Learning

Our Learners

Our collegial learners are the students, educators and families who work together within our school community to enable students to be and become their personal best.

We strive to teach our children to be capable and active participants who care and respect our environment. At St Mary’s College, our students use opportune moments to think critically and creatively, to problem solve, investigate, explore, wonder, and imagine for the betterment of their own lives.

We allow flexibility within the learning environment through play and provide them with the freedom to make sense of their world. We enable them to use their unique gifts to do good and we offer encouragement so that they can develop a strong sense of wellbeing, ownership, and responsibility.

Learning Environments

Our environments are safe, inclusive, and flexible spaces which support each child and their uniqueness. Each learning environment fosters a sense of curiosity through its rich and diverse invitations for learning, inquiry, and exploration.

We believe planned and spontaneous learning experiences help children to construct the knowledge and skills that enable them to relate to and contributors to their world.

Learning opportunities are weaved within a holistic approach and pay attention to the student’s physical, personal, social, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing as well as cognitive and creative aspects of learning. These opportunities promote open-ended interactions, discovery, and connection. At St Mary’s College, early years educators support a holistic approach to child development, sustained shared thinking, collaborative learning, and engagement.

Curriculum and Culture

Learning is a two-way relationship between educators and children where warm and trusting relationships with significant adults are fundamental to children’s learning and wellbeing. We recognise the connections between children, our families and communities and value the importance of reciprocal relationships and partnerships for learning.

We have empathy for each child’s circumstances, hopes and dreams. Our staff provide care to promote a strong sense of dignity and wellbeing for all children. We teach our children to be kind, responsible and respectful followers of Jesus in today’s world. We also recognise and celebrate each child’s unique gifts, their expertise and the historical and cultural, language and traditions they share and own.

At St Mary’s College, we design learning programmes that are based on Gospel values and learning outcomes ingrained within the Western Australian Curriculum, Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework and The Western Australian Kindergarten Curriculum, Promoting Keeping Safe and social emotional learning programs.

Assessment

Assessment is a critical part of our planning cycles at St Mary’s College. Within these cycles, our teachers implement current policy, curriculum, and guiding frameworks inclusive of early years care and practice to make informed decisions appropriate to each child’s needs, potential and interests.

At St Mary’s College, teachers gather evidence about what a child can do, what they know and understand. We listen, question, explore, observe, document, and interpret information to assess each child’s learning as they grow and change over time. Our assessment approach captures and validates the different pathways children take toward the achievement.

A range of literacy and numeracy assessment tasks are also conducted across our early years classrooms to allow our teachers opportunities to conduct standardised measures of learning. These tasks provide us with insight about a child’s learning. It also captures the strengths, interests, point of need and competencies within each child’s learning pathway and journey.