At St Anthony's we recognise that parents are vital partners in education. They influence their children's attitudes about learning and by supporting learning at home. They are a vital link between home and school. When they become involved in the life of our school, they make St Anthony's a better place to learn and grow. For this reason we ask for your support as we work together to guide your child through their education at our school.
St Anthony's has a focus on developing lifelong learners who have the confidence and skills to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and proficiencies across all learning areas and in real world situations, including assessment environments. The Alice Springs Education Declaration released in December 2019, sets the national vision and goals for education for all Australians, agreed on by all education ministers in Australia. The Australian National Curriculum is the source of all curriculum planning, assessment and reporting. The Australian Curriculum sets consistent high standards for what all young Australians should learn as they progress through schooling. It prepares Australia's next generation for the future and lays the building blocks for generations to come.
We recognise that all children learn at different rates and we are therefore responsive to the needs of each child's learning journey. We use data collected continuously over the year to monitor and respond to our students individual progress and needs.
Our goal is for all students to be aware of their current knowledge, understanding and skills. To understand their next steps for learning, select relevant resources and tools to guide their learning. Then to seek feedback and recognise mistakes as opportunities to learn, monitor their own progress and adjust their next steps as needed, recognising what they have learnt.
At St Anthony's we follow the BCE model of Effective and Expected teaching practices. These practices identify and clarify how teachers can intentionally and explicitly teach within learning areas to move each student forward in their learning.
The Effective and Expected practices for teaching, detailed below, articulate how the practices and processes of the BCE Model of Pedagogy are effectively applied in the context of the Australian curriculum.
FOCUS
Identify, monitor and respond to each student's literacy progress using a set of assessment practices and tools to inform learning and teaching.
ESTABLISH
Plan, teach and assess from the approved curriculum to develop each student's knowledge, understanding and skills to comprehend and compose a range of texts for a range of purposes.
ACTIVATE
Explicitly teach the literacy demands of each learning area and of class and school routines through ongoing targeted cycles of contextual learning and teaching.
RESPOND
Provide opportunities for teacher, self and peer feedback that is ongoing, progressive and moves learning forward.
EVALUATE
Establish practices and processes that identify and evaluate the impact of teaching on student progress and achievement.
At St Anthony's your child will have the opportunity to explore learning in the following learning areas. The Australian Curriculum focuses on learning area content and achievement standards that describe what students will learn and what teachers will teach in each of these subject areas:
Through the use of gradual release of responsibility our students are supported and guided to work independently. We provide opportunities for students to take charge and independently apply learnt understandings, processes and strategies. This assists students to apply understandings, process and strategies in meaningful contexts and to refine, consolidate and extend their learning and confidence.
We know that improving student learning, engagement with learning and wellbeing requires quality teaching. For teachers and school leaders to continue to meet the needs of all our students, we provide effective professional learning to support and enhance teachers' and school leaders' knowledge and practices. We value and actively encourage the professional development of all of our staff.