At Essendon North Primary School, we believe that in order to empower our students to be independent, innovative and engage with the world, we must provide transdisciplinary learning environments that foster creativity, conceptual understandings and an inquiry approach to learning. We provide a consistent written, taught and assessed curriculum, both vertically and horizontally across our school that is relevant, significant, challenging and engaging. Our curriculum is collaboratively planned, assessed and reflected upon by all teachers, delivered through the Programme of Inquiry, and aligned with the expecations of the Victorian Curriculum F-10 and the standards and practices of the IB PYP.
The Victorian Curriculum is used as the curriculum framework to plan and monitor the developmental learning of individuals and small groups of students with similar learning needs from Foundation to Year Six, in accordance with DET policy and guidelines. The Victorian Curriculum includes the learning areas of; English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities, Health and Physical Education, The Arts and Languages. Alongside these are the four capabilities of Critical and Creative Thinking, Ethical Capability, Personal and Social Capability and Technologies.
The standards and practices of the IB PYP provide the framework for delivering the curriculum content from Foundation to Year Six, through the Programme of Inquiry (POI). This is developed in accordance with the requirements of the Victorian Curriculum, and with reference to the PYP scope and sequence documents.
At ENPS we provide a differentiated curriculum that recognises and responds to diverse student needs, addressing the specific requirements of students in relation to gender, special learning needs, disabilities and impairments, giftedness and students from language backgrounds other than English. When developing our Programme of Inquiry, and units of inquiry we identify and cater for the differing needs of individuals and particular cohorts of students.
At Essendon North Primary School, the learning and growth of all students is collaborative, valued and communicated to enable a shared responsibility between home and school. Every student is empowered by opportunities to maximise their potential, recognising and promoting individual learning and growth.
Communication of student learning and growth at Essendon North Primary School is transparent, collaborative, relevant and reflective. We conduct ‘Meet the Teacher’ sessions at the start of the school year, ‘Student Learning Conferences’ at mid year and ‘Exhibition of Student Learning’ in December. The purpose of these meetings is for the exchange of information between students, parents and teachers. Parents are encouraged to discuss any concerns with teachers, when they arise, not wait for scheduled meetings. Teachers work in partnership with parents and are proactive in communicating with parents if there are concerns.
Our school has implemented a continuous reporting model and parents receive written Learning Updates six times a year at the end of each unit of inquiry, Specialist Learning Updates at the end of each term, along with Semester One and Two Progress Reports.
The Programme of Inquiry is designed to maximise the potential of all; empowering independence, excellence, innovation and engagement with the world. The POI makes connections across all disciplines to develop skills, knowledge and understandings. The POI is designed to be relevant, significant, challenging and engaging to all students from Foundation to Year Six. Within the POI, students inquire into and learn about the six globally significant transdisciplinary themes.
2024 ENPS Programme of Inquiry
Essendon North Primary has a commitment to structured, purposeful inquiry that engages students actively in their own learning. Inquiry in the broadest sense is the process initiated by the students or the teacher that moves students from their current level of understanding to a new and deeper level of understanding. Inquiry allows students understanding of the world to develop in a manner and at a rate that is unique to that student. Students are supported to make meaning from the world around them by drawing on prior knowledge, by providing new experiences and by providing time and opportuinity for reflection and consolidation.
As an IB World School we actively promote the learner profile throughout our school community. The learner profile provides a long-term vision of education. It is a set of ideals that can inspire, motivate and focus the work of schools and teachers, uniting them in a common purpose. The IB learner profile is the IB mission statement translated into a set of learning outcomes for the 21st century. Read the full IB learner profile.