Activities that challenge, satisfy, and provide continued opportunities for success are an obligation of the school; each child has the right to a curriculum and learning experiences that develop an understanding of the acquisition and organisation of knowledge and a mastery of essential concepts and skills gained through theoretical and practical learning.

All areas of the curriculum are designed using a standard set out for all schools called the Victorian Essential Learning Standards or VELS

Special Features

• Outstanding highly experienced teachers
• Strong community orientation
• Supportive partnerships between parents and school
• Modern well-equipped facilities
• Air-Conditioned classes
• Computer Room
• Art Room
• Music Room
• Fully resourced Library
• Canteen 2 days a week
• Before and After School Care
• Safe and healthy environment
• Attractive and Spacious Grounds
• Spacious Learning Areas
• Comprehensive transition programs for Prep and Grade Six
• “You Can Do It” Program.

Student Leadership Programs 

• School Captains and Vice Captains
• House Captains
• Junior School Council  - two representatives from each grade
• Mixed-Age House Group Activities
• Prep Buddies
• Peer Support
• Peer Mediation

Families are encouraged to participate in -

• School Council and Sub-Committees
• Parents Association
• School Activities
• Information Evenings
• Sporting Events
• Special Social Functions
• Fund Raising Activities-Car Boot Sales, Sausage Sizzles etc.
• Working Bees
• Classroom activities
• Excursions/camps

Parents are welcome at the school to -

• Participate in policy making
• Meet the teachers
• Discuss their child’s progress
• Contribute to the on-going development of the school
• Share in school activities 

Statement on VELS

Three stages of learning have been identified and used to assist in the development of VELS. In order to implement VELS an integrated approach is used with teachers planning programs and units which address one or more strands and relevant domains.  Learning within these units of work is planned for using real life linking of activities across domains and dimensions:

• Physical, Personal and Social Development

• Discipline Based Learning

• Interdisciplinary Learning

Years Prep to Four is recognised where the foundations are laid. In these years the curriculum focuses on developing the fundamental knowledge, skills and behaviours in literacy and numeracy and other areas including physical and social capacities, which underpin all future areas.

Years Five to Eight the curriculum is designed to build breadth and depth. In these years students’ progress beyond the foundations and their literacy and numeracy becomes more developed. An expanded curriculum program provides the basis for in depth learning within all the domains within the strands.

For more information on VELS visit the following website: www.

Links to each of the Domains and Dimensions in VELS

Discipline Based Learning

The Arts

The Arts are practised and valued in our complex and diverse society as important outlets for the communication of ideas, feelings and beliefs and as major sources of intellectual, physical, spiritual and emotional development, understanding and enjoyment.  Students learn to analyse and interpret arts works. They also develop the ability to form personal judgments of their own works and those of others. They learn how the arts are practised and valued in different societies and cultures, past and present.  Boronia Heights Primary School encourages and provides the opportunities for students to create, perform or present works from the arts disciplines:- Dance, Drama, Media, Music and Visual Arts.

Boronia Heights Primary is fortunate to have a well-equipped Art Room with an Art specialist teacher.  Each student receives one hour of Visual Art.  The Performing Arts (music, dance and drama) are also taken as an hour class session.

Students Visual Arts works are displayed proudly throughout the school and at the Boronia Mall during special events.

The students have an opportunity to join the Junior or Senior School Choir. The choirs perform for various community groups, at different venues such as local shopping centres and at the school’s Christmas Concert. In addition to this the students in year three and four learn the recorder.  The Marimba Orchestra is highly sought after and has performed at many venues including a tour of the Warrnambool School’s and the Boronia Mall, which celebrated the opening of the recent Living in the 70’s festival.

English

In English, students learn to appreciate, enjoy and use language and develop a sense of its richness and its power to evoke feelings, to form and convey ideas, to inform, to discuss, to persuade, to entertain and to argue. It is concerned with a wide range of texts and media in print and electronic forms, including imaginative literature, popular fiction and non-fiction, personal writing, commercial and workplace texts, everyday communication, plays, film and other multimedia texts. English involves students in reading, viewing, writing, comparing, researching and talking about texts. By understanding and working with texts, students acquire the knowledge, skills and personal qualities that enable them to read, view and listen critically and to think, speak and write clearly and confidently.

The Humanities

It is important to understand the relationship between the processes of consumption, production and distribution in meeting needs and wants and the role of consumers, workers and producers in the economy. This extends to learning about the role of money in the economy and the importance of budgeting and saving at the micro and macro level. In levels 1, 2 and 3; (Years Prep – 4, Humanities is a broad subject. In level 4 it is divided into History, Geography and Economics.)

Examples of ‘real life’ learning are evident during events organised by the Junior School Council.  The students (with teacher assistance where applicable) are responsible for the marketing, providing resources collecting monies and finally working out their net profits.  The money raised goes towards Junior School Council initiatives.

Languages Other Than English

Studying Languages other than English assists students in learning about broader cultural topics and recognise that the culture associated with the language other than English embraces many different ways of life. They understand that Australian life and culture are influenced by these different ways of life.  Boronia Heights Primary offers German from Year 2–6. 

Mathematics

The domain of Mathematics includes the areas of: -

• Number      

• Space

• Measurement, chance and data

• Structure

• Working Mathematically

Science

Learning science and its methods of investigation encourages students to develop curiosity and a spirit of inquiry and helps them to be open-minded and to value objectivity. Students are encouraged to adopt critical perspectives, to recognise the limitations of science and to respect and share responsibility for the local and global environment. They will be able to see the connections between science and people, note the relevance of science and technology to past achievements and current and future development and be aware of the impact of science and technology on society, the individual and the environment. A more systematic knowledge of science and science concepts drawn from biological, chemical, earth, environmental, physical and space sciences is developed as the students progress in the stages of learning.

The concepts, skills and processes of science are developed through the Integrated Unit approach linking other key learning areas, just as in real life.   Students have linked their investigations to ‘real life’ environmental issues such as learning about weathering and erosion and relating it to the school environment.  They have been instrumental in identifying areas of erosion in the school grounds and have liaised with the School Council Facilities and Environment committees to regenerate the affected areas.  The students have also been Water Wise and Energy conscious both at school and at home as a result of their studies.

Physical, Personal and Social Learning

Health And Physical Education

The benefits to communities in developing resilience skills, positive self-images, healthy lifestyles and critical awareness of potential harmful situations and/or behaviours are enormous. A healthy vibrant community means individuals are performing at an optimum level in work and leisure. Physical activity, sport and recreation are an important part in the lives of people in Australia. Participation in physical activity provides opportunities for relaxation, enjoyment, recreation, fitness, social interaction and competition.

The domain of Health and Physical Education helps young people learn about factors, including nutrition, that promote and protect the physical, social and emotional health of individuals, families and communities, and the range of health-related services and products available to the community. They learn to identify the harms associated with particular situations and behaviours, and how to take action to minimise these harms. They consider personal and community rights and responsibilities, and the cultural and social diversity of Australia in relation to health and safety, so that they are informed in making decisions about their own and others’ lives

The school is very conscious of the importance of nutrition and physical activity.

Each year has an hour P.E. sessions with a specialist. Years 3 & 4 have an additional hour of sport. Years 5 & 6 participate in Inter-school sport during terms 1, 2 and 4. A variety of winter and summer sports are on offer. Students also have the opportunity to compete in the Inter-school Athletics and Cross Country running. Many students in the past have progressed to Zone, District or Regional levels of competition.  The House sports and the Athletics sports are regular features on the school’s calendar and are eagerly looked forward to by the school community. Every student is encouraged to participate and perform to the best of their ability.

Fun events such as Healthy Lunch days (which focuses on preparing and eating a variety of nutritious lunches), Jump Rope for Heart help raise awareness of health and fitness.

Special programs such as Life Education visit annually and the whole school participates.  Years 5 & 6 participate in the Puberty and Adolescent Development program dealing with many pertinent issues at the appropriate level. The school has an individual drug education strategy – Turning the Tide (developed in accordance to DE&T’s guidelines).

Interpersonal Development

In our highly interconnected and interdependent world, students must learn to work with others by:

• building positive social relationships

• working and learning in teams

• managing and resolving conflicts.

Learning in this domain supports students to initiate, maintain and manage positive social relationships with a range of people in a range of contexts. It is through the development of positive social relationships that individuals become linked to society, develop a sense of belonging and learn to live and work with others. Building effective social relationships and relating well to others requires individuals to be empathetic, and to be able to deal effectively with their own emotions and inner moods.  Students need to develop the skills and strategies to manage and resolve conflict in a sensible, fair and effective manner and not see it as something to avoid or eliminate. This requires competence in presenting their own ideas and listening to those of others, approaching topics from different viewpoints, and understanding their specific role and responsibilities in relation to those of others and the overall team goal. Relationships with peers and adults at the school provide students with opportunities for reflection and growth. Adults at the school can reinforce this learning by providing positive role models. Interactions should be positive, fair, respectful and friendly and be supported by a classroom culture which is open, honest and accepting. 

Personal Learning

Understanding how one learns and one’s preferred learning style is important at school and beyond. The ability to reflect and be critical of oneself is vital in the learning process and an attribute that is useful for dealing with life experiences.

Through participation in a variety of group and whole-class activities, students continue to develop skills and strategies for learning effectively with, and from, their peers. They begin to articulate the advantages of learning with peers, including giving and acting upon constructive feedback, and identify the values that underpin the creation of a classroom environment that will support the learning of all students.

They learn to apply strategies for managing the completion of more than one task at a time, and they reflect on how effectively they were able to use these strategies.

The ‘You Can Do It’ program is a whole school strategy providing students with the foundations of achievement and social-emotional-behavioural wellbeing in school, work and the world of tomorrow.

Students develop and monitor their own learning goals. The goals can be short or long term.  Students identify their personal, learning and classroom management goals for each term. The goals are written out and placed into their portfolio, which goes home each term. This enables parents and teachers to view the goals and to support the student in working towards them.  At the conclusion of the term the students reflect on their progress in reaching their goals.  This process is the basis for devising goals for the next term.  At the end of the year the students are asked to reflect on the year. Their responses are part of the written report that goes home.

Constructive feedback from a variety of sources such as peers is modelled and practiced in the classroom and assists the students in developing skills and strategies for learning effectively.

Civics and Citizenship

Students need to develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours that enable them to take action as informed, confident members of a diverse and inclusive Australian society. They need to understand the political and legal systems and processes and the history that underpins them. This involves a focus on students:

•        understanding their identity and roles in their community

•        knowing their rights and responsibilities as citizens

•      -  appreciating Australia’s role in the global community

•          having the knowledge, skills and behaviours to participate in society and  take responsible action in relation to other citizens and the environment at a  local and broader level.

Civics and Citizenship provides students with knowledge, skills and opportunities to understand and practise what it means to be a citizen in a democracy. They need knowledge of political and legal systems and processes and the history that underpins them in order to achieve civic understanding. It teaches why citizens need a sense of personal identity within their own community and how they can contribute to communities. Through Civics and Citizenship students develop an appreciation for the uniqueness and diversity of Australia, our citizens and culture. They value what it means to be an Australian and explore Australia’s role within the neighbouring region and the world. There is a focus on investigating sustainable practices that underpin the future wellbeing of societies and the environment from a local to a global level.

Interdisciplinary Learning

Communication

Communication is central to the capacity to construct meaning and to convey information and understanding to others in a range of ways and in a variety of settings. Successful communication requires students to be familiar with the forms; language and conventions used in different domains and employ them to communicate effectively. It involves developing the knowledge, skills and behaviours that empower students to respond to, make meaning of, and deconstruct a range of communication forms. It also requires students to develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours to effectively present information, ideas and opinions in a range of forms (for example, verbal, written, graphic, multimedia, performance) appropriate to their purpose and audience.

Design, Creativity and Technology

Students develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours related to investigating and designing using appropriate planning processes and design briefs; creating and developing ideas, applying information, and seeking and testing innovative alternatives; producing, including the selection and safe use of appropriate tools, equipment, materials and/or processes to meet the  requirements of design briefs; analysing and evaluating both processes and  products including, where relevant, any broader environmental, social, cultural  and economic factors.

Thinking Processes

The study of thinking enables students to acquire strategies for thinking related to enquiry, processing information, reasoning, problem solving, evaluation and reflection.  Our world and the world of the future demand that all students are supported to become effective and skilful thinkers. Thinking validates existing knowledge and enables individuals to create new knowledge and to build ideas and make connections between them. Students need challenging tasks, which stimulate, encourage and support skilful and effective thinking. A focus on the development of thinking competencies within specific areas, teachers model skilful and effective thinking and make their own thinking explicit as part of their everyday practice. Thinking skills can be defined in a variety of ways.

Information And Communication Technology

Boronia Heights Primary School is a leading school in e-Learning with the use of Information and Communication Technologies. Children in all years (Prep-6) use computers. The school currently has 120 desktop computers, which are used in the classroom in a variety of ways. Information and communications technology (ICT) is used to enrich the learning environment for the student, continuing to incorporate existing and new technologies effectively and in new ways into teaching and learning is a whole school focus.

All computer systems are connected to our computer network and children have supervised access to the Internet at all times by teachers.  All Internet use is for educational purposes only.  We follow the Department of Education and Training's policy on filtered internet use, using facilities provided by our Internet service provider.

Students use computers as tools in every area of the curriculum. Our students and staff to enhance learning use peripherals such as digital cameras and scanners. Students use ICT to not only express themselves in new and relevant ways but to communicate locally and increasingly globally. Teachers and students are co-learners in using learning technologies. Boronia Heights Primary School encourages students to be buddies and mentors to other students and teachers.

An intranet is also set up within the school.  Any information stored on this site can only be accessed within the school.  The intranet is a valuable tool for students and teachers alike, in publishing work and learning new skills such as web design.