The Primary Department caters for students between the ages of five and eleven.
The role of the Primary Department teaching staff during the early years of school is to explicitly teach and develop the students’ understandings about ‘how to be a student’ at school. For example, developing the ability to sit at a table during activities and follow teacher instructions. A major emphasis is placed upon ensuring that the students develop their communication. The use of pictorial images and technologies are used to support students’ communication needs and wants. The Primary Department works closely with the Allied Health staff to develop and implement individual and classroom tasks specifically targeted at communication, fine motor and gross motor skills.
In 2016, we introduced the STAR program to support the explicit teaching of skills. This program uses the Applied Behaviour Analysis strategies of discrete trial, functional routines and pivotal response training (teaching play). The program covers the areas of expressive and receptive language and academic skills.
For the first time in 2017, we elected Primary House Leaders All students are allocated to one of 4 houses for whole school sporting and special event days.
The Department conducts a Primary Assembly once a week to give the younger students the opportunity to become familiar and at ease with the assembly process. The students utilise the whole school assembly schedule and the Upper Primary students produce and record short news segments highlighting how all students in the department are learning and applying the School Wide Positive Behavioural Support Matrix.
During the course of the school year, all students have the opportunity to participate in specialist programs such as woodwork, art, cooking and other programs such as swimming and bike riding.
