Inspiring and Enabling Every Learner to Flourish
At our school, we believe every child is capable of learning, growing and flourishing. Guided by our Catholic identity and the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) Vision for Instruction, we are committed to providing every student with an excellent and equitable education.
Our approach to learning and teaching is grounded in evidence about how students learn best. We use explicit, systematic and purposeful teaching to ensure that new knowledge and skills are clearly taught, practised and applied. Teachers model new learning, provide guided practice, check for understanding and provide timely feedback, supporting students to become increasingly confident and independent learners.
We maintain high expectations for every student and recognise that each learner brings unique strengths, interests and experiences to the classroom. Through careful assessment and responsive teaching, we identify what students know, what they need to learn next and how we can best support them to succeed.
A Rich and Engaging Curriculum
Our knowledge rich curriculum provides students with strong foundations in essential knowledge and skills while offering rich opportunities to explore, create, question, problem-solve and apply their learning in meaningful contexts.
Students engage in learning across:
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Religious Education
- The Humanities
- Science
- Health
- Social Emotional Learning
- Physical Education
- The Arts
- Italian
We provide a dedicated Specialist Day, where students engage in Physical Education, Health/Social Emotional Learning, The Arts and Science. These experiences enrich our classroom learning and provide opportunities for students to develop their creativity, physical capabilities, wellbeing, curiosity and understanding of the world around them.
Strong Foundations in Literacy
Literacy is at the heart of learning. Our literacy program is informed by evidence-based approaches and focuses on developing the knowledge and skills students need to become confident and capable readers, writers and communicators.
Our reading instruction explicitly develops the Big Six of Reading:
Oral Language | Phonological Awareness | Phonics | Fluency | Vocabulary | Comprehension
Through carefully sequenced and explicit lessons, students develop strong foundations in reading. Teachers model skills and strategies, provide opportunities for guided and independent practice, check understanding and provide feedback to support students as they progress.
We place a strong emphasis on developing oral language and vocabulary, building phonological awareness and phonics knowledge, developing reading fluency and explicitly teaching comprehension. Students are supported to develop a deep understanding of what they read and to think critically about texts and the ideas they encounter.
Writing is an important part of our literacy program. Students are explicitly taught the knowledge and skills required to communicate effectively through writing and are provided with opportunities to plan, compose, edit and refine their work for a range of purposes and audiences.
Mathematics
In Mathematics, we explicitly teach the knowledge, skills and understandings students need to become confident mathematical thinkers.
Learning is carefully sequenced so that students can build on prior knowledge, make connections between mathematical concepts and develop increasing fluency. Teachers use clear explanations, modelling, questioning, guided practice and feedback to support students in developing mathematical understanding.
Students are given opportunities to reason, problem-solve and apply their mathematical knowledge to authentic situations. We aim to develop students who approach mathematics with confidence, curiosity and persistence.
Garden to Kitchen
Our Garden to Kitchen program for students in Years 3–6 provides authentic, hands-on learning experiences that connect classroom learning with the world around us.
Students participate in the processes of growing, harvesting, preparing and sharing food. Through the program, students develop practical skills while learning about sustainability, healthy choices, food production and the importance of caring for our environment.
Garden to Kitchen also provides opportunities for students to collaborate, solve problems, take responsibility and apply knowledge across different areas of the curriculum.
Italian – Teachers as Co-Learners
We embrace a Teachers as Co-Learners (TCL) approach to the teaching and learning of Italian.
Students participate in short, sharp Italian learning sessions each day, providing regular opportunities to hear, practise and use the language. Frequent exposure supports students to build confidence, recall vocabulary and develop their ability to communicate in Italian.
Our Teachers as Co-Learners approach encourages both students and teachers to embrace curiosity, persistence and the joy of learning something new. It reinforces that learning a language is an ongoing journey and that everyone can be a learner.
At St Francis Xavier School we teach according to the Victorian Curriculum F-10. The Victorian Curriculum (https://f10.vcaa.vic.edu.au/) outlines what is essential for all Australian students to learn during their time at school from Foundation to Year 10. It provides a set of common standards which schools use to plan student learning, to assess student progress, and to report to parents.