Australian Curriculum

At Keller Road School we recognise that each student is an individual, and in turn, has individual needs and abilities.

In every classroom, the curriculum and environment are tailored to suit the individual student and to actively encourage learning. Sensory Integration gives all students the opportunity to explore, experiment and understand concepts through a variety of media. The development of effective communication is a major focus throughout the school.

Each Learning Unit looks and operates quite distinctly from the others as the staff plan to meet the needs of the students across diverse learning cultures and developmental stages.

For more information, please visit the Australian Curriculum website here.

The Arts

The Arts is a learning area that draws together related but distinct art forms.
It comprises five subjects:

• Dance
• Drama
• Media
• Music
• Visual Arts

These subjects are offered both in the classroom and through a range of teachers and guests, such as the Drum Beat programme.

English

English is taught through the strands of:

• Language: Knowing about the English language.
• Literature: Understanding, appreciating, responding to, analysing and creating literary texts.
• Literacy: Expanding the repertoire of English usage.

Together, these three strands form an integrated framework of disciplinary knowledge. They focus on developing students’ knowledge, understanding, and skills in listening, reading, viewing, speaking and writing.

Students in Junior Primary settings engage in the Initialit programme, while all year levels access Guided Reading and Process Writing workshops as intensive, differentiated sessions to promote literacy at each child’s learning stage.  Literacy Blocks and Whole School Reading sessions are held each morning as focused sessions.

Integrated activities are incorporated into lessons, to encourage experience and vocabulary growth as solid, connected literacy bases.

HASS

Humanities & Social Sciences are taught through the strands of Inquiry & Skills and Knowledge & Understandings.

Inquiry & Skills equips students with the knowledge and tools necessary for seeking information, sorting and classifying data, and presenting comprehensive conclusions.

The Knowledge and Understanding strand has the sub-strands of:

• History
• Geography
• Civics & Citizenship (Years 3 to 6)
• Economics & Business (Years 5 to 6)

Health and Physical Sciences

Health & PE comprises two content strands:

• Personal, Social & Community Health
• Movement & Physical Education

At the core of Health and Physical Education is the acquisition of movement skills and concepts to enable students to participate in a range of physical activities confidently, competently and creatively. Students learn how the body moves and develop positive attitudes towards physical activity participation. Students need to be resilient, to develop empathy and to be actively engaged in their own and others’ well-being. They use health, safety and physical activity resources for the benefit of themselves and their communities.

Mathematics

Mathematics is taught through the strands of:

• Number & Algebra
• Measurement & Geometry
• Statistics & Probability

These are taught through the proficiencies of:

• Understanding
• Fluency
• Reasoning
• Problem solving

At Keller Road Primary School, students benefit from teachers incorporating a variety of the latest research in teaching practice. These constructivist approaches ensure a rigorous, student-centred space for classes to experiment and progress across all areas of the mathematics curriculum.

Staff regularly attend professional development and work with partnership schools to maintain excellence in the latest pedagogies and research around numeracy.

Science

Science has three interrelated strands:

• Science understanding
• Science as a human endeavour
• Science inquiry skills

The Science Understanding strand is comprised of four sub-strands:

• Biological Sciences
• Earth and Space Sciences
• Chemical Sciences
• Physical Sciences

Science lessons are held in our state-of-the-art STEM Room, adjacent to our well-resourced Library, with a specialist teacher. Literacy and numeracy are integrated into Science, as are cross-curriculum priorities such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and culture as well as sustainability. Our Nature Play space supports this aspect of the science curriculum.

Technologies

Technologies is comprised of two subjects

• Design and Technologies, in which students use design thinking and technologies to generate and produce designed solutions for authentic needs and opportunities
• Digital Technologies, in which students use computational thinking and information systems to define, design and implement digital solutions for authentic problems.