The Australian Curriculum describes what young Australians should learn as they progress through schooling. It is the foundation for their future learning, growth and active participation in the Australian community. It sets out essential knowledge, understanding, skills and capabilities and provides a national standard for student achievement in core learning areas.”
www.australiancurriculum.edu.au
Mother Teresa Catholic Primary School teaches the prescribed Australian Curriculum in the areas of Mathematics, English, Science, History, Geography, Civics and Citizenship and Health and Physical Education. These will be followed by The Arts, Business and Economics and Technologies once they are endorsed by the Australian curriculum body.
Curriculum at Mother Teresa Catholic Primary School
21st century education integrates technologies, engaging students in ways not previously possible, creating new learning and teaching possibilities, enhancing achievement and extending interactions with local and global communities.”
(Contemporary Learning, Learning in an Online World MCEETYA 2005)
Curriculum development is an ongoing process at Mother Teresa Catholic Primary School. Our school Curriculum Framework is informed by Syllabus documents developed by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), and Catholic Education Services Northern Territory.
Our curriculum is innovative and contemporary and is designed to respond to the needs and interests of our students. We begin by establishing their individual needs through well-designed assessments. We have surveyed our staff, students and parents to establish an understanding of student interest, passions and parent expectations for their children and use these to inform our classroom programs. We are then guided in our Learning and Teaching by the following:
- Australian Curriculum
- Strategy: Towards 2017 (CEO Northern Territory)
- AITSL (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership) standards for Teachers
To further ensure that we are best meeting the needs of individual students, our staff members are regularly involved in Professional Development that is based on the latest research and contemporary approaches from around the world. Teachers plan in teams, supported by experts from within the school, Catholic Education Office and Education Department, assessing individual student needs, informed by assessment and observations, and devise ways to meet these within classrooms. There is a strong focus on development of essential skills in Literacy and Numeracy to enable students to successfully access the rest of the curriculum.
The curriculum at Mother Teresa’s immerses students in learning that will equip them with the necessary skills and dispositions to live and work within a world that demands high levels of ICT literacy, academic knowledge and understanding as well as personal and interpersonal skills to allow them to communicate, think critically, collaborate and create in a global world.
Our view about learning and teaching is informed by the Learning Framework that describes the key elements, which inform curriculum planning and decision-making, along with the delivery and evaluation of curriculum in classrooms.
As defined in our Diocesan Learning Framework we seek to nurture students who aspire to be and become:
- People of hope, joy, courage and wisdom
- Communicators who are effective and creative
- Learners who are inquiring and reflective, seeking truth
- Participants and producers who are independent and interdependent
- Citizens of the world who are responsible, ethical and resourceful
- People enriched by a spiritual appreciation of self, God, neighbour and life.
Click here for more Curriculum information
Learning and Teaching – is the core activity of our schools. Quality learning and teaching in Catholic schools is informed by:
- The educational vision, mission, policies and strategic priorities of the Diocese of the Northern Territory
- Contemporary educational research and practices
- The needs and the aspirations of students, their families and the local community
- The knowledge and skills of teachers and support staff
- The requirements of Government educational policies and directions