North Ainslie Primary School works closely with families to support children with their academic and social / emotional learning. We strongly believe in educating the whole child and look to work closely with families to build a collaborative team. Through this, we ensure every child is supported and extended in all aspects of their learning and development, as well as being able to access support if needed.
Our teachers work closely with each other and are continually assessing each child’s understanding of what they are learning and use this information to plan for success. This includes formal and informal assessments, observations, small group support and 1:1 conferencing. This ongoing assessment ensures our teachers have a deep understanding of each child’s learning needs.
We strongly believe that all students are entitled to a curriculum that is tailored to their specific intellectual, social and emotional needs. At North Ainslie Primary School, teachers are guided and supported to differentiate their instruction and group students, to enhance the learning of each student while working towards a common goal. Adjustments are made to support each learner and meet them at their point of need, whether this be additional support or extension. If our teachers are concerned about your child’s learning, our first point of contact is with you to discuss this and what supports are available in the classroom.
Approximately every five weeks, our teaching teams review evidence of learning across the cohort in a range of curriculum areas. Using this evidence, they identify an area of learning where they can provide a 'boost' to all students in the year group. Students are grouped based on a similar point of need for that area of the curriculum. This may be working on a gap in the learning, supporting students with an area of difficulty or extending understanding and skills in a particular area. The school leader for the team joins them four days a week to provide an extra teaching resource. This additional teacher allows all of the groups to be smaller, meaning all students receive a 'boost'. Every child is in a 'Boost Group' and these groups are fluid and flexible based on student learning and the curriculum area.
Our school student support team, consisting of our inclusion coordinators, deputy principal, and school psychologist meet weekly to discuss identified children who may need further, more fine-grained support through external agencies or additional assessments. Referrals to our student support team can be made through the classroom teacher or parents.