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If you need help to understand this policy, please contact Donald Eddington, Principal. Non-English speakers can also access Google translate at the bottom of this web page.

As valuable partners in your child's wellbeing, learning and engagement at William Ruthven Primary School, we welcome and encourage your feedback. If you have any suggestions, comments or questions in relation to our policies and practices, please contact the Principal, Donald Eddington via email, donald.eddington@education.vic.gov.au.

Purpose

The purpose of this framework is to outline William Ruthven Primary School’s organisation, implementation and review of curriculum and teaching practices and to ensure that, taken as a whole, all eight learning areas are substantially addressed, unless an exemption applies.

The framework shows, at a high level, how the school will deliver its curriculum, how the curriculum and teaching practice will be reviewed, how we assess student learning, how we record and monitor student performance, and when and how we report to parents.

This curriculum framework should be read alongside our whole school, curriculum area, year level and unit / lesson curriculum plans.

Overview

William Ruthven Primary School provides all students with a planned and structured curriculum to equip them with the knowledge, skills and attributes needed to complete their schooling and to make a successful transition from school to work, training, or further education.

William Ruthven Primary School is committed to offering a comprehensive curriculum based on the Victorian Curriculum F-10. The key points in this framework, and in line with the F–10 Revised Curriculum Planning and Reporting Guidelines, are a commitment to:

• A defined curriculum content is the basis for student learning
• Curriculum planning that is based on two-year bands of schooling rather than each year level
• Developing and publishing a separate whole-school curriculum plan that documents our teaching and learning program
• Reporting student learning against the achievement standards in the curriculum
• Reporting student learning to students and parents in line with the Department’s Reporting Student Achievement and Progress Foundation to 10
• Complying with Departmental policies relating to curriculum provision, including:
  • Physical and Sport Education — Delivery Outcomes
  • Sexuality and Consent Education

William Ruthven Primary School is committed to lifelong learning by providing an inclusive, supportive and nurturing community in which diversity is valued and celebrated. Our curriculum and culture of excellence creates a stimulating learning environment that engages and challenges students to achieve personal success and make positive contributions to society.

Our school encourages students to strive for excellence in all of their endeavours.  At William Ruthven Primary School, our curriculum presents students with the opportunity to develop deep understandings on a range of concepts throughout their school lives.

Our curriculum is planned and taught sequentially and allows students to have some ownership in all aspects of their learning. It is designed to develop thinking and social skills, foster engagement with the wider community and include use of a wide variety of technology to assist in student learning. To support the delivery of the curriculum at our school, we access and select a wide range of suitable educational resources, set homework that enhances classroom learning and undertake a range of student assessment and reporting activities.

Implementation

Whole School planning at William Ruthven Primary School is an integral part of the improvement process involving four key stages. 

1. Gathering and analysing data: This includes students’ learning needs, progress and achievements.
2. Planning for improvement: This includes balance in curriculum planning
3. Teaching and learning: This includes addressing the content descriptions.
4. Assessment and reporting: As outlined in the WRPS assessment and reporting schedule.
5. Each year the school will map out its curriculum offerings in the form of a yearly planner.

William Ruthven Primary School will meet the standards with: 

• A time allocation per each of the eight learning areas: English, Mathematics, Science, Health and Physical Education, Languages, Humanities (History, Geography, Civics and citizenship, Economics and Business), The Arts, and Technologies (Design and Digital Technologies) 
• An explanation of how curriculum and teaching practice will be reviewed
• A documented strategy to improve student learning outcomes (found within the School Strategic Plan)

William Ruthven Primary School will determine the curriculum program for the following year based on the needs of the school’s curriculum plan to maintain balance and broad curriculum provision. At William Ruthven Primary School, class time is structured into a weekly timetable, with hours of learning per day broken into 60 minute sessions. 

The timetable is structured on a weekly basis. Each session is 60 minutes and there are five lessons taught per day. At William Ruthven Primary School, the breakdown of the weekly cycle is as follows.

Prep - Year 4

Year 5 - 6

Digital technologies and Critical and Creative Thinking are integrated across the curriculum.

Further information on how our school implements the curriculum, including the learning areas provided at each year level/band of schooling, and the capabilities that are developed by students across these learning areas and the approximate time allocations for each learning area, is provided in our whole school, curriculum area, year level and unit / lesson curriculum plans.

Language provision

William Ruthven Primary School will deliver Auslan as a Language, based on research that says Auslan is particularly beneficial in supporting literacy development when used with verbal children. It is an Australian language that is based on the same 26-letter alphabet and spelling of words is the same. Using hand movements and gestures to learn a language engages different parts of the brain. Auslan promotes inclusion and awareness of diversity and disability.

Pedagogy

The pedagogical approach at William Ruthven Primary School is outlined in our Strategies and protocols for school improvement handbook.  In accordance with FISO 2.0, our pedagogical approach and instructional model has high impact teaching and learning strategies embedded, and these are used by teachers across the school.

Assessment

William Ruthven Primary School assesses student progress in line with the Department’s Assessment of Student Achievement and Progress Foundation to 10 policy.

Students at William Ruthven Primary School will have multiple and varied opportunities to demonstrate learning and achievement. Teachers use assessment tasks that cover multiple curriculum levels to ensure that evidence of learning and growth is captured for every student.

Assessment is an ongoing process of gathering, analysing and interpreting evidence of student achievement and progress, and reflecting on findings. Effective teachers use student assessment results to evaluate the impact of their teaching on student learning, and then adapt their practices to better meet the needs of all students.

At William Ruthven Primary School:

• Teachers use a combination of formative assessment for learning (to focus feedback and guide future learning) and summative assessment of learning (to determine what the student has learned at the end of a sequence of learning), alongside student self-assessment and reflection.
• Assessment is used in an ongoing way to guide future lessons and learning, as well as to keep students and parents informed of student progress.
• Teachers will use a variety of assessment strategies to gather evidence about student achievement. The agreed assessment processes and tasks are documented in our Strategies and protocols for school improvement handbook
• Assessment tasks are developed to support students to show their knowledge, skills and understandings and will include clear instructions, relevant supporting documents (scaffolds, planning documents, etc) and allow sufficient time for completion. Teachers will make modifications to the task to cater for students with additional learning needs.
• Teachers will develop Individual Education Plans (IEPs) for students who are part of the Program for Students with a Disability (PSD), Koorie students and students in ‘Out of Home’ care, in consultation with students, parents and where appropriate, with outside agencies.
• Teachers will assess the achievements of students with disabilities and impairments in the context of the Victorian Curriculum and the ‘Towards Foundation Level Victorian Curriculum’ where applicable.
• The English language proficiency of English as Additional Language EAL students will be assessed using the Victorian Curriculum F-10 EAL.
• Where possible, staff will participate in cross marking of assessment tasks (moderation) involving work samples so that staff can apply consistent judgements of student progress against Victorian Curriculum Standards across the school.

Also see: Assessment and Reporting at William Ruthven Primary School.

Reporting

William Ruthven Primary School reports student progress to parents in line with the Department’s Reporting Student Achievement and Progress Foundation to 10 policy. In addition, William Ruthven Primary School ensures that there is continuous sharing of assessment information formally and informally with parents/carers throughout the term/semester, including through twice-annual formal reporting.

At William Ruthven Primary School, reports are created using Compass (our Digital Management System).  Reports are available in digital report format which can be downloaded for viewing printing. Checklist-based plain language statements ensure that information reported is accessible and easy to understand.

William Ruthven Primary School will:

• Report directly against the Victorian Curriculum F-10 achievement standards or, if reporting on students for whom English is an additional language, the Victorian Curriculum F-10 EAL achievement standards.
• Include both student progress and achievement in the report. 
• Have an age-related five-point scale, where the quality of a student’s achievement against what is ‘expected’ for students of that year level at the time of reporting, will be used for reporting against the achievement standards in English, Mathematics and Science (where applicable).
• Use either a five-point learning goals scale for other areas of the curriculum.  

Opportunities will be provided for parents/carers to discuss the school report with classroom teachers. Parent-teacher interviews, conducted twice-yearly, enable the opportunity to discuss the students’ progress and how they can continue to be supported at home. Interpreting services will be made available where required. 

Also see: Assessment and Reporting at William Ruthven Primary School.

Curriculum and teaching practice review

School curriculum and teaching practice is reviewed against the Framework for Improving of Student Outcomes (FISO 2.0). FISO and the FISO improvement cycle help identify focus areas for improvement and to evaluate the impact of introduced initiatives.

Review of school curriculum

William Ruthven Primary School reviews its school curriculum via:

Review of teaching practice

William Ruthven Primary School reviews its teaching practice via:

• Professional Learning Communities, which link the learning needs of students with the professional learning and practice of teachers and provide an opportunity for teachers to collaboratively evaluate the effect of high impact teaching strategies; and
• the Performance Development cycle, which provides an opportunity to provide feedback to teaching staff on their performance to support ongoing learning and development, with a focus on how student learning can be improved through improving teaching practice.

Communication

This policy will be communicated to our school community in the following ways:

• Available publicly on our school’s website
• Included in staff induction processes and staff training
• Included in our staff handbook
• Discussed at annual staff briefings/meetings
• Hard copy of our Strategies and protocols for school improvement handbook is available from school administration upon request.

Related policies and resources

The Department’s Policy Advisory Library:

• Curriculum Programs Foundation to 10
• Framework for Improving Student Outcomes (FISO 2.0)
• Assessment of Student Achievement and Progress Foundation to 10
• Digital Learning in Schools
• Students with Disability
• Koorie Education
• Languages Education
• Physical and Sport Education — Delivery Requirements
• Reporting Student Achievement and Progress Foundation to 10
• Sexuality and Consent Education
• School Hours (including variation to hours)

This policy should be read alongside William Ruthven Primary School's planning documents which are available upon request:

• whole school curriculum plan
• teaching and learning program for each learning area and capability
• teaching and learning program for each year level
• unit plans/sequence of lessons.

Policy review and approval

• Policy last reviewed: February 2024
• Approved: Principal
• Next scheduled review date: February 2028