Teaching and learning

Years 1 to 10 curriculum

English

Winton State School teaches English in accordance with the National Curriculum. Prep to Year 6 engage in a structured 2 hour literacy block comprising of a reading hour a​nd a writing hour.  Focussed daily guided reading in small ability levelled groups ensures all students are catered for and experience success with both learning the building blocks for reading through to the higher order skills of inferring, reorganising and evaluating texts.   

The English curriculum is built around the three interrelated strands of language, literature and literacy. Teaching and learning programs balance and integrate all three strands. Together, the three strands focus on developing students’ knowledge, understanding and skills in listening, reading, viewing, speaking, writing and creating.​

The school works under the philosophy that all teachers are teachers of Literacy.  As such, the literacies of each subject are explicitly taught throughout all curriculum areas.

Students in years 3-12 are invited to sit the University of New South Wales International English Competition each year.

Mathematics

Mathematics at Winton State School focuses on placing mathematical concepts into real life situations.  Investigations are aimed at students’ interests and needs whilst endeavouring to engage students in real, deep learning tasks. 

In Mathematics proficiency strands understanding, fluency, problem-solving and reasoning are an integral part of mathematics content across the three content strands: number and algebra, measurement and geometry, and statistics and probability.​

Students in years 3-12 are invited to sit the University of New South Wales International Mathematics Competition each year.  This is made available at no cost to our students with the support of our P&C.

Science

Science provides an empirical way of answering interesting and important questions about the biological, physical and technological world. The knowledge it produces has proved to be a reliable basis for action in our personal, social and economic lives. Science is a dynamic, collaborative and creative human endeavour arising from our desire to make sense of our world through exploring the unknown, investigating universal mysteries, making predictions and solving problems. Science aims to understand a large number of observations in terms of a much smaller number of broad principles. Science knowledge is contestable and is revised, refined and extended as new evidence arises. In addition to its practical applications, learning science is a valuable pursuit in its own right.

Students can experience the joy of scientific discovery and nurture their natural curiosity about the world around them. In doing this, they develop critical and creative thinking skills and challenge themselves to identify questions and draw evidence-based conclusions using scientific methods.

Science is divided into four main strands: biology, chemistry, earth and space sciences, and physics.  Each strand is covered across the year, providing opportunities for growth and development of skills with each new unit. 

Incorporated into science are three interrelated strands: science understanding, science as a human endeavour, and science inquiry skills.  Each of these strands provides students with understanding, knowledge, and skills through which they can develop a scientific view of the world.

Technology

For Years 1 to 10 this is mainly training in the use of computers, especially keyboarding skills, word processing, and finding information on the Internet, encyclopaedias on CD, etc.  These skills are taught both explicitly and in the context of other curriculum learning. 

There are some preliminary Manual Arts and Home Economics lessons taught.  Students in Years 4-10 will participate in Home Economics and/or INTAD lessons as part of Winton State School’s Middle Year’s initiative. These subjects focus on the Technology design process.

The Arts

The Arts comprises five subjects:

• Dance
• Drama
• Media Arts
• Music
• Visual Art

The arts entertain, challenge, provoke responses and enrich our knowledge of self, communities, world cultures and histories. The Arts contribute to the development of confident and creative individuals, nurturing and challenging active and informed citizens. Learning in The Arts is based on cognitive, affective and sensory/kinaesthetic response to arts practices as students revisit increasingly complex content, skills and processes with developing confidence and sophistication across their years of learning.

Health and Physical Education

Health and Physical Education consists of physical skills in athletics, swimming, sports and health and human relationships. The focus for students in Prep to year 6, is swimming and water safety, and developing fine-and gross-motor skills. Students are encouraged to participate in a variety of sporting events throughout the year. ​

Opportunities to represent the Winton district are available to all students age 10 and up. 

All students are required to participate is Health and Physical Education from prep to year 10

Geography

Geography is a structured way of exploring, analysing and understanding the characteristics of the places that make up our world, using the concepts of place, space, environment, interconnection, sustainability, scale and change. It addresses scales from the personal to the global and time periods from a few years to thousands of years. Geography integrates knowledge from the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities to build a holistic understanding of the world. Students learn to question why the world is the way it is, reflect on their relationships with and responsibilities for that world, and propose actions designed to shape a socially just and sustainable future.