Teaching and Learning

All the information you need to join our school community.

While our school is founded on Buddhist principles, our curriculum is aligned with
the Australian Curriculum, with additional offerings that focus on inquiry-based
learning. We consistently score above the National Average in our NAPLAN results.

Our school day begins with a whole school immersion in Buddhist Awareness,
which supports children in developing their understanding and practice of
mindfulness, compassion, empathy, and universal responsibility.

Classes to explicitly develop Literacy, Numeracy, and Humanities skills and
understandings are embedded in learning experiences throughout the day

Our program offers Literacy, Numeracy, Science, Humanities, Health and
Physical Education and Technology. Personal and Interpersonal Learning are
incorporated into the underlying approaches to daily learning.
Inquiry explorations are centered around four-yearly themes; Well-being, Social
Harmony, Cultural Diversity and Environmental Balance. Investigations are
tailored to the developmental needs of each year level whilst also engaging
student curiosity and interests.

Weekly classes of Chinese language, Physical Education, Visual Arts and
Performing Arts are timetabled each week with specialist teachers.

Performing Arts classes integrate Literacy and Music and culminate in a term 3
learning celebration. Visual Art classes support the term themes and develop
specific artistic skills and experience in different media. Our Dharma Art Show
in Term 4 provides our young artists a chance to exhibit their creative and
technical skills to a wider audience.

Special event days are held regularly where students engage with each other
and the local community on key topics related to the term theme.
Luna New Year Festival is a major celebration for children at the school in
Term 1 as our Noble Guides awaken the ‘Dragon’ and lead our whole school
dragon parade as parents and friends bang pots and pans to hail in the new year.

Leading up to our Festival children learn about the Lunar New
Year and the significance of this celebration in the Chinese cultural calendar.

Our Programs

Learn about our Programs

Daily programme

Tuition fees, bursaries and financial assistance.

Our daily programme offers Literacy, Numeracy, Science, Humanities, Health and Technology.

Literacy

Literacy learning is infused into many areas of our learning day. We use a balance of explicit teaching along with the opportunity for children to apply their developing  literacy skills to authentic and meaningful projects. Our literacy programme focuses on developing reading, writing, spelling and speaking and listening skills. In our early years program we also use Phonics International as our systematic synthetic phonics program to introduce and embed strong decoding skills.

Numeracy

Our maths approach stems from a  focus on creating a deep understanding of mathematical concepts and how they might apply to the world around us. Lessons involve a mixture of explicit teaching, aimed at addressing specific needs of individual students as well as opportunities for students to explore mathematical concepts using visual and tactile materials or ways to apply it in context.
‘Number Talks’ are used daily in our classrooms to support mathematical thinking at all stages and to encourage strong conceptual understandings of patterning and place value. Maths experiences throughout the day support the development of four key proficiencies which include mathematical understanding, fluency, reasoning and problem solving. These proficiencies enable students to respond to familiar and unfamiliar situations by employing mathematical strategies to make informed decisions and solve problems efficiently.

Assessment

Assessment is an integral part of our teaching and learning process. Assessment and Reporting combine to support students to achieve their best and to provide the basis for guiding further learning. It also provides an opportunity to inform parents about their childs’ achievement.
Children are encouraged to set goals related to their own learning needs throughout the semester and our student led learning conversation model provide opportunities for children to demonstrate the learning process related to these goals. Portfolios include snapshots of the whole learning picture ie, drafts, re-drafts, thinking processes (concepts maps etc) and published work.

Inquiry

Inquiry Learning integrates the areas of Literacy, Numeracy, Science, Humanities, Technology, Civics and Citizenship and Health. Children ask questions and delve deeply into the various aspects of the topic they choose to explore.
Students engage in four key themes across the year; Wellbeing, Social Harmony, Cultural Diversity and Environmental Balance.