Trafalgar Primary School
and Early Learning Centre
School 2185
School 2185
We wish to acknowledge the Gunaikurnai people as Traditional Owners of this land. We acknowledge and pay our respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and Traditional Custodians throughout Victoria, including Elders past, present, and emerging first Nation leaders.
Together, empowering learners to follow their passion and make powerful contributions to the lives of others.
Trafalgar Primary School is a vibrant, inclusive, and community-oriented school located in regional Victoria, approximately 120 kilometres east of Melbourne. Nestled at the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges, the school serves the township of Trafalgar; one of the fastest growing areas in the state. The school’s vision- Together, empowering learners to follow their passion and make powerful contributions to the lives of others- is lived through a strong commitment to fostering an inclusive and supportive learning environment. This is anchored by the school’s values: Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be a Learner, which underpin its Behaviour Curriculum and approach to student management.
Trafalgar Primary School employs a dedicated and diverse team of 47 staff, including teachers, learning specialists, tutors, and Education Support staff. The school offers specialist programs in Music, Visual Arts, Health and Physical Education, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) and Performing Arts. A broad range of sporting opportunities ensures students remain active and engaged, including annual swimming lessons and exposure to both mainstream and emerging sports.
Trafalgar Primary forms part of a dynamic education precinct, alongside the co-located Early Learning Centre and High School. This supports strong transition pathways and cross-campus collaboration.
At Trafalgar Primary School, our Teaching and Learning approach is grounded in the Science of Learning and designed to ensure every student experiences high-quality, evidence-based instruction, every day, in every classroom. We are committed to a low-variance, highly coherent instructional model that provides clarity for teachers and a predictable, supportive learning environment for students.
Central to our practice is Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI). Teachers systematically present new content in small, manageable steps, modelling the learning, checking for understanding, and providing guided and independent practice. EDI ensures that core knowledge is taught clearly, misconceptions are identified early, and all students have the opportunity to succeed, regardless of their starting point.
Our curriculum is intentionally Knowledge-Rich, ensuring that students build deep, connected, and culturally relevant understanding across all learning areas. Knowledge is sequenced deliberately across year levels so that students develop strong background knowledge, vocabulary, and conceptual understanding.
In Literacy, we deliver a Systematic Synthetic Phonics program grounded in the Orton-Gillingham approach, which provides structured, cumulative, multisensory instruction in phonics, morphology, and spelling. This ensures that all students develop essential decoding and encoding skills, supporting fluent reading and writing. Our approach aligns fully with the Department of Education’s position on the teaching of reading and the broader body of research on effective early literacy instruction.
Together, these elements form a cohesive and highly effective Teaching and Learning approach that reflects the Science of Learning: explicit instruction, cumulative practice, spaced review, and the deliberate building of knowledge over time. Through this model, Trafalgar Primary School is ensuring that all students are safe, respectful, and engaged learners who can thrive academically and beyond.
Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be a Learner