Welcome to my profile...I believe that before I tell you something about my day visits, its very important to look at the situational analysis of the school so that we know what factors affect the students' learning.
MY SCHOOL
St John's is a systemic Catholic Primary School situated in the Parish of Auburn educating over 300 boys and girls from Kindergarten to Year 6. It aims to develop a loving and prayerful relationship with God and a respect for one another, while endeavoring to develop the skills that will enable each child to function happily now and in the future. The staff's openness, respect and concern for all children in the school are important elements in achieving this. The school welcomes children and their families from many lands and cultures. The multicultural nature of the school is recognizable by the presence of many different ethnic groups. This provides richness in social and cultural education and helps foster tolerance and respect.
St John's is a systemic Catholic Primary School situated in the Parish of Auburn educating over 300 boys and girls from Kindergarten to Year 6. It aims to develop a loving and prayerful relationship with God and a respect for one another, while endeavoring to develop the skills that will enable each child to function happily now and in the future. The staff's openness, respect and concern for all children in the school are important elements in achieving this. The school welcomes children and their families from many lands and cultures. The multicultural nature of the school is recognizable by the presence of many different ethnic groups. This provides richness in social and cultural education and helps foster tolerance and respect.
The facilities present in the school include beautiful treed surroundings with large oval caring, secure environment, renovated classrooms, adventure playgrounds, well-equipped library, well-resourced computerised resource center, networked computers in every classroom, air conditioning and heating in all classrooms. The school is concerned with the overall health and safety of our children, therefore, St John's School has the policy of ‘ NO HAT NO PLAY' as a preventative measure to safeguard our children.
St John’s is registered by the Board of Studies (NSW) and managed by the Catholic Education Office, Sydney. In using this syllabus, the teachers at St Joseph’s Primary School decided that it would provide opportunities for students to develop a broad range of knowledge, skills and values that would contribute to the development of the whole child. Being a Catholic school, Religious Education is central to the whole curriculum.
At St. John's we provide for our parents many opportunities to be a part of their child's school life. Our parents meet regularly for formal and informal chats enabling them to discuss a variety of issues. The Parents & Friends Association plays a very active role in providing funds for equipment in the school and in giving general support in a multitude of ways. By being an involved participant in the work of the Association, parents have the opportunity to meet other families in the school and enjoy the ownership and social contact that are a part of our vibrant community. It is a great way to be part of a caring family community. All parents are encouraged to attend meetings throughout the each year. The Parents & Friends organise several fund raising events throughout the year such as sausage sizzles, disco's, and many other social events.
The school vision is to have a contemporary learning center that for the diverse. The school mission statement 2010 “Building Relationships for Learning” is committed to being a community that fosters relationships between student’s parents and staff, ensuring learning programmes support success in all students and being a catholic community that witnesses the values that Jesus taught us. The school staffs include classroom and executive teachers, librarian, special education teacher, ESL teacher, Reading recovery staff and support staff. The pastoral care policy when relating to school climate consistently demonstrates a spirit of co-operation, shared goals and responsibility for achievements, including policies and procedures and professional development which ensure a safe, secure and welcoming environment. St John's Primary School is committed to providing a safe and caring environment, which fosters respect for others and does not tolerate bullying.
THE SCHOOL WEBSITE
MY YEAR 5
My Year 5-A consists of 16 students, with 8 girls and 8 boys. It is extremely multicultural class. Each and every student is unique having different levels of abilities, talents and intellectual and emotional needs which are evident in the class role. Although they are in Year 5, they all are working at the level of late stage 2. Another thing I would like to bring to notice is that they all belong to low socio-economic background and come from communities that are not literate.
Student tables are organised in three rows. First row have 4 students while second and last rows have 6 students each. Desks should be placed in a way so that students are able to see the board and face the teacher during times when teacher needs to speak to the whole class without turning their bodies (Konza et al, 2006). I feel that students can have easy view of board in that manner and can work in groups as well. Teacher’s desk is placed in the side of the students sitting arrangement that enables teacher to keep an eye on students and provide them with efficient help whenever they need it. Students with approximately similar needs are seated in same rows so that they can help each other and share their learning styles to reach common goals.
The class area is quiet spacious and have adequate number of cupboards and other resource material to cater to the needs of students. Teacher has divided cupboards according to the KLA’s with maths stuff in one corner, science in another and so on. There are two computers at the back of the class on which students can use internet and they usually use it during their preferred activity time. Students have little opportunity to use computer as there are only two computers in the class. The main disadvantage in the classroom is the absence of the smart board as these days it is an invaluable resource which helps motivating students and focusing their attention on the lesson.
The class does not have any wet area and thus they have to go outside to use water which can cause misbehaviour and distractions in the class. Teacher has displayed students’ work all over the walls in the class which I feel is an excellent strategy for the teachers to intrinsically motivate the students to work hard as they feel proud when their work is displayed. Then she have a word wall so which is changed weekly according to the lessons, so that students can refer to it when they need it and it provides visual learning. She has displayed other resources as well in the class like atlas, posters according to the lessons, English text types etc to help students access information whenever they need it. In the front of the class, teacher has displayed classroom rules and whenever a student tries to misbehave she just points towards it with her fingers without disrupting the lesson or without picking on someone.
