Student Learning

At Nar Nar Goon Primary School we pride ourselves on being a small country school with a BIG focus on learning and achieving our personal best, not just for our students, but for ourselves also.

Our teachers work in collaborative Professional Learning Communities to ensure that research-based, high quality explicit teaching strategies are shared across each class. Each team member uses the same Instructional Model to ensure low variability between classes. Each teacher at our school is also on their own professional learning journey, and professional development at our school is continual and designed to embed deep knowledge in our staff, enabling them to differentiate for a range of needs and help build solid skills across the curriculum. We use the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model (VTLM 2.0) which is informed by contemporary evidence about the way students learn and the most effective teaching practices and approaches to achieve strong learning outcomes for students.

We follow a structured Literacy program, embedding the Big 6 of Reading- Oral language, Phonological awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Fluency, and Comprehension. We use Soundwaves across the school as a support for our students. Students actively learn to write about what they know and think, and our teachers use Mentor Texts to support and guide students in how to be an effective writer. We use the 6+1 Traits of Writing as a scaffold - Voice, Ideas, Presentation, Conventions, Organization, Word Choice, and Sentence Fluency, to support the development of good sentence structure, vocabulary, generate ideas, and use appropriate conventions at each level. 

Central to our approach is the I Do, We Do, You Do philosphy in order to support our students to become independent learners, collaborators and decision makers. We use Explicit Teaching to enable students to see worked examples and ensure we expose our students to concepts again and again, to develop mastery. We use a Check-For-Understanding protocol, regularly making sure our students can describe what they are doing and why. 

Each child's success is monitored and celebrated. We report to parents twice a year on the Victorian Curriculum 2.0 through formal reports and communicate each students' Social and Emotional, Literacy and Numeracy achievements each term through a Learning Snapshot which prompts a 3 way discussion between parents, staff and the individual student. We are very proud of this level of student agency, as students are able to take an active part in showcasing new skills and learning in this way. Our beginning of the year starts with a Welcome BBQ to meet teachers and develop goals, and our middle of the year Student Led Conferences are another way our students are at the forefront of demonstrating their learning. 

Central to our school's success is a proactive Social and Emotional Literacy and Wellbeing program that utilises Play Is The Way, Respectful Relationships, Berry Street Education Model, Social Groups, a Student Representative Committee and a School Chaplain. We foster the building of strong connections and relationships, a sense of belonging and the development of skills to problem-solve and regulate emotions. These are all life-long skills that support the development of well adjusted and successful humans.