Programs

We know that students cannot access the school curriculum effectively if they do not have the appropriate reading and writing skills required of the task. At St.Mary’s we continually revise and update best practice approaches to developing literacy skills in all our students.

Students at St Mary's will participate in a comprehensive numeracy program every day. We support and challenge our students to engage in the three Victorian Curriculum Mathematics strands of Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry and Statistics and Probability.

During numeracy sessions students participate in whole class focus sessions, develop mental computation strategies, experience small group rotation activities and teacher lead sessions and complete tasks tailored to their individual learning needs. At the end of each numeracy lesson formative feedback is provided to students via processes of peer led discussions or teacher elaboration to consolidate the learning focus and to redress any misconceptions

Religious Education is a core component of the curriculum at St Mary’s. The Catholic Education Office Awakenings program is used as the core document of this curriculum area. All students enrolled at St. Mary's are required to participate in the Religious Education program.

This program offers an invitation, a structured approach and an evaluative framework to teachers of Catholic Education. It takes into account the complex and ever increasing secular world that we live in. Most importantly, it prepares our students to contribute to this world by immersing them in the Christian tradition through experiences which are reflective, intellectual, spiritual and prayerful. It is hoped that this immersion will enable students to develop an awareness of justice, compassion and transformation of themselves and the world around them. Religious Education takes place through the formal curriculum and many other aspects of school life such as liturgy, prayer and our Catholic Education Week cluster. As part of our program students are given the opportunity to live out the Gospel values by participating in Social Justice Groups, Caritas Leaders Day, Harmony Day and Mission Day programs. Students also work with the elderly in the community via a range of activities.

Grade 3 -6 classes learn Chinese (Mandarin). Video lessons are provided by a qualified teacher through Meg Languages, direct from Beijing. The class teacher offers support and follows up each lesson with a cultural lesson.

students have weekly fun opportunities to express themselves through art, music and drama.