Curriculum

Trafalgar Primary School’s curriculum is based on The Victorian Curriculum F–10, which sets out what every student should learn during their first eleven years of schooling. The curriculum is the common set of knowledge and skills required by students for life-long learning, social development and active and informed citizenship.

The Victorian Curriculum F–10 incorporates the Australian Curriculum and reflects Victorian priorities and standards

Literacy

While much of the explicit teaching of literacy occurs in the English learning area, it is strengthened, made specific and extended in other learning areas as students engage in a range of learning activities with significant literacy demands.

Numeracy

The knowledge and skills that underpin numeracy are explicitly taught in the Mathematics strands Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry and Statistics and Probability and reinforced and further exemplified in and across other curriculum areas. Through this process, students recognise that mathematics is widely used both in and outside school and learn to apply mathematical knowledge and skills in a wide range of familiar and unfamiliar situations.

Information and Communications Technologies

In the Victorian Curriculum F–10, the ICT general capability skills are either specifically embedded in the content descriptions of Mathematics, Media Arts, Geography, English and Digital Technologies.

The Trafalgar Primary School Chromebook program commenced in 2019. It aims to improve student engagement and promote even greater academic achievement by providing teachers and students with new ways to learn and collaborate.

It is an expectation that all students in years 3 & 4, have a school-approved Chromebook ordered through our chosen supplier. The school has done extensive research and chosen a device that is reliable, has proven long battery life, high level processing power and is very durable; it is ideal for use in a school environment. Moreover, the School’s teaching and learning program has been designed with the Chromebook’s functionality in mind and both the leadership team and teaching staff believe it plays a vital role in delivering an effective and engaging curriculum

The 21st century requires resilient, independent learners who can think critically. We believe our Chromebook program will develop students’ ability to research, synthesise and collaborate, whilst maintaining our school’s commitment to outstanding academic performance.

How we deliver the curriculum

At Trafalgar Primary School, our curriculum is team developed and delivered, to be both guaranteed and viable. The core concepts being ‘guaranteed’ meaning that the curriculum is designed by teams and that all students receive the same curriculum. The idea of ‘viable’ meaning that adequate time has been given to ensure that the curriculum can be delivered effectively.

Working in teams our teachers have developed learning content based on the Victorian Curriculum to create ‘priority standards’ – big ideas and concepts that run through the curriculum from Prep to Year 6.

These are the essential concepts that our teachers will take time to re-teach, and teach again to ensure every student at Trafalgar Primary School grows in their learning, irrespective of their starting point. In order to determine whether students have learned the desired skills and content in each curriculum area, common assessments are designed that allow teachers to measure how successfully students have learned the content. To deliver a viable curriculum, that is a curriculum that is able to be delivered in the time allocated, teams develop ‘scope and sequence’ documents that specify how much time is devoted to each area of the curriculum. Finally, units of work are documented and shared within the team and across levels.