By connecting to the real world of students’ lives, authentic learning enables students to become lifelong learners who contribute to society and the wider world as active and discerning citizens. Authentic learning is central to our work as Catholic educators because it promotes the continual growth and wellbeing of the whole person — spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, socially and physically.
Our Learning Principles
Villa Maria Catholic Primary School Hunters Hill is a both a House of Mary and a House of Learning, where together we:
- Live – Being enlivened by Gospel values, through appreciating and valuing each other
- Learn – Sharing our life and learning experiences and promoting partnerships between home, school, parish and community
- Shine – Collaborating with others for the good of all through recognising and celebrating our own achievements and the achievements of the wider school community.
Student learning and achievement is the core of what we do. Students’ learning needs are catered for as their achievement and learning growth is monitored and tracked twice a term, evidenced by student work samples. Our successes in learning achievement to date have been:
- An increase in students receiving two or more bands growth, and a steady decrease of students achieving one band growth or less in Reading. (NAPLAN 2019)
- All students from Kindergarten to Year 6 have been identified on a continuum for Writing and have shown learning growth in Writing, evidenced by student work samples
- A 10% increase of students achieving above level and a 30% decrease of students achieving below level in Mathematics over a 12 month period
- Students perform and excel in Music by participating in junior and senior Band tuition and performances
- Students perform and excel in Physical Education by qualifying for cluster and regional sporting events.