Curriculum

Reception to Year 6

At Saint Ignatius' College Junior School we seek to develop students who are:

• intellectually competent;
• religiously alive;
• open to growth;
• loving, and
• committed to justice.

We want our students to develop their God-given potential to its fullest capacity. We achieve this by providing a challenging, stimulating, child-centred curriculum. Students are encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning within a caring Christian environment, where they know they are valued, feel safe to extend themselves and take risks. Therefore our curriculum reflects process as well as content, the cognitive, the affective and the spiritual. Ours is the curriculum that strives to develop within students a love of learning, a desire to achieve personal excellence, deep understanding, and the knowledge, skills and dispositions necessary to take their place as responsible global citizens who have been called by God to be all they can for the well-being of human kind.

Given this, our curriculum is underpinned by the following beliefs:

• all children are curious and capable of learning;
• all children make meaning and express themselves in a myriad of ways;
• making mistakes and reflecting on one’s learning are central to developing understanding, knowledge, skills and right attitudes;
• learning experiences and the curriculum should engage and develop the heart, mind, body and will;
• a high quality curriculum that documents clearly what we want the children to know, do, understand and value;
• Digital Technologies is incorporated across all Key Learning Areas so that students are taught how to use those technologies as learning tools;
• all Key Learning Areas are linked rather than viewed and taught as isolated disciplines, and
• the curriculum seeks to prepare students not only for what they need to know and do today, but in the future.

Being able to think critically, logically and creatively is central to a Jesuit education and thus, the teaching of thinking skills in context, is mandatory; it permeates our entire curriculum.

Key Learning Areas

The Junior School curriculum is centred on nine Key Areas of Learning which are supported and nurtured by Special Programs and co-curricular activities.

The Key Learning Areas:

• Religious Education
• Design and Digital Technologies
• English
• Health and Physical Education
• Humanities and Social Sciences (History, Geography, Civics and Citizenship)
• Languages: Chinese (Mandarin)
• Mathematics
• Science
• The Arts: Visual Art, Music, Drama and Dance

Specialist Areas

The Junior School provides specialist teaching in a number of subject areas, each in a specialist facility. Among these are featured:

• Art
• Languages: Chinese (Mandarin)
• Library
• Music
• Physical Education
• Design and Digital Technologies
• Science

Special Programs

Special programs are employed to challenge and foster each child's special abilities. The Junior School provides comprehensive inclusive education support for students with exceptional learning needs. An emphasis is placed upon early intervention in order to promote student success in achieving positive outcomes, and differentiates for highly able learners.

Flexible Learning in Years 4-6 supports differentiation within the classroom environment.

Special Programs that support and nurture the Key Learning Areas:

• Inclusive Education Support
  • Enrichment and extension for highly able learners
  • Literacy Support
  • Numeracy Support
  • The Macquarie University Reading Tutor Programs
  • Move, Learn, Grow - fine motor skill development
• Student Wellbeing Programs
  • URSTRONG Friendology
  • The Resilience Project

Homework Hub is available for students in Years 3–6, Monday to Thursday from 4.00 – 5.00pm during OSHC. This provides a supportive environment where students can focus on their studies and develop independent learning skills. Homework Hub encourages students to build good study habits and enhances their confidence in managing academic tasks.

The Student Mentoring Program provides a safe environment for students to successfully engage with peers, whilst learning and reflecting on social and emotional interactions. This program provides students extra support in:

• developing an understanding of their own and others' emotions and empathy;
• building on confidence and self-esteem;
• developing a secure sense of self worth;
• building on skills and values; and
• forming friendship connections.