Learning Focus

Homework and Parent Helpers information

Foundation (PREP)

In Foundation, our aim is to provide students with the social and emotional tools to become confident and capable learners. This is in conjunction with the Victorian Curriculum.

In Literacy, students continue to discover and develop their skills through Reading, Writing and Speaking and Listening activities. This is enhanced through our phonics program ‘Little Learners Love Literacy’ which places a strong emphasis on oral literacy skills.

Our Numeracy program explores hands-on and open-ended tasks to assist students in further developing new and known maths concepts. This encourages our students to develop a love of Maths in their everyday lives.

Each term there is a new focus for our Inquiry unit. Some topics we have explored so far are Identity, Minibeasts, Farm Animals and Our Community.

The first year in your child’s life at school is an incredible year filled with many milestones! At GHPS we celebrate achievements such as 100 days of Prep and Milo’s Birthday Surprise!

Year 1

In Year 1 the teaching team continues to foster the wonderful learning that the children experience during their prep year of schooling. Our vision is to create an engaging and hands on program that supports the amazing development of all of our students.

Our literacy and numeracy programs are differentiated to suit the learning abilities of each student. We also integrate our digital technologies to have a solid 21st century understanding. Students are encouraged to explore topics of interest in their education with a focus on questioning and thinking being key to our learning success. 

Each term, we have a focus on a different inquiry topic. These sessions are hands-on, engaging and include developing students’ questioning and thinking skills. We cover topics such as science, community, identity, Australian animals, dinosaurs and so much more! We support students to investigate these topics and then create a presentation to also develop their speaking and listening skills. To support students’ understanding of these inquiry topics, we have either an excursion or incursion once a semester. This is something that all students look forward to throughout the year!

The Year 1’s develop mindfulness, empathy and gratitude through participating in The Resilience Project. This an emotionally engaging program designed to build positive mental health strategies, happiness and resilience. 

All children in Year 1 have access to iPads (2 students to 1 iPad) which are integrated into all areas of the curriculum. We also use Bee-Bots and Dash Bots to develop coding skills as part of our Digital Learning Program.

Year 2/3

In Year 2, our goal is to encourage students on their journey to becoming independent and resilient learners. We provide a vibrant, safe and engaging learning program that is carefully differentiated to target each student’s points of need. 

Our Literacy program focuses on developing students’ Reading, Writing and Speaking and Listening skills.Children are encouraged to participate in daily class discussions, news and presentations to their class about topics of interest. In Reading we continue to foster students’ love of reading by supporting them in becoming independent and fluent readers. Students are taught the structures and purposes of a range of text types to equip them with the necessary skills and understandings to produce varied texts of their own. Children also use Writers’ and Readers’ Notebooks to record their thinking, their ideas and to inspire them to write about their passions and interests. 

In Numeracy, students are involved in learning tasks which help to develop their mathematical understanding, knowledge and skills. They are guided to develop a love of Mathematics, through hands-on activities, games and open-ended tasks, whilst becoming confident and numerate learners.

Each term, we have a new Inquiry focus. Topics studied are varied and include Science, Animals, Space, All About Me and Oceans, just to mention a few. Excursions and incursions are organised to further develop understandings about the Inquiry units studied. 

In Year 2, students continue to build on the digital literacy skills developed in Year 1. This includes the use of Bee-Bots and Dashbots for coding. Children also begin using Chromebooks to learn to type and navigate various online programs, equipping them with the necessary skills to move on to Year 3.

In Year 3, students are encouraged to develop their independence through a range of initiatives that promote self awareness, communication, exploration, organisation, time management and goal setting.  We aim to create a learning environment that is inclusive, respectful and supports a positive mind set. The essence of our classroom culture is to promote student voice, provide leadership opportunities and to allow them to flourish as learners.

In Literacy, the Year 3 students have been focusing on enhancing their Persuasive and Narrative writing skills. In addition to developing their knowledge and skills around the Seven Steps for Writing Success, our students have been looking closely and experimenting with the 6 plus 1 Traits of Writing.

In Reading the students have been exploring the Super 6 Reading Strategies, making connections, predicting, questioning, visualising, monitoring and summarising.Their comprehension skills have been enhanced through the CARS program through in depth analysis and practise of specific strategies.

In Year 3 the students are encouraged and supported to step outside their comfort zones when sharing ideas, knowledge and experiences with each other during class discussions, class presentations and check in circles. 

In Numeracy, students are being guided through differentiated programs where they are able to explore a range of mathematical concepts that include a combination of hands-on tasks and skill development to enhance children’s problem solving and reasoning skills. 

Students are being supported to further their understanding of themselves, their community and their place in the world through our weekly inquiry, digital technology and resilience lessons. Our focus has been about building positive relationships, working together as a team, researching and investigating. 

Year 4/5

In Year 4, students are encouraged and guided to become confident, independent, autonomous and inquiring learners. They are equipped with robust knowledge, skills and behaviours to be successful, resilient and positive about their learning, prepared to take responsible risks and be accountable proactive learners.

In Literacy, students at Year 4 are guided and scaffolded to:

Become confident, expressive and engaging speakers who are able to communicate clearly and utilise effective speaking and  listening behaviours; enhanced through the Resilience Project and the Real Schools Restorative Practices Program and through individually tailored learning programs.

Become independent readers and expand their reading skills through the BIG 6 program, which focuses on the development of Oral Language, Phonics and Sight Words, Phonological Awareness, Fluency, Prosody, Vocabulary and Comprehension; where they make meaningful connections to a variety of texts and multi-modal genres and focus upon their inferential comprehension and real world understanding of texts.

Become expressive, descriptive, engaging and ‘switched on’ writers through the support of the Seven Steps to Writing Success Program and the 6+1 Traits of Writing programs, which are implemented and embedded across the entire school.

In Mathematics, students at Year 4 are encouraged to:

Continue to explore and develop their numeracy, measurement, geometry, statistics, probability, computational and problem solving skills; enabling them to make meaningful connections and to show a greater understanding of how Mathematics is present in everyday life. Here Year 4 students, through individually differentiated programs, also develop strong appropriate strategies for calculations and problem solving, involving addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, with and without the use of digital technology, and further their capacity to estimate answers reasonably and accurately for the context. Extension programs such as Maths Olympiad, are also offered for eligible students.

Through exploring Science, Sustainability, Digital Learning History, Geography and Digital Technologies Inquiry Learning, where BIG ideas and Essential Questions are investigated using a Constructivist approach; students at Year 4 are actively expanding their general knowledge, building civic and global understandings, learning responsible behaviours and develop meaningful understandings about their critical roles in shaping the future, whilst developing their ethical, intercultural, critical and creative thinking, and personal and social capabilities.

This all sets the stage and provides empowered platforms and springboards for the further development of these knowledge and skills at Years 5 and 6.

In Year 5 your child will be engaged in: analysing issues, applying critical and creative thinking to complex problems, working collaboratively on Inquiry and research investigations, accessing and evaluating information, applying technology effectively and developing initiative and self-direction through authentic projects.

As part of our Literacy program, students in Year 5 are guided to:

Become confident speakers who are able to communicate clearly, through different mediums, to different audiences and display appropriate listening behaviours. Through additional programs such as Stride (Leadership) and Think U Know (Cyber Education), students understand that patterns of language interaction vary across social contexts.

Become independent readers and expand their reading skills through the BIG 6 program and targeted independent reading strategies. Students explain how text structures assist in understanding the text through the use of quality Mentor Texts and explain their own responses to them.

Become expressive and ‘switched on’ writers through the support of the Seven Steps to Writing Success Program. Students use language features to show how ideas can be extended while creating imaginative, informative and persuasive texts.

In Mathematics, children at Year 5 are encouraged to:

Continue to develop their numeracy, measurement, geometry, statistics, probability, computational and problem solving skills, enabling them to make connections, show a greater understanding of how Mathematics is present in everyday life and learn how to transfer their skills and knowledge to solve real world problems. 

As part of our engaging weekly Sustainability/Science, Digital Learning and History/Geography sessions, children at Year 5 are expanding their general knowledge, building civic and global understandings, learning responsible behaviours and learning about their critical roles in shaping the future.

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A targeted NAPLAN preparation planner assists students at this level with their preparation and confidence around NAPLAN assessments.

Year 5 students are also involved in range of intra and inter sporting team initiatives and camping programs.

Year 6

In Year 6, our focus is to ensure that all students are prepared and ready to transition to secondary school. We provide a range of programs and activities that support students to be confident, resilient, persistent and accountable learners.

Our daily tasks involve students using metacognitive thinking strategies, problem solving, collaborative learning, research and inquiry and most importantly, independent working habits.

In Literacy, students are supported to: 

• Build their ability to respond with critical and creative thinking skills to a variety of texts both independently and in a group setting
• Building a range of comprehension strategies such as summarising, analysing, synthesising, inferencing, monitoring meaning and visualising
• Students also analyse and write a variety of different genres such as narratives, persuasive pieces, informative texts and multimodal pieces (using text, images and technology to show their thinking and understanding)

We understand that student engagement in Numeracy is central to progress. We aim to achieve this by ensuring that students are active in the following proficiencies which underpin Year 6:

• Understanding
• Fluency
• Problem solving
• Reasoning 

We follow a consistent approach ensuring that individual student needs are catered to. We strive for all students to meet their potential and rise above it through the use of engaging, focussed lessons which include rich open ended tasks. We support students with the use of a gradual release model where students are supported and guided until they feel competent with demonstrating their knowledge of critical concepts. 

During each term, students participate in a unit of work which incorporates Science, History, Geography, Economics, Civics and Citizenship and/or Design and Technologies. These units of inquiry promote student collaboration, research and summarising skills, curiosity and general knowledge in world issues and topics.

Digital technologies are used in all curriculum areas to engage the students and to enhance their learning. Students build online communication skills, word processing, coding, creative solutions (websites) and understanding of safe online behaviour.

Students are also involved in a range of sporting activities such as Interschool Sports and house swimming, cross country and athletics carnivals. 

Student leadership is also a key component of Year 6. Students are encouraged to build their leadership skills, regardless of whether they hold a captaincy position. We encourage students to improve on their public speaking skills so that they can become more confident and inspiring leaders beyond their schooling at GHPS.