Curriculum & Specialist Programs

Achievement Program

In 2018 we were one of only two schools to achieve all 8 of the 'Healthy Schools Health Priority Areas' in the Achievement Program in Victoria.

The program ensures that we are planning, implementing and continually working towards delivering a holistic approach towards education for our students and the wider school community.

Active After School Sport

We offer Active After School Sport for our students and the wider community. All sessions are run by a qualified coach and sports change each term.

Sessions run from 3:30pm - 4:30pm every Wednesday during the school term.

Art

We access our specialist Art lessons through the Mobile Area Resource Centre (MARC) Van. Our students have access to fortnightly Art lessons for 1.5 hours.

Students are exposed to a range of mediums and skills.

Environmental Education

Environmental Education is something very important to us at Wooragee Primary School. We are the junior Landcare group of Wooragee Landcare and we work closely with Landcare throughout the year on a variety of projects.

Yirrikama, our nature playground space provides an authentic and organic opportunity to better understand and work in and amongst nature. This space acts as an outdoor classroom, a stimulus for learning and a tool to authentically immerse our students within nature.

We firmly believe that the more that students have an engagement with and understanding of the environment, the greater chance they will be environmentally conscious as adults.

Languages Other Than English (LOTE) - Indigenous Languages

In 2018 we were proud to begin Indigenous Languages as our LOTE subject. We teach the local Dhudhuroa language at our school. We have fortnightly lessons which run for 45 minutes.

Library

We access the Mobile Library through the small school network. Our students have access to fortnightly Library borrowing and lessons for 1 hour each fortnight.

Music

Billy Munro from Living Bridge Music takes our students for fortnightly instrumental music lessons. Billy also prepares our students for the Wodonga Arts Festival and School concert each year.

'Play is the Way' - Social & Emotional Learning

At Wooragee Primary School the implementation of Wilson McCaskill’s ‘Play is the Way’ program underpins everything we do. ‘Play is the Way’ is a practical methodology for teaching social and emotional learning using guided play, classroom activities and a specific and empowering language which is embedded across all levels of our school.

We strongly believe that the program supports our students by developing the fundamental skills for life effectiveness. Teaching the skills we all need to handle ourselves, our relationships, and our work effectively and ethically. These skills include recognising and managing our emotions, developing caring concern for others, establishing positive relationships, making responsible decisions, and handling challenging situations constructively. They are the skills that allow children to calm themselves when angry, make friends, resolve conflicts respectfully, and make strong and safe choices.

The ‘Play is the Way’ philosophy consists of behavior education and student self-regulation that fosters independent, self-motivated, empathetic, lifelong learners.

This philosophy revolves around the Self-Mastery Checklist and the following 5 key concepts:

For further information and recommended reading for parents, please visit the ‘Play is the Way’ website at www.playistheway.com.au.

Reporting & Assessment

Student Report Cards are issued in the final week of term in both Term Two and Term Four.

Parent/Teacher/Student 'learning meetings' are scheduled in Week eight and nine of Term One and Term Three. We are always available to discuss student progress and student issues.

ResourceSmart

ResourceSmart Schools is an award-winning Victorian Government program that assists schools to embed sustainability in everything they do, encourages real-life sustainability learning and helps schools save money. In 2017 we were named ResourceSmart Hume School of the Year.

Learn more about ResourceSmart Schools.

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics)

Our students have weekly STEM lessons. STEM lessons are structured to engage students in creative, cooperative and curious problem solving.

The subject is very hands-on and relies on students thinking deeply, hypothesising, trialling and reflecting. We see our role as educators to prepare our students for their future. We know that our world will be a very different place when our children are adults.

With content at our fingertips, our students need to be equipped with the skills and confidence to think laterally and to do so in a collaborative way, to solve problems.

Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program

The aim of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program is to introduce pleasurable food education into as many Australian primary schools as possible.

Our Program at Wooragee involves a kitchen specialist working with all students and relies on staff and volunteers to ensure each child is fully engaged in learning to live as sustainably as possible with an emphasis on the importance of growing, harvesting, preparing, preserving and sharing good seasonal food.

Dishes cooked in our purpose built student kitchen building reflect the vegetables, herbs and fruits grown, season-by-season, by the children in their organic garden.

The Program is designed to be fully integrated into the primary school curriculum as it offers infinite possibilities to reinforce literacy, numeracy, science, cultural studies and all aspects of environmental sustainability. In addition, the Program delivers observable social benefits to all students.

We in the kitchen and garden every Friday and students have a fortnightly timetable. We share a meal every Friday which has been prepared by our students.

We always warmly welcome and encourage volunteers for these sessions.

Learn more about Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden.