Foundation at Carlton North is a hands-on, engaging and exciting year with authentic and relatable experiences and events that are used as a springboard for teaching and learning.
Our students learn by explicit, targeted teaching of numbers, letters and sounds, which are reinforced and practised in numeracy activities, quality children’s literature, language experiences, games and opportunities to write and draw about their learning. For example, when we teach about the letter P, we have a ‘Pirate Pancakes’ Day. We dress up as pirates, read pirate stories, count and sort items in a treasure chest, and cook pancakes shaped as the letter P.
Each term we organise rich experiences that relate to the current inquiry topic. For example, for our inquiry ‘My Community’, we meet people and organisations from a cross section of our community. Some of these experiences include a teddy bear hospital with visiting paediatricians from the Royal Children’s Hospital, a visit to our local park, fruit shop and cafes, visits from the RACV, Fire Brigade, Police and Ambulance services, an excursion to Collingwood Children’s Farm and a Science Expo provided by scientists from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. All of these experiences are used as a stimulus for writing, vocabulary acquisition, mathematics, science or wellbeing activities.
Throughout the year, students are explicitly taught self-management skills such as being responsible for their belongings, social skills such as sharing and negotiation, and how to work independently and in small groups.
We believe in fostering a strong partnership with our families, and welcome family support for our program at school and at home. We really appreciate having families get involved whether it be hearing students read each morning, helping out with home learning, or helping out at excursions and special events.