Begin your leisurely scroll around our school here ....
Ten of our children travelled to the City this week to receive our ResourceSmart Schools Award for Biodiversity, Primary School. We are very pleased to win this award again, having been previously successful in 2008. Our 'Sustainable Futures' program leads children to understand the need to build and conserve habitat for plants and animals. We also focus on the ways we can all help to reduce our carbon footprint.
Our school organisation for 2010 is now decided and you can read all about this from here. The membership of each student homegroup will be known by Friday 11th December.
The first of our 'Prep Parents' information nights was held last Tuesday, with lots of parents attending. A second night of information will be held next Tuesday night [November 24th] which will take the form of 'Exploring Time' for mums and dads. For more information, please follow the link. Prep Transition 2009
We recently came across this amazing web-site about play-based learning which will be of interest to all who visit this web-site.
Croydon West Primary School was opened in 1962. It is situated in a
quiet, leafy residential area adjacent to the foothills of the
Dandenong Ranges. Children come from the local neighbourhood of
Croydon as well as from Chirnside Park, Ringwood, Mooroolbark. It is
anticipated that the student enrolment in 2010 will be 161 children,
grouped in seven homegroups. The residential nature of the school
environs is a particular feature of the school, set back as it is from
busy main roads. This, together with the country-school atmosphere, is
a commonly expressed reason why parents select our school as their school.
Our school is set in spacious, well-developed and attractive grounds. These provide many naturally shaded areas and easily accommodate both active and passive play. Our grounds have won awards over the past two years including the Pride in our City awards sponsored by the Keep Australia Beautiful Committee.Two main buildings house five spacious learning studios, a Visual Arts Studio, and a Computer Lab, while free-standing buildings provide an excellent-sized Library, Music Studio, Canteen, and a large Hall/Gymnasium. Out of hours community usage of our Hall includes basketball .
Vegetable gardens, chook runs, native gardens, compost heaps and frog habitats provide out-of-door learning opportunities for our children.
Our school has identified 'creativity' as the paramount 21st Century skill. This is not only creativity in The Arts, but also in the way we treat information and solve problems. We have been influenced by the thinking of Sir Ken Robinson. Enjoy a presentation by him on Youtube.
The enthusiastic and highly-skilled staff of Croydon West Primary work strenuously to develop, in all children, the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values which will enable them to become active participants in society.
We encourage high achievement in a safe, friendly, caring and purposeful learning environment.
There is a commitment to offer children a broad and rich curriculum emphasising the belief that children learn and grow in self-confidence and esteem as a result of:
- personal happiness
- achieving mastery in literacy and numeracy
- developing self-discipline
- acquiring decision-making, problem-solving and critical thinking skills
- becoming self-managed learners
- learning to value learning
- understanding what it means to be part of a successful team
Our multiage structure is mindfully and deliberately
designed. We acknowledge that families work like this, as do
workplaces. We know of no workplace in which all of the 25 year olds
work in one office, with the 30 years olds in another office and the 60
year olds ....... We also know that in families the younger children
learn from the eldest child
The skills, attitudes and knowledge we expect children to acquire during their time at Croydon West are guided by the Victorian Essential Learning Standards, fondly known as VELS. This is the official planning framework devised by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority and aims to equip children with the capacities to:
- manage themselves and their relations with others
- understand the world, and
- act effectively in our world.
- sustainable
- innovative, and
- builds strong communities.
