How We Teach & Support

At St. Joseph’s we are dedicated to a whole school approach that is cohesive, collective and collaborative about action to improve student learning, behaviour and wellbeing, and the conditions that support these.

St. Joseph’s offers intervention programs for students requiring extra support, as well as extension opportunities for students who are able to perform above their expected grade level.

Regular assessments, observations and conversations with the children ensure that each child’s ‘learning narrative’ and ‘learning style/s’ are understood. A differentiated approach that is inclusive of all children’s learning requirements underpins teaching and learning.

Some children may require a Personalised Learning Plan.  A child’s identified needs and intervention requirements are communicated to their parents who are then kept informed of their child’s progress and future direction.

Teacher and student Learning Conferences ensure that students are aware of their learning successes as well as having opportunities to plan goals to work on areas of need.  Students are strongly encouraged to be active participants and negotiators of their learning.

Our trained Learning Support Officers (LSOs) work in classrooms to assist teachers with children who may need extra support.  Under the guidance of class teachers, the LSOs also work with small groups of students consolidating concepts that the students may be having some difficulty grasping.

We have support from Catholic Education Melbourne to access Psychological, Speech and Special Education consultant services.

English Support

We employ proven intervention programs such as Reading Recovery, Levelled Literacy Intervention (LLI), Enhancing Reading for At Risk Students (ERIK) and Phonics for Reading.  Children who have been identified as requiring extra support with developing literacy skills undergo testing to see which of the interventions would best cater to their particular learning style/s and needs.

Numeracy Support

Numeracy support groups are run to assist students who require extra help. In a small group format, students are provided with explicit additional teaching and activities to help support their continued progress to the next level.

Students who consistently demonstrate that they have mastered the standards of their current grade level are challenged through explicit teaching in the classroom to progress to the next level of work. This can include a range of tasks designed to extend these students, including:

• Reading more extended and complex texts, and discussing these with peers in guided groups and literature circles
• Developing knowledge of more advanced vocabulary and elements of grammar and punctuation
• Being challenged to solve multi-step mathematical problems
• Participation in G.A.T.E.WAYS (Gifted and Talented Education, Extension and Enrichment) which is an external company who provide dynamic and creative learning opportunities for students who fall within the gifted ability range. It is their aim to provide opportunities for children of ‘like-minds’ to participate in programs that will challenge them intellectually and help develop their individual talents.

Resilience is the ability to bounce back from difficult circumstances.  Being resilient allows us to adapt to difficult circumstances and move on to more positive outcomes.  Resilience promotes inclusiveness, belonging, success in both academic and social settings. We explicitly teach resilience through Respectful Relationships program, Bounce Back and Values Education.  Our staff are trained in Kidsmatter, Berry Street and Respectful Relationship Education which focus on building positive relationships and connectedness to our community.

In our classrooms, students have the opportunity to participate in Friendship Groups, Circle Time, Meditation and Mindfulness, Gratitudes and Brain breaks which focus on developing and further strengthening their social and emotional wellbeing and mental health.

If your child is moving to St Joseph’s School from another school, we will discuss with you and the previous school the social, emotional and academic needs of your child. We will focus initially on assisting your child settle in successfully. Having others with which to play at recess, and developing friends are essential first steps. Then we are ready to learn!

The academic needs of your child we will identify in discussion with you and the information gathered from the previous school. Sometimes we will do some further assessment. We will share with you our findings, and the learning goals.

If you are moving from St Joseph’s we will provide copies of our records to the new school and offer to support the new teachers to understand the learning goals we were working towards.