At Whitford Catholic Primary School, we foster a holistic environment that nurtures academic, spiritual, social, and emotional growth. Guided by our values of faith, excellence, service, trust, and community, we provide a rigorous curriculum and extensive extracurricular activities. We integrate faith and technology to prepare students for the 21st century, emphasising the importance of Catholic values in navigating modern challenges. Our commitment to wellbeing ensures a supportive community where everyone feels valued. We aim to develop lifelong learners who are compassionate, resilient, and engaged members of society, working in partnership with families and the wider community to support each child’s full potential.
Whitford Catholic Primary School Vision Statement
LITERACY
At Whitford Catholic Primary School the teaching and learning of Literacy addresses the Western Australian Curriculum descriptors in a sequential manner so that students can develop essential literacy skills required for life-long learning.
We recognise literacy as central to the learning and development of our students. It is an essential skill in becoming successful learners and as a foundation for success in all learning areas. Students become literate as they develop the knowledge, understanding and skills to interpret and use language confidently for learning, communicating and participating effectively in society.
Literacy involves students learning to listen, speak, read, view, write and create oral, printed, visual and digital texts across a growing range of contexts and for different purposes. Students learn to appreciate, enjoy and use the English language to evoke feelings, communicate with others, convey information, entertain and persuade.
Students at Whitford Catholic have daily dedicated literacy time. Teachers access evidence and research-based principles and effective pedagogical practices to create structured learning opportunities and experiences as well as intentional teaching of literacy skills and processes that meet the diverse needs and interests of the students.
A variety of standardised and class-based assessments are used throughout the school to monitor student growth and achievement and inform the design of differentiated literacy instruction and teaching programs.
Our teaching of Literacy is informed by the following documents:
- The Western Australian Curriculum
- C.E.W.A. Literacy Frameworks
- C.E.W.A Literacy Position Statement
- C.E.W.A. Vision for Learning
- The Early Years Learning Frameworks
NUMERACY
21st Century Learners
21st century learners are exposed to an ever-increasing amount and wide range of quantitative and mathematical information. Numeracy is fundamental to a student’s capacity to be involved in a meaningful way when they enter the wider community.
Numeracy & Mathematics
Numeracy involves students in recognising and understanding the role of Mathematics in the world, and having the dispositions and capacities to apply mathematical knowledge and skills purposefully. At Whitford Catholic Primary, teachers identify numeracy demands across the curriculum, so that students have opportunities to transfer their mathematical knowledge and skills to contexts outside the mathematics classroom. These opportunities help students recognise the interconnected nature of mathematical knowledge, other learning areas and the wider world, and encourage them to use their mathematical skills broadly.
Effective Teaching & Learning
At WCPS, our programs are based on the WA Curriculum, the Numeracy Strategy of Catholic Education WA, the Catholic Education WA Vision for Learning, and the Early Years Framework. The strands of Numeracy include:
- Number & Algebra
- Measurement & Geometry
- Statistics & Probability
Students at Whitford Catholic Primary School have dedicated daily numeracy time to develop their proficiencies in understanding, fluency, problem-solving and reasoning. This is structured to enable learning to occur at a whole class, small group, and individual level, to cater to the differing learning needs of all students.
Data is collected to determine the starting point for instruction. This can involve one on one assessments as well as NAPLAN data, standardised tests, class tasks, informal assessments, and teacher professional judgement. Ongoing assessment and monitoring ensure work to student need and ability.
