Curriculum

On the 3rd March 2005 the minister for Education and Training, Lynne Kosky, officially launched the new Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS) which we will begin to implement in 2006. The VELS provide a new approach to curriculum from Prep to Year 10. The Standards identify what is important for students to achieve at different stages of their schooling, set standards for those achievements and provide a clear basis for reporting to parents and for planning programs.

The VELS have been developed in recognition that our world is complex, rapidly changing and rich in information and technology, demanding high-order knowledge and understanding and increasingly global in its outlook and influences. This rapid growth of knowledge means that our students need to be flexible, adaptable and creative and so it is important that our teaching and learning needs to reflect these changes. To succeed in that world, all students need to develop the capacities to:

• manage themselves as individuals and in relation to others
• understand the world in which they live; and
• act effectively in that world

Students will need to create a future which:

Is sustainable- developing an understanding of the interaction between social, economic and environmental systems and how to manage them.

Is innovative- developing the skills to solve new problems using a range of different approaches to create unique solutions.

Builds strong communities- by building common purposes and values and by promoting mutual responsibility and trust in a socio-cultural community.

Students will continue to study Physical Education, Science, Mathematics, Technology and English as in previous years but the personal, social and problem–solving skills will also be part of our student’s education.

Students in the early years (Prep-Grade2) will focus on English, Mathematics, Physical and Personal skills and the Arts and the other standards of Civics and Citizenship, Humanities (History, Geography and Economics ) Languages other than English (LOTE) and Science will be developed from grade 3 –6.