Curriculum Opportunities

We pride ourselves on a wide range of curriculum opportunities for our students

It’s not the curriculum that we offer that sets us apart, it’s the manner in which it’s delivered

Any school can teach a curriculum. Amazing schools like ours is full of teachers actively and passionately exploring the possibilities of making their teaching practice more innovative, engaging and fun at every turn. This is the single ingredient that drives the most growth in our students.

The success we attain is not only evidenced by the assessment data – but it’s seen through the smiles and joy we see on our student’s faces as a concept is grasped. This is the indefinable element that drives us as teachers to produce and grow our own teaching skills year in, year out.

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Student Wellbeing

At Roberts McCubbin PS student wellbeing is the foundation of all school activities and programs. Our goal is to provide a safe and engaging environment that supports and promotes the behavioural, emotional and cognitive wellbeing of all our students.

Literacy

At Roberts McCubbin Primary School, the goal of our literacy program is to develop lifelong readers and writers. We achieve this through daily reading, writing and speaking and listening. We use the Victoria Curriculum to plan and assess students learning.

Numeracy

Numeracy at Roberts McCubbin is enjoyable, yet challenging for all students. Our maths program is student-centred, working on the next level of need for each and every student. The learning situations in maths are mostly open-ended, integrated and relevant. The activities are based on real-life stories and situations to help make meaning for students.

Physical Education

Children at Roberts McCubbin Primary School participate in one hour of Physical Education per week. In Foundation to year 4 the main focus is on the Fundamental Motor skills such as throwing, catching, kicking, striking etc.

Visual Arts

The Visual Arts program at Roberts McCubbin is highly valued and supported. Our Arts program is focused on engaging students in critical and creative thinking.

Performing Arts

Performing Arts at Roberts McCubbin is a culmination of four subjects: Music, Media Studies, Dance and is primarily Drama focused. Performing Arts allows the students to explore their imagination and gives them the opportunity to develop their cognitive skills.

Inquiry

Robotics & STEM

Roberts McCubbin Primary School is committed to the implementation of the Digital Technologies domain of the Victorian Curriculum which focusses on 3 key areas: Digital Systems, Data and Information and Creating Digital Solutions.

Languages (Japanese)

Learning With Technology

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Student Wellbeing

Wellbeing at Roberts McCubbin

At Roberts McCubbin PS student wellbeing is the foundation of all school activities and programs. Our goal is to provide a safe and engaging environment that supports and promotes the behavioural, emotional and cognitive wellbeing of all our students.
The following approaches are used to support our students to achieve success in a safe and engaging school environment.
-Kidsmatter
-Rights Resilience and Respectful Relationships
-Peaceful Kids program
-Better Buddy program

At Roberts McCubbin PS we have implemented the Kidsmatter framework to develop students’ social and emotional learning (SEL). Social emotional learning (SEL) of our students is paramount. Kidsmatter provides a structure of 5 SEL competencies which we are implementing Foundation to Year 6 to support child development. This has been supported by our work with Rights Resilience and Respectful Relationships initiative.
School is not only about reading, writing and mathematics. It’s also about making friends, learning how to work with others and knowing how to be responsible for yourself.
Knowing how to manage feelings and get on with others are important skills for everyone. This kind of learning starts in early childhood with parents and carers as children’s most important first teachers.
Research has found that teaching children social and emotional skills at school as well as at home makes a positive difference to their wellbeing. Social and Emotional Skills (SEL) help school children settle in the classroom and get on with learning.
The kinds of social and emotional skills that are important for children to develop have are explicitly taught include-
Self-awareness- Understanding feelings, self-confidence.
Social awareness- Respecting and understanding others, and appreciating differences between people.
Self-management- Managing emotions, being able to set goals and stick to them.
Responsible decision-making- Choosing wisely and thoughtfully.
Relationship skills- Cooperating, communicating, making friends and resolving conflict.
Research shows that children benefit most from social and emotional learning when social and emotional learning is taught in regular school lessons and matched to children’s learning stages.
At Roberts McCubbin Primary School we run a whole-school buddy program.

Child Safe

Roberts McCubbin Primary School holds the care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people as a central and fundamental to our role.

Creating child-safe school environments is a dynamic process that involves active participation and responsibility by schools, families and their communities. It is marked by collaboration, vigilance and proactive approaches across policies, procedures, curriculum and practices. Every person involved in education at Roberts McCubbin Primary School has a responsibility to understand the important and specific role everyone plays individually and collectively to ensure that the wellbeing and safety of all children and young people is at the forefront of all they do and every decision they make.

Literacy

At Roberts McCubbin Primary School, our students are encouraged to view themselves as authors. We write to entertain, inform and persuade a particular audience. Writing is viewed as a key skill to engage in society and we encourage our students to recognise these opportunities and write for authentic purposes.

Our Writer’s Workshop gives our students an opportunity to learn the writing process and develop their own unique adaptation of this. They are explicitly taught the traits of effective writing to help them understand their strengths and areas of improvement.

We use the connection between reading and writing to support students in creating their own texts. Our students learn to view authors as mentors. They use the skills and craft noticed in a text to help develop their own skills as writers.

All students have their own Writer’s Notebook where they practise the craft of writing. These notebooks are used to develop ideas, extend and elaborate their thinking and experiment with the craft of writing.

Our students have choice in the texts they create and engage in authentic student driven writing experiences. At R.M.P.S we endeavour to create lifelong writers!

READERS' WORKSHOP

At Roberts McCubbin Primary School, students are immersed in reading and a love of reading is promoted from Foundation through to Year 6. Students are taught that understanding and thinking about what they read is important.

During the daily Readers’ Workshop lessons at R.M.P.S students are explicitly taught reading strategies and then given the chance to practise them. Students are taught to read accurately and fluently. They are taught to think about what they read, to ask questions as they read, to make predictions and to evaluate their thinking.

Students are taught to think about their thinking while they read. Students know this as ‘metacognition’. They think about their schema, which is how the books they read relate to their own experiences, to other texts they have read, and to what they know of the wider world.

Underpinning this is a solid foundation in the systematic and explicit teaching of Phonics. Children are assessed and taught at their point of need. They are not only taught about letters and the sounds they sometimes represent but are shown how to transfer this knowledge whilst engaging in authentic, rich reading and writing opportunities. Our teachers are skilled in the delivery of a number of teaching practices in both reading and writing. Students are involved in engaging structured word inquiries, focussing on Morphology and Etymology. In this way students build skills in other areas of literacy, including grammar, vocabulary and comprehension.

In order to immerse students in a wide range of texts, each grade has a classroom library which is well stocked with books which have been grouped and classified by the students. The classroom libraries have texts catering to all interests and abilities. There is a range of fiction and non-fiction titles.

Each student at R.M.P.S has their own book box, which contains texts which are carefully selected by the student. They select books that are ‘Just Right’, which are based on their own interest and ability. Each day, students independently read books from their book box.

WRITERS' WORKSHOP

At Roberts McCubbin Primary School, our students are given opportunities to write for authentic purposes. They understand that writing is a way to communicate what we are feeling and thinking, message making. Students are encouraged to see themselves as authors. They are engaged in daily writing activities and write for a range of purposes. To entertain, inform and persuade a particular audience.

Our Writers’ Workshop gives our students an opportunity to learn about the writing process. They are explicitly taught the 6+1 Traits model of Writing. Ideas, sentence fluency, organisation, word choice, voice, conventions and presentation. In this way, they can focus on certain areas to improve and work towards their individual writing goals.

Using Mentor texts they are exposed to real authors and are able to see and inquire about various examples of the craft of writing. Within our Literacy block there is a strong connection between reading and writing. Students are made aware of the connection and use their knowledge and understanding between the two to develop their own skills as writers.

All students have their own Writers’ Notebook where they practise the craft of writing. These notebooks are used to develop ideas, extend and elaborate their thinking and experiment with the craft of writing.

Our students have choice in the texts they create and engage in authentic student driven writing experiences. At Roberts McCubbin we endeavour to create lifelong writers and readers!

Speaking and Listening

Throughout the entire day students at Roberts McCubbin PS are given many opportunities to develop their formal and informal speaking and listening skills, as it is integrated into all areas of the curriculum. Students are taught the appropriate oral language for particular audiences and occasions, including body language and voice. They are also given many opportunities to develop active-listening strategies and engage in small group and whole class speaking opportunities.

Numeracy

Numeracy at Roberts McCubbin Primary School has a strong focus of engaging students in open-ended maths tasks based around real life experiences. Our philosophy at Roberts McCubbin Primary is that mathematical skills and a positive attitude towards this learning area will assist and support our children to be 21st Century learners. During our Numeracy units students are taught specific strategies and skills, which enable them to work confidently and independently to solve problems, work towards goals by finding an appropriate strategy and actively participate in the language of Mathematics.

Students are provided with maths learning experiences that are challenging, exciting and enjoyable, as well as useful in achieving a range of purposes and solving a range of common daily problems. Children are encouraged to work individually and in groups, with tasks set by the teacher at the required level. Children are given lots of opportunities to explore and investigate Mathematics in their everyday lives. They also learn the ‘language’ of Mathematics. Children learn to ask basic mathematical questions about their world, and to identify simple strategies to investigate solutions. Mathematics is composed of multiple but interrelated and interdependent concepts and structures which students apply beyond the mathematics classroom.

High quality Mathematics classroom teaching provides flexible and adaptable approaches and constructive strategies to enable students to reach their full potential. Our curriculum planning is based upon our understandings of students; their development, needs, talents, interests and ways they learn best.

Structures within all classes cater for individual differences through the provision of open – ended learning activities and tasks. A wide range of equipment is always available at all age levels. Children use materials such as blocks, dice, playing cards, counters, Lego, play-doh,, teddy bears and many more things, to help them solve mathematical problems. Maths is very ‘hands on’ in the classroom. All mathematical concepts are progressively developed within the context of meaningful learning situations. Mathematics learning at all levels encompasses cooperative learning and child centred problem-solving activities, as well as the use of technology such as I-Pads.

At Roberts McCubbin we focus on developing increasingly sophisticated and refined mathematical understanding, fluency, reasoning, modelling and problem-solving. These capabilities enable students to respond to familiar and unfamiliar situations by employing mathematics to make informed decisions and solve problems efficiently. The usefulness of mathematics for modelling and problem solving is well known, mathematics also has a fundamental role in both enabling and sustaining cultural, social, economic and technological advances and empowering individuals to become critical citizen.

Olympiad

At Roberts McCubbin there is a greater emphasis on providing students with frequent exposure to higher-level mathematical thinking. To stimulate enthusiasm and a love for Mathematics Roberts McCubbin provides opportunities to Level 5 and 6 students to participate in a Maths Problem solving contest called Olympiad. The aim is not only to develop Mathematical flexibility in solving problems but also to provide for the satisfaction, joy, and thrill of meeting challenges.

Some Things You Can Do To Help Your Child At Home.

Be positive with your approach to Mathematics.
Talk with your child about everyday objects in a mathematical way e.g. “This plate is round. We call a round shape a circle.”
Let them help you with simple tasks such as setting the table. Say things like, “We need four plates. One for each of us.”
Help your child to take risks. It’s O.K. to make a mistake.
Have fun. Activities such as cooking are excellent for learning many mathematical concepts such as half full, more, less, millilitres and grams.

Physical Education

In year 5 and 6 we add to the Fundamental Motor Skills and also include game sense which focusses on tactics and stategies.

In addition, students in 3/4 particpate in an hour of sport with their classroom teachers. The 5/6 students also engage in a weekly program where they develop their skills in sports such as Football, Netball, Basketball, Teeball, Volleyball etc. and have opportunities to participate in inter-school competitions with other local primary schools.

Throughout the year, students from 3-6 participate in Cross Country and Athletics at both School and District level.

Children in Foundation to year 2 participate in a yearly, intensive swimming program that runs for 8 days.

Visual Arts

The Visual Arts program at Roberts McCubbin is highly valued and supported amongst the school community. Students participate in weekly lessons that are focused on engaging critical and creative thinking. During Visual Arts, students are encouraged to extend their creativity and give everything a go. We want students to feel confident in their abilities and not be afraid to take risks or make mistakes as this is the foundation for rich future learning. We also aim to help students understand that learning is a lifelong process and to model this in the classroom. Students’ artwork is displayed and celebrated in the foyer and corridors of the school.

The Visual Arts program is based on the Victorian Curriculum which outlines a practical and theoretical approach. The standards in the Arts Domain are organised in four dimensions, these include;

-Explore and Express Ideas
-Visual Arts Practices
-Present and Perform
-Respond and Interpret

Students have the opportunity to:

-Engage with and develop knowledge of visual arts, skills, techniques and processes, and use materials as they explore a range of forms, styles and contexts.(Re Curriculum)
- Engage with a wide variety of mediums such as clay, textiles, painting, collage, printmaking and technology.
- Through learning in Visual Arts, students consider how cultures and societies, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and histories, shape visual arts practice and how artists and viewers contribute to a creative society. (Re Curriculum)
- Work collaboratively building social and emotional capabilities, establishing healthy relationships.
- Work with a resident artist when we successfully achieve grants.

Reminders:
- Please ensure your child has an art smock with their name on it.
- Cleaning and packing up the Art room is an important part of lessons. To assist students in learning these valuable skills I would appreciate donations of: scrubbing brushes, sponges, old towels and tea towels.
- We would also appreciate donations of tissue boxes and soap.

Performing Arts

Performing Arts at Roberts McCubbin Primary School is made up of four intertwined subjects: Music, Dance, Drama and Media Arts. Robbie Mac students have a Performing Arts session once a week, from Foundation all the way up to Grade Six.

Performing Arts is a fun and interactive class which allows students to develop their creative and expressive capacities by learning about the different practices, disciplines and traditions that have shaped the expression of culture locally, nationally and globally. Students are both artist and audience in Performing Arts: they create, improvise and perform, but also respond to music, dances, performances and media art pieces created by others.

Students at Roberts McCubbin have the opportunity to use digital technologies in all classes, and our Performing Arts sessions are no exception. We use the classroom TV to view visual information and watch performances - including those by the students themselves. Students use their iPads to complete set tasks, record their ideas and create Media Arts pieces.

Students develop musicality through a fun and engaging program called ‘Music Room’ in which the ‘elements of music’ are explored via singing, moving to music and playing instruments - including percussion instruments from F-6 and ukulele at grade 5/6 level. Students also explore the ‘elements of dance’ and ‘elements of drama’ throughout the year at each year level. Every two years we have a whole school production, which is a beautiful culmination of music, dance and drama. The production is the highlight of the year for many children, and gives our students the opportunity to perform to the wider school community.

Performing Arts contributes to the development of confident and creative individuals and enriches Australian society. The significant contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to Australia’s arts heritage and contemporary arts practices are explored across The Arts (both Performing Arts and Visual Arts), and students are encouraged to respect and value these unique and evolving traditions.

Inquiry

Roberts McCubbin helps nurture curious, capable and courageous Inquirers!

An inquiry based approach is taught in all areas of the curriculum across the school day. Teachers create investigations with rich, transferable concepts that encourage deeper thinking, using questioning to guide the investigation. While investigating a ‘big question’ children develop the following skills of being communicators, self-managers, researchers, collaborators and thinkers.

In each year level we develop questions for investigations, known as the ‘Big Question’. Some examples include ‘Why are animals so important to us?’ (F-2), ‘What Processes Do Plants & Animals Go Through To Provide Resources For Us?’ (3/4), and ‘What makes Earth unique?’ (5/6).

In addition to whole class Inquiries, iTime has been a fantastic addition to our whole school approach to enable student lead learning. During this weekly hour-long session students develop their own investigations and undertake the inquiry process to further develop their toolbox as an independent learner.

Robotics & STEM

THE FUTURE
BELONGS TO THE TECH LITERATE
Let's show them the way

“I am passionate about designing learning that empowers students to make an impact on our increasingly digital world. STEM/STEAM has given me the opportunity to shape such learning experiences and the accompanying mindsets.”
Roberts McCubbin Primary School is committed to the implementation of the Digital Technologies domain of the Victorian Curriculum which focusses on 3 key areas: Digital Systems, Data and Information and Creating Digital Solutions.
Once a term, for a full day, students visit our digital technology space, learning the skills to create, design, explore and organise data, taking part in, collaborative, authentic and meaningful experiences in order to develop their ability to think critically and creatively. Our innovative robotics-based engineering curriculum has a strong programming component, which contains a deliberate progression of programming concepts starting in the junior school exposing them to coding and algorithms, and building on their skill sets every year to grade 6. Through the use of technology, using a range of teaching strategies and models ie the SAMR model, previously inconceivable ways of learning can be achieved. This includes ways of redefining tasks to provide virtual learning opportunities. STEM allows the integration of learning across the curriculum. Students have used Sphero’s as part of Geometry and Measurement in Maths, Bee-Bot’s as part of Location in Maths, Makey Makey’s, to create talking rubbish bins to encourage recycling, narratives with Dash in English, created “We Do 2” digital solutions to natural disasters, and used MinecraftEDU to recreate Sydney Cove in 1788.

In addition to class sessions, students can take advantage of a myriad of extra-curricular opportunities. These includes our gifted and talented “STEM professionals in schools Program” which facilitates partnerships between schools and industry to bring real STEM into the classroom, the Robocup competition where we have successfully taken out first place for 5 years in a row, which challenges teams of students to design, build and program robots to tell a story, (think Myer Christmas windows), and, First Lego League where students create solutions to real world problems using Lego.

To support parents at home with their children using technology I recommend the following websites:
Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner https://esafety.gov.au/
Australian Federal Police ‘Think U Know’ https://www.thinkuknow.org.au
Common Sense Media https://www.commonsensemedia.org/

Languages (Japanese)

Children at Roberts McCubbin begin their Japanese language learning journey in Foundation through the use of the ELLA (Early Learning Languages Australia) Japanese App as well as weekly lessons including lots of stories and songs. Grades ½ students also enjoy using the ELLA suite of apps at school and weekly lessons continue through to grade 6. The program is based on the Victorian Curriculum and provides opportunities for children to explore different cultural aspects of Japan through the Japanese language. Each term children work towards producing an oral, written or multimedia text in Japanese to demonstrate their learning.

Children have the opportunity to learn in our wonderfully resourced dedicated Japanese classroom with a large range of authentic games, toys, cultural objects and learning materials. The room is set up in Japanese style, tables are low, there are no chairs and children take their shoes off while they immerse themselves in Japanese culture each week.

Through our sister school relationship with Tosayama Gakuin in Japan as well as relationships with other schools and organisations, children have opportunities to interact with Japanese peers through live video conferences and exchange of letters, school work and cultural objects.

Our Japanese program is also very lucky to have the support of native Japanese speaker parents as well as Japanese international students from Deakin University and visiting academics from Shiga University.

A number of our students have been successful in applying for the very competitive scholarship to take part in the annual Asia-Pacific Children’s Convention in Fukuoka and have travelled to Japan to represent Australia.

Many students go on to continue their Japanese studies at surrounding secondary schools.

Learning with Technology

Roberts McCubbin Primary School believes that the use of digital technologies at school allows the development of valuable skills and knowledge to prepare students to thrive in our globalized, inter-connected world. Our school’s vision is to empower students to use digital technologies safely and appropriately to reach their personal best and fully equip them to contribute positively to society as happy, healthy young adults.

Through our 1:1 BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) iPad program our students have increased access to a range of education apps and digital learning tools. The integration of iPads into daily classroom learning also allows students to view a vastly wider range of high quality educational content and multiple ways to express their understanding using voice, images, video and text. Our learning management system Showbie, particularly promotes greater opportunities for collaboration and communication between students, teachers, and parents. This in turn forges stronger links between learning in the classroom and student’s lives outside of school