Parents throughout the Narromine district have welcomed recent changes at St Augustine's Parish School, as students settle in for the 2019 school year.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A staged learning approach has been introduced to the class structure, made up of Kindergarten, Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2), Stage 2 (Years 3 and 4) and Stage 3 (Years 5 and 6).
St Augustine's School Principal Renee Matheson believed traditional methods of teaching are not preparing students adequately for their future, and is confident the new approaches the school are taking follows best practice for today's environment.
READ ALSO:
"We have students that are going to be working in jobs that may not have been invented yet," she said.
"So we need to teach our students how to communicate and be critical thinkers. They need to know how to not only collaborate but also work independently and be self-driven.
"We need to empower our students with a growth mindset."
The classrooms at St Augustine's have been modelled on the principles of Dr David Thornburg, author of 'Campfires in Cyberspace'.
The primary classrooms involve three distinct spaces to learn through their teacher and peers, to learn socially through interaction with each other and to reflect on their learning.
This contemporary approach addresses the school's vision of "engaged, resilient and empowered learners who are always guided by Jesus Christ and the needs of our wider community".
"The most important facet of learning is the relationship between teachers and their students and families, " Ms Matheson said.
"Our small school community provides the perfect culture to develop these relationships with opportunities including Catholic Schools Week, lunch on the lawn with families, Personalised Learning Plans, social media platforms and open classrooms.
"Our team are on a journey of re-imagining classroom teaching and learning spaces. High quality teaching and learning happens when students are given a range of learning pathways and when they have opportunities to share that learning with others.
"Flexible seating arrangements are just one of the ways we provide different approaches for students to learn."
St Augustine's school executive and class teachers have been fortunate to work with world renowned Canadian educationalist, Dr Lyn Sharratt.
Dr Sharratt has guided the Wilcannia Forbes Diocese in a process of reflecting on the teaching and learning in our schools and her strategies are being implemented in every school of the Wilcannia Forbes Diocese.
Ms Matheson conducts regular learning walks through the school. If parents or community members would like to attend one of these walks or hear more about the exciting approach to learning please contact the school on 6889 1083.
