Learning
& Engagement
English
The English Curriculum comprises Reading and Viewing, Writing and Speaking and Listening. At MVPS, we understand that the English Curriculum helps create confident communicators, imaginative thinkers and informed citizens. It is through the study of English that students learn to analyse, understand, communicate and build relationships with others and with the world around them.
Reading
The Science of Reading
The Science of Reading provides the strongest evidence about how young children learn to read. Understanding the cognitive science behind how students learn to read and the research on effective instruction makes it easier for educators at MVPS to align classroom teaching with evidence.
Reading is made of six key areas:
- Phonological Awareness
- Phonics
- Sight Words
- Fluency
- Vocabulary
- Comprehension
F-2 Reading and Phonics
Our early year’s educators have adopted the Science of Reading approach and use structured literacy when teaching students to read. We engage all students in Foundation to Year 2 with daily Phonological & Phonemic Awareness activities. We use Systematic Synthetic Phonics (SSP) program. SSP instruction is very structured and teaches children the 44 letter sounds and how we blend sounds to read and spell. Decoding, and phonological awareness are crucial skills for early reading and spelling success. Spelling and reading are taught at the same time in our classrooms, with students being taught to spell (encode) words using the same grapheme/phoneme knowledge that they have learnt during reading sessions. MVPS has invested in new sets of decodable readers for our beginning readers. Our children use these decodable readers to practise the letter-sound relationships and use the decoding skills they have been taught during phonics lessons.
Readers Workshop
Reading at MVPS is taught within the structure of a Reader’s Workshop. This evidence based instructional model, allows for whole-class, small group and explicit individual instruction, Each of our students are encouraged to be active participants in their learning through goal setting, peer and self-assessment and reflection on their learning regularly. They have access to a wide range of reading rich material in our school and classroom libraries, as well as access to range of online resources which support their literacy learning and love of reading. All students from F-6 participate in a one hour reading lesson daily that includes:
- A Mini Lesson in which teacher and students unpack the Learning Intention and Success Criteria and discuss why the students need to know the learning. Teachers explicitly teach reading strategies based on an identified area of need based on data collected from student assessments.
- Independent Reading where students choose ‘Just Right books’ and books of interest from the classroom library to practice a skill or concept introduced during the mini lesson. During this time teachers completes one-on-one-reading conferences and sets reading goals for each individual student.
- Independent literacy work where students practice a range of skills across the Reading Curriculum and at their point of need. They are grouped in different ways depending on the purpose (e.g. like needs, strategy groups, reading levels, etc) The teacher conducts Guided Reading sessions or Literature Circles with small groups of students during this time.
- A Reflection where students discuss what they have achieved and learnt. The class reflects on the learning intention and success criteria to see if students were successful in the lesson.
Writing
Writers Workshop and 6+1 Traits of Writing
At MVPS, we utilise the Writer’s Workshop in partnership with the 6+1 Traits of Writing as a framework for curriculum planning in Writing. Students are taught to move through the stages in the writing process (idea development, drafting, revising, editing, publishing), whilst utilising rich mentor texts to support the development of their ideas, text organisation, author voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation
Our Writer’s Workshop gives our students an opportunity to learn the writing process and develop their own unique adaptation of this. They are explicitly taught the traits of effective writing to help them understand their strengths and areas of improvement.
We use the connection between reading and writing to support students in creating their own texts. Our students learn to view authors as mentors and apply the ‘traits’ identified in a text to help develop their own writing pieces. At MVPS we endeavour to create lifelong writers!
Writer’s Notebook
- All students have their own Writer’s Notebook where they practise the craft of writing.
- These notebooks are used to develop ideas, extend and elaborate their thinking and experiment with a variety of writing genres and styles.
- Our students have choice in the texts they create and engage in authentic student driven writing experiences.
- Students write to entertain, inform and persuade a particular audience.
- Students view themeselves as authors.
Speaking and Listening
Speaking and Listening is embedded in all curriculum areas. Students learn to communicate effectively and develop their oral language skills within and outside the classroom.
Students participate in:
- Small and whole-class discussions
- Guided Reading and Literature Circles
- Formal and informal presentations
- ‘Turn and Talk’ where students can collaboratively share their thinking
- Opportunities to practise their speaking skills at whole school assemblies, Junior School Council and presenting at the annual ‘It Takes a Spark’ STEM conference.
Maths
At Malvern Valley Primary School, we aspire for our students to become curious, confident, flexible, and critical thinkers who enjoy learning mathematics. Our evidence-informed curriculum supports students in developing numeracy capabilities and provides opportunities to connect their knowledge to real-world applications. By combining explicit teaching with problem-solving opportunities and following the Launch-Explore-Summarise Instructional Model, we ensure our students develop the four essential proficiencies in Mathematics:
- Fluency
- Reasoning
- Problem Solving
- Understanding
Our curriculum focuses on the ‘big ideas’ in Mathematics, helping students make connections and see how mathematical concepts fit together. Learning is systematically designed to develop these key understandings, which include:
- Number Sense
- Place Value
- Multiplicative Thinking
- Fractional Thinking
Through carefully designed mathematical problem-solving tasks, our teachers reach each student’s zone of proximal development, providing both challenging and engaging experiences.
Wellbeing
The school’s Wellbeing Program is underpinned by the evidence-based Positive Education framework that is comprised of the domains of Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Purpose, Health and Accomplishment. It is taught explicitly throughout the week and habits of positive wellbeing are practised at the beginning of every session, every day in every class.
Our Values underpin all expectations of behaviours and actions as a community. They are espoused every day by everyone. They are:
- Resilience: Being able to bounce back and make the most of a situation when unexpected things happen
- Respect: Having regard for yourself, other and property
- Cooperation: Working together for the good of everyone
- Confidence: Having faith and trust in yourself
Inquiry
Our MVPS Inquiry learning program is based on the belief that all students are capable learners who can collaborate to explore and learn about the world they live in. Inquiry challenges students to drive their own learning and fosters thinking skills, enabling our students to problem solve. Our Inquiry units integrate the following Victorian Curriculum areas and capabilities:
The Humanities: Geography, History, Civics & Citizenship and Economics & Business
The Capabilities: Critical & Creative Thinking, Intercultural, Ethical and Personal and Social.
The Technologies: Design & Digital Technologies
Science: Earth & Space, Biological, Chemical and Physical Science
Inquiry develops a range of transferable skills;
- Digital literacy
- Critical & Creative Thinking
- Planning and self-management
- Organisation and communication.
Inquiry lessons allow students:
- the chance to ask questions
- articulate their wonderings about their world
- take ownership and autonomy of their learning
- forge connections with the local community in order to become global citzens.
- to experience related activities and incursions/excursions
- opportunities to take action and make change!
- collaborative learning and building team work skills.
