Our Learning
At St Michael’s, our approach to learning and teaching is grounded in the Victorian Curriculum Version 2.0 and guided by the MACS Vision for Instruction. Together they outline the essential knowledge, understandings, and skills students need to become successful, confident, and creative lifelong learners. We are committed to providing a high-quality, contemporary education that responds to the educational, personal, and spiritual needs of every child, preparing them to thrive in an ever-evolving world.
We recognise each child as a unique learner with individual strengths, interests, and areas for growth. Through explicit teaching, inclusive and differentiated practices, and data-informed decision-making, we ensure all students can access and progress along the continuum of learning. Teachers collaboratively analyse assessment information to set high expectations and design targeted, responsive learning sequences that meet each learner’s developmental needs.
At St Michael’s, we create safe, engaging, and stimulating learning environments where students are encouraged to take risks, learn from mistakes, and develop the learning dispositions needed for personal, academic, and lifelong success. We use evidence-based teaching practices to promote collaboration, inquiry, creativity, and student agency, all while nurturing a strong sense of connectedness to our world.
Education in Faith
At St Michael’s we strive to build a more just world, in response to our Gospel values and the Catholic Social Teaching Principles. We aim to foster a Christian environment which pervades all aspects of school life, and we bear witness to the love of God for all people. We draw on the rich tapestry of our multi-faith community, preparing students to live harmoniously in our multi-faith world. We provide opportunities to live and express our Catholic tradition, making times and spaces for the development of spiritual growth for all members of our school family. We cultivate opportunities for respectful dialogue and shared inquiry, encouraging students to think deeply and engage with diverse perspectives. Through rigorous curriculum design that connects life and faith, we challenge learners to see the world through a lens of hope, dignity, and justice. As a community, we actively drive social justice initiatives and meaningful actions that support both local and global needs, empowering students to become compassionate, responsible agents of change.
Mathematics
At St Michael’s, we are committed to empowering our students through rich and meaningful mathematics education. We encourage them to embrace challenges and engage in open-ended tasks that foster critical thinking, problem solving skills and perseverance. We support students to build essential life skills by unpacking the language of mathematics. Our data-driven and explicit teaching approach nurtures each student’s understanding of mathematical concepts. By connecting mathematical concepts to real world contexts, we ensure our students gain a practical, deep understanding of mathematics they can apply to confidently navigate everyday life.
English
At St Michael’s, our Literacy program provides a comprehensive and structured approach to developing students’ skills in listening and speaking, phonics, reading and writing. We believe every child has the right to become a confident, capable and engaged reader and writer. We are committed to ensuring all students develop essential foundational literacy skills through evidence-based, high-impact teaching practices.
Listening and Speaking are embedded across all learning areas through presentations, discussions, debates, and storytelling. Students build confidence and communication skills with explicit teaching focused on expression, tone, and pace, supported by daily routines and targeted small-group instruction.
Reading instruction follows the Big 6 framework; oral language, phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension through explicit modelled, guided, and independent learning. Students engage with decodable and authentic texts, vocabulary and fluency routines, and comprehension activities supported by ongoing assessment and targeted teaching.
Writing is taught explicitly through the full writing process, incorporating modelled, shared, and independent writing. Grammar, punctuation, and spelling are taught in context, supported by mentor texts that model structure and style. Feedback and strong reading–writing connections build confident and creative writers.
Phonics and Word Knowledge are taught using a systematic, synthetic phonics approach aligned with the school scope and sequence. Daily lessons in decoding, blending, and segmenting are complemented by vocabulary, morphology, and etymology instruction to strengthen spelling and comprehension.
Mentor Texts underpin all areas of Literacy, with high-quality fiction and non-fiction texts carefully chosen for student interest and curriculum relevance. These texts model language, structure, and genre while supporting differentiation, vocabulary development, and engagement across reading and writing.
Inquiry
At St Michael’s, Inquiry Learning is central to our Foundation to Year 6 curriculum, empowering students to question, investigate, and make meaning of the world around them. Through carefully designed inquiry units in Science, Humanities, Media Arts, Health, Technologies, and the Capabilities, students build deep conceptual understanding by exploring real-world phenomena, historical perspectives, cultures, and the natural environment. Inquiry learning encourages students to wonder, seek evidence, think critically, and make connections across disciplines.
Across all year levels, students are supported to follow lines of inquiry, engage in hands-on investigations, and collaborate with peers to construct new knowledge. Teachers guide the learning through explicit instruction, rich questioning, and purposeful learning experiences that develop essential skills such as problem solving, creativity, ethical understanding, and communication. This approach fosters curiosity, empowers student voice and agency, and nurtures the learner dispositions needed for active and informed participation in an ever-changing world.
At St Michael’s, we believe Digital Technologies empowers students to participate confidently, ethically and creatively in an increasingly digital world. Our intention is to provide learning and teaching that enables students to use digital systems in a curious, critically aware and responsible way. Grounded in the Victorian Curriculum, Digital Technologies at St Michael’s offers opportunities for students to engage in design, creation, communication and problem solving across all curriculum areas.
A strong commitment to digital safety and student wellbeing underpins our approach to Digital Technologies. Throughout the year, all students participate in learning experiences that empower them to be responsible digital citizens that use technology as a tool to support their learning.
Students in Prep use iPads to explore, create and practise foundational skills, while students in Years 1–6 use Chromebooks and G Suite for Education to collaborate, communicate and develop increasingly sophisticated digital solutions. Platforms such as Class Dojo and nForma strengthen connections between home and school, allowing student learning to be shared in meaningful ways.
Discovery
At St Michael’s, Discovery Learning is a play-based, student-led approach that values the interests, experiences, and prior knowledge children bring to school. We build on these foundations, while intentionally introducing new ideas and experiences, to extend students’ curiosity, motivation, and learning. This approach is essential in Prep to Year 2, where classroom spaces are thoughtfully designed and co-constructed to invite both student-initiated and teacher-led inquiries. Through these rich, hands-on learning opportunities, students continue to develop key learner dispositions such as collaboration, creativity, problem solving, and persistence.
Make, Know, Do - Student Led Learning
At St Michaels, Make Know Do Act provides students with opportunities to engage with learning through their interests and passions.
Through explicit teaching and modelling of the learning dispositions, alongside the different pathways, students are able to set goals and reflect on their learning.
Make Know Do Act promotes student agency, autonomy and life-long learning.
Specialist Programs
St Michael’s provides Specialist programs in Physical Education/Sport, Japanese, Visual Arts and Music at all levels.
Physical Education
At St Michael’s, Physical Education provides students with the knowledge, skills, and motivation to lead active, healthy, and balanced lives. Through a diverse range of movement experiences, students develop fundamental motor skills, teamwork, coordination, strategy, and confidence in their physical abilities. Our PE program promotes cooperation, fair play, and resilience, encouraging students to set personal goals, embrace challenges, and celebrate achievement. We aim to foster positive attitudes toward physical activity so that every child is empowered to participate, enjoy, and thrive, both now and into the future.
Japanese
At St Michael’s, our Japanese program provides students from Foundation to Year 6 with opportunities to develop language skills while deepening their understanding of Japanese culture and ways of thinking. Through engaging, interactive lessons, students learn to communicate using spoken and written Japanese, build foundational vocabulary, and develop confidence in expressing simple ideas. Cultural exploration is woven throughout the program, fostering curiosity, respect, and intercultural awareness. Our aim is to inspire students to appreciate languages, recognise the value of global connections, and develop the skills needed to participate in an increasingly interconnected world.
Visual Arts
At St Michael’s, our Visual Arts program nurtures creativity, imagination, and self-expression through rich, hands-on artistic experiences. Students explore a wide range of materials, techniques, and art forms as they learn to create, reflect, and respond to their own work and the work of others. Grounded in the Victorian Curriculum, the program develops students’ skills in visual communication, problem solving, and creative thinking. By engaging with diverse artists, cultures, and artistic traditions, students build an appreciation for the role of art in society and develop confidence in expressing their ideas visually. Our aim is to foster joyful, curious, and capable young artists who see themselves as creative contributors to their world.
Music
At St Michael’s, our Music program inspires students to explore, create, and appreciate music as a powerful form of expression and connection. Through singing, playing instruments, listening, moving, and creating, students develop their musical skills and understanding in line with the Victorian Curriculum. They learn to recognise and use the elements of music, work collaboratively to rehearse and perform, and build confidence in sharing their musical ideas. By engaging with music from diverse cultures, times, and traditions, including the music of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, students deepen their appreciation of the arts and develop a lifelong enjoyment of music. Our aim is to nurture expressive, confident, and creative learners who understand the value of music in their own lives and in the wider world.
