Mount Lawley Primary School follows the WA Curriculum as outlined by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA) who is responsible for setting the standards of achievement for the curriculum in Western Australia.
SCSA sets the expectations that all Western Australian children have a fundamental right to high quality early childhood programs which are informed by National Frameworks that are tailored to the school community context.
The focus in K-2 is the development of strong foundational literacy and numeracy skills, using a play-based pedagogy that encourages developmentally appropriate play. There is a strong focus on oral language and building effective learning and life skills. Fostering strong partnerships with parents is integral in supporting the learning of children which also builds agency for each child as they begin their journey in education.
The focus in 3-6 is taking the foundational skills learned in early childhood and begin to apply them across all learning areas. This means students are given increased responsibility for managing and organizing activities and work in different groups of varying size. There is an expectation that students will reflect on their learning and work practices and consider ways in which these might be improved or expanded on for each learning area and audience. In Years 3-6 there is a strong emphasis on students making sense of the world around them and being able to problem solve effectively across the learning areas, using the WA Curriculum.
With the development of staff committees for each learning area, the school is committed to learning approaches that will offer a wide range of opportunities for students. The operational plans set out what is expected over the course of the year and the monitoring and assessment to measure growth and effectiveness.
The school’s focus is on Differentiation (based on Carol Ann Tomlinson’s model) and the expectation is that every teacher will provide an appropriate program for all students.
Jolly Phonics (synthetic phonics program) from K-2 and then Jolly Grammar is implemented from PP-6.
Spelling is based on the Department of Education Spelling resources.
Mathematics is based on Haese & Harris and First Steps approaches.