Our School Philosophy
Educational Philosophy of St Laurence O’Toole Primary School
School Vision and Mission
Our Vision: St Laurence O’Toole school follows Jesus’ call to ‘love in action’ providing a holistic and contemporary education
We are active, resilient learners
We are responsible, respectful and caring
We are part of a safe community
Our Mission: St Laurence O’Toole Catholic school community works to achieving our vision by:
- FAITH: Sharing the life and message of Jesus; translating gospel values and social principles into the Australian context through our daily interactions
- LEARNING: Implementing the Victorian Curriculum in a challenging and inclusive environment; meeting the entitlement of all students
- LOVE: Respecting the dignity and uniqueness of all and providing a nurturing, secure and stimulating environment
- ACTION: Working as a community, providing opportunities for growth as active and responsible members of the local and global communities
Our Vision - Strategic Learning Statement: 2021--2024
Through our motto, “Love in Action”, expert teacher practices achieve accelerated student growth in a safe and inclusive, enriched recontextualised community.
How does this look at St Laurence’s?
In practice, our school is working on a gradual release of responsibility to each child as an active learner. In the early years, Foundation to Year 2, our students are in classroom structures, which have been tried and tested and proven successful over time. Each class is within a room that allows for focus on learning the foundational skills necessary for literacy and numeracy acquisition.
As students develop the strong foundations in literacy and numeracy we begin in Year 3 & 4 to broaden their understanding of themselves as a learner in a modern context. Thus learning is more flexible, utilises digital technologies as learning tools and engages the students in goal setting and personal inquiry. During these years we focus on explicit teaching to build a positive growth mindset and collaborative work practices to promote successful interaction with peers.
Entering into Year 5 & 6 students use the independent learning skills developed over the previous years to be curious, questioning and thoughtful learners. They are encouraged to set their own learning focus and goals, to seek appropriate support and scaffolding and to share their thinking and learning with others. We work with parents to support the transition of their child into secondary school confident that they have the skills, knowledge and attitudes to thrive. The introduction of a 1 to 1 school managed device at this level facilitates working in partnership with parents to develop cyber safe and discerning users of contemporary technology.
Our teachers recognise that students learn by making connections to prior learning and transferring skills and knowledge to the new information and skills. Identifying where a student is ready to learn and targeting small, achievable incremental progress has been shown (by research) to be the most effective method of teaching for successful learning.
We see our role as teaching strong foundation skills and promote an inquiry based STEAM curriculum with a Catholic perspective.
At all times, and in all aspects of school life, the school promotes the values that permeate Australian democracy. Explicitly taught, these values form part of the classroom dialogue, which explores history, culture and experience of Australia and the Catholic story.