PRIMARY YEARS

Welcome to the Moerlina School Primary Years.

 

The Primary Years at Moerlina School run from Pre-Primary to Year 6.

 

What learning looks like at Moerlina

Our primary years learning programs are guided by the Australian Curriculum, as well as the Early Years Learning Framework for Pre-Primary.

Moerlina’s small, multi-age classes allow for consideration of each child, for both extension and enrichment.

Our teachers work collaboratively to provide a comprehensive academic, social and emotional learning program, which places children at the centre of everything we do.

Literacy and Numeracy are taught as discrete disciplines and are carefully planned and structured to allow children the time and specificity required to develop essential knowledge and skills.

We foster a love of reading and language in all children, and support this with programs such as Support-a-Reader.

Science, History, Geography, Arts and Technologies are integrated into diverse thematic units and projects, with many hands-on activities that are often influenced by student interests and curiosities.

 

Space, movement and nature

We also see the space, inside the classroom and outdoors, as a teacher, encouraging exploration and connection.

We understand the importance of children’s need to move. This is consciously factored into all our teaching programs every single day – opportunities to move around the room, to sit comfortably and stand regularly. We incorporate games, drama, role play and music. The children also actively participate in daily fitness and sports lessons.

Children’s exposure to nature is central to the learning at Moerlina. Our innovative Bush School and Beach School programs are just one feature of our extensive Outdoor Education. And our natural-terrain school yard encourages play in nature during recess.

 

Making learning relevant

As children grow, they learn by doing increasingly more for themselves. We encourage this developing independence through hands-on, active learning opportunities complemented with opportunities to demonstrate their deepening of abstract thought and processes.

Making all learning relevant and connected to the real world is the foundation of all our teaching at Moerlina. Our children attend many incursions and excursions throughout the year, which are all supporting specific areas of the curriculum. We also make our in-class learning relevant through programs such as Financial Maths (during which children develop and run their own business).

Throughout their Primary Years children become increasingly aware of the world around them. They hold a strong sense of fairness and they want to make a difference. Children learn about relevant and real-life topics that demand engagement. We allow them to be creative, to find solutions and communicate their suggestions in authentic and meaningful ways. We encourage inquisitiveness, lots of questions, and thinking outside of the box.

Throughout their school years at Moerlina, children are given a strong social and emotional foundation through explicit teaching and high expectations. Children are supported to make considered choices about their learning and social responsibilities, displaying empathy and a sense of social justice. Making good choices builds children with resilience and integrity who function with confidence in a range of situations that they will encounter in their lives.

 

If you are interested where our children go from here you can read about it in After Moerlina.