Students at St Monica’s work with specialist teachers in the areas of Music, Library, Italian, Art and Physical Education. These programs aim to complement the regular classroom program while providing quality opportunities for students to broaden their learning.
The music program at St. Monica’s School is based upon the Kodály concept of music education. The Kodály Method carefully sequences the teaching and learning of musical elements to align with the child’s development and reflect the way that children learn naturally. Just as children learn to speak first and then read and write later, musical concepts are also taught with this ‘sound before symbol’ approach. Children are first introduced to musical concepts through experiences such as listening, singing songs, games or movement activities, and only then, when the students are familiar with a concept, the notation is taught. The program at St. Monica’s is primarily singing based, as the voice is the most accessible instrument for all children. The use of tuned and untuned percussion instruments is also employed to enhance learning.
Every child has a library lesson each week, where they listen to stories, browse the collection and can borrow books from our fantastic collection. The focus of the library is for St Monica’s students to love reading and to learn how to do amazing research. In 2nd and 3rd Term every child completes the Premiers Reading Challenge, and our Year 6 students also enter the National History Challenge, which is an Australian wide competition which acknowledges quality research. Over the years St Monica’s Year 6 students have won many State and even Australian prizes in this competition. In recent years we have some new library shelving and furniture, and the library looks bright and interesting!
The Physical Education program at St. Monica’s has been designed and structured to support children develop the skills necessary for them to experience success and growth both physically and socially. For many children movement is a significant part of how they learn, and this is inclusive of acquiring and refining physical personal, social and cognitive skills. Our program at St. Monica’s offers all children the opportunity to participate and develop an appreciation for a variety of sports in a safe and inclusive environment. Sports like Tennis, Soccer, Hockey, Badminton and Basketball are some of the favourites amongst students and through the Sporting Schools Australia funding and other local programs students frequently enjoy engaging in sports clinics with professional coaches. Physical Education at St. Monica’s enables students at all entry levels to participate in different sports and games while fostering a lifelong enjoyment for being physically active.
ITALIAN / ART
The Italian and Art program at St. Monica’s is a combined lesson undertaken once a fortnight for an hour and a half. It creates enjoyable opportunities where students are engaged and immersed in the Italian language and cultural experiences. Students are able to develop a greater sense of self and their own cultural background while developing an understanding of the Italian culture. They are engaged using a range of learning styles including games, songs, cooking, creating, researching and co operative group work. Within this class students will also create artworks by experimenting and learning about a range of art materials, tools and artistic techniques. Students are given the opportunity to share, reflect and respond to their own and others’ artworks. We celebrate their achievements and learning with a biannual Italian Day and Art Show.