting and blending words to assist them to encode (write) and decode (read) a range of words. This approach allows students to build their knowledge of the letter patterns that are used to spell words that they are using in their oral language repertoire.

S.T.E.M

STEM – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – covers a wide range of disciplines and skills, which are increasingly in demand in our rapidly changing world. STEM skills and knowledge are important for all stages of our learning, jobs and everyday lives.
Through our S.T.E.M program students are guided to inquiry, conduct in dialogue and critical thinking. The desired outcome is students who take measured risks, engage in experiential learning, persist in problem-solving, embrace collaboration, and work through a creative process.

These are the innovators, educators, leaders, and learners of the 21st century!

Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) is a school-based preventive program for children in primary school.

The program is designed to enhance areas of social-emotional development such as self-control, self-esteem, emotional awareness, social skills, friendships, and interpersonal problem-solving skills while reducing aggression and other behavior problems.

Skill concepts are presented through direct instruction, discussion, modeling, storytelling, role-playing activities, and video presentations.

At Norris Bank Primary School the program is taught at all year levels by the classroom teacher.

L.O.T.E Japanese

Students at Norris Bank Park Primary School learn Japanese from Prep throughout their primary school years.
The Japanese language program incorporates the Victorian Curriculum which aims to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills to ensure that students:

communicate in the language they are learning
understand the relationship between language, culture and learning
develop intercultural capabilities
understand themselves as communicators

All lessons are taught by our specialist Japanese teacher, Satoko Kuhlmann (Kuhlmann Sensei).

The four skills of language learning (listening, speaking, reading and writing) will be taught through games, songs and rhymes.

The students start to read and write Japanese characters from Prep years. Writing characters the correct way helps develop fine motor skills and encourage good concentration.

The students have many opportunities to explore Japanese culture in the lessons. They learn about key Japanese festivals including Bean Throwing

Science

At Norris Bank P.S we use the Primary Connections program which is based on an inquiry-orientated learning model. Students use their prior knowledge to develop explanations for their hands-on scientific experiences/experiments .

Students have opportunities to represent their developing scientific understandings. Students develop investigations skills and an understanding of the nature of science.

The Arts

All students have the opportunity to explore The Arts through their weekly specialised Visual Art and Performing Arts sessions. They can participate in our choir 'The Glee" club, with performances at our fortnightly assemblies and other special venues and events

We also offer individual or group instrumental lessons during school hours taken by qualified Metro Music teachers at a very reasonable cost to parents.

Physical Education

At Norris Bank all our children participate in a one hour specialised Physical Education lesson weekly. These lessons’ focus on the important early foundations of play and fundamental movement skills. It focuses on the acquisition and refinement of a broad range of movement skills.

Students have an opportunity to apply movement concepts and strategies to enhance performance and move with competence and confidence. Students develop skills and dispositions necessary for lifelong participation in physical activities.

We also focus on being a health individual by focusing on supporting students to make decisions about their own health, safety and well-being and on developing the knowledge, understanding and skills to support students to be resilient.

Norris Bank PS participates weekly in the Watsonia District Sports Competition in Term 1 & Term 2 every year. We play against a number of local schools in our area.