Welcome
Blair Athol North Birth – Year 6 School is a child centred, technology rich, 21st Century school which caters for 425 children and 70 preschool places which opened in 2011.
We are a growing school community which is rich in many different cultures – there are 42 different languages spoken amongst our children.
The school is one of numerous PPP (Public Private Partnerships) Schools and the amalgamation of Gepps Cross Primary, Kilburn Primary & Blair Athol Kindy.
The new design has enabled us to challenge traditional thinking about school and the learning environments. Collaborative planning & teaching is at the heart of everything we do. Our teachers are called ‘Learning Advisors’, our buildings are known as ‘Neighbourhoods’ and our classrooms are ‘Studios’. The learning spaces, which are technology rich, have been developed to provide learning experiences for the differing needs of children based on the concept ‘Environment/Context as the Third Teacher’. We are wanting to deinstitutionalise schooling for all our learners.
Our vision and philosophy are influenced by Reggio Emilia from Birth – Year 6. We believe all children are capable and competent, have potential and represent their learning in many ways – otherwise known as the ‘100 languages of children’.
We have specialist programs in Dance/Drama, STEM, Arts, Spanish and Physical Education. With such cultural diversity at BANB6 these programs enable all children to express themselves in a range of ways….. the ‘100 languages of learning’.
We believe in contemporary and innovative learning that connects children with real world experiences to improve their foundational literacy and numeracy development. Examples of this include establishing a TV Studio, Radio Station, forest area and the Kitchen/Garden.
Our Children’s Centre is a place of engagement, learning and care for children and families from Birth – 5 years, which offers a range of services and programs including Occasional care & Learning Together Program. We have a Community Development Coordinator & Family Services Coordinator that will work with our Children’s Centre Team to develop programs & services in response to community needs and aspirations.
Belonging, Being & Becoming are central themes to everything we do.
We have three pillars that drive the work we do, the Pillars are:
Capabilities and Dispositions we want for our children
Principles & Elements for Powerful Learning in the 21st Century
Pedagogies and Practices
We want our children to have the following capabilities and dispositions:
- Critical thinking & Problem Solving
- Communication
- Collaboration
- Creativity & Innovation
- Care for our self, others & planet
- Cultural Understanding
- Curiosity & Inquiry
- Risk Taking
- Resilience
- Reflectiveness
We call these the 7 C’s & the 3 R’s, which equals contemporary and innovative learning.
To achieve the Capabilities and Dispositions we will base our teaching practices on the following six Principles & Elements for Powerful Learning:
- Intellectual Quality & Stretch
- Personalise & Connect
- Assessment & Feedback
- Environment & Spaces
- Future Minded Multimodal Digital Tools
- Wellbeing & Relationships
Our teaching methodologies align with requirements of the Australian Curriculum and our Principles and Elements for Powerful Learning, Capabilities and Dispositions. Our school caters for a range of learning needs and styles, including group learning, collaborative learning, single gender, explicit teaching, and independent learning.
There is a focus on personalised learning, inquiry-based learning, design thinking, learning spaces and the use of digital technologies.