Our Teaching Philosophy – Years 3 to 6
At Ãâ·ÑAƬ’s, we understand that children thrive in a structured and inspiring learning environment. That’s why we provide learning experiences founded on the science of learning, with explicit instruction as our teaching methodology.
This explicit instruction provides your daughter with the strong foundations in literacy and numeracy she needs to succeed throughout her learning.
Our teachers pride themselves on being lifelong learners, and as a school, we continually examine and adapt to best practices recommended by contemporary educational researchers.
What is Explicit Teaching?
Explicit teaching involves clear, direct instruction where teachers break down new concepts step-by-step. This pedagogical approach has a strong evidence base and ensures your daughter builds essential curriculum skills in a structured and supportive way. Teachers model strategies, guide students through practice, and provide feedback to help your daughter grow in confidence and understanding.
In the Junior School, we use research-aligned programs to support this approach, including:
- Little Learners Love Literacy (LLLL) – to build strong early reading and spelling skills in the Early Years.
- Heggerty Phonemic Awareness – to develop your daughter’s ability to hear and manipulate sounds in words, a key part of learning to read in the Early Years.
- Bond Blocks – supporting Early Years mathematical thinking through hands-on activities and structured learning sequences.
- Learning Through Doing – a hands-on mathematical teaching approach that sequences students through a spiral approach across curriculum topics.
These programs (amongst others) help create a solid foundation in the junior years of education, ensuring your daughter is equipped with the core skills needed to thrive.
What is Project-Based Learning?
Project-based learning is an approach that encourages curiosity, exploration and problem-solving. Once your daughter has developed key foundational skills and knowledge through explicit teaching, she is taught and then guided to apply her knowledge in meaningful ways by investigating real-world questions, making connections across subjects and thinking critically about what she has learnt.
Why We Combine Both
Research shows that explicit teaching is the most effective way to learn new things, while project-based learning helps students deepen their understanding and develop transferable skills from what they have already learned. We apply the Learning Assets developed by education expert Kath Murdoch. By combining these two approaches, we support your daughter in mastering the basic skills and knowledge, whilst learning how to ask questions, solve problems and think for herself as a flexible learner.
A Foundation for Lifelong Learning
At Ãâ·ÑAƬ’s, we’re passionate about nurturing capable, curious and confident learners. By combining structure with creativity, we empower our students to build strong academic foundations and develop the skills they need to grow into thoughtful, engaged and independent learners – now and into the future.
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Ãâ·ÑAƬ’s is all about girls discovering their best. We want our students to be engrossed in the exploration of ideas, to be self-motivated and self-directed, to delight in trying something new and to contribute positively to the community.