At Ararat West Primary School, we are committed to a high academic standard of literacy and numeracy learning for all students.

 

Our literacy program consists of explicit instruction in the areas of Reading and Viewing; Writing; Speaking and Listening as stipulated by the Victorian Curriculum. We incorporate programs such as the VCOP and Big Write; Sounds-Write as well as many aspects of the Fountas and Pinnell Literacy Program.

 

Mathematics instruction consists of real-life, hands-on tasks that enable students to extend and apply their problem-solving skills to increase their knowledge, understanding, and mathematics fluency. Students are encouraged to verbalise their thinking process and mathematical reasoning which allows for a deeper understanding of the content and how to apply it across multiple settings.

 

Students in our Senior Learning Community enjoy participating in Fluid-Groups across Reading and Number. These flexible groupings enable students to part take in instruction targeted at their point of need, at that point in time. 

 

Consistently across the whole-school, students participate in one-on-one instruction, small guided groups, and whole-class instruction using a range of teaching practices, such as modeled, shared, interactive and independent. This scaffolding and timely assessment enables teaching staff to challenge and extend each student at their point of need, which in turn empowers all students to aspire to achieve their personal best with the support they need.

 

Additionally, here at Ararat West we utilise intervention programs, such as, MultiLit and external support, such as, extensive one-on-one and small group Speech Therapy, so that all students can achieve. In 2021 we implemented a new tutoring program utilising experienced classroom teachers to support students.

 

We strive to create rich, authentic tasks that allow students to develop the connection between speaking, reading, and writing as well as mathematics in a real-world context. We are proud, that we consistently have students achieving high results and personal growth.