Teaching & Learning

Our Approach

At Macclesfield Primary School, we’re proud to be a small, close-knit school in the beautiful Dandenong Ranges. Our community, our amazing students and our dedicated staff make Macclesfield a wonderful place to learn and grow.

What This Looks Like in the Classroom

In every classroom, teachers break learning down into small, manageable steps. They model examples, ask lots of questions, check for understanding and make sure students feel supported. There’s no guessing or trying to figure things out alone — students get the guidance they need to succeed.

Helping Every Child Succeed

We know every child learns differently. Our approach allows us to focus on one clear learning goal at a time, providing:

• Clear explanations and modelling
• Guided practice with helpful feedback
• Extra small-group or individual support for students who need it

At Macclesfield Primary School, we want every child to feel successful, capable and ready to take on new challenges. Our teaching approach helps make that happen every day.

Instructional Model

Literacy

Reading

Students at Macclesfield Primary School learn to read through a structured literacy framework. A structured literacy approach builds into the curriculum explicit, direct instruction to support ‘the 5 pillars’ or reading –

1. Phonic knowledge and Phonemic awareness
2. Morphology
3. Fluency
4. Oral Language
5. Comprehension.

Prep to Year 2

Students are learning to read, with an emphasis on systematic phonics instruction (recognising the letters and the sounds these letters make), phonemic knowledge building (hearing, isolating and manipulating the sounds in words e.g. say ‘cat’ but don’t say ‘c’), language/listening comprehension (listening to stories and texts and responding to questions and discussion points about text meaning), vocabulary (learning new words in context of stories and texts), reading fluency (learning to read so that it sounds like speaking). Teachers from Prep to Year 2 implement InitiaLit, an evidence-based systematic reading program from Macquarie University in NSW.

Grade 3 to Grade 6

Students are reading to learn. They practice reading fluently each day (emphasis on rate, accuracy and prosody), and read novels and texts to build knowledge of the world. Each term students read a novel together and respond to questions about text meaning, learn how authors structure and organise their ideas into a text, and learn language features so that the texts are more interesting, purposeful, coherent and precise. Vocabulary from novels and supplementary texts are taught explicitly, building both knowledge about the content, and vocabulary to support knowledge acquisition.

Alongside novel studies, students build their knowledge of the world through supplementary texts. These texts can be non-fiction or fiction. For example, when learning about seasonal change and migration, students may read the picture story book ‘Pannikan and Pinta’ which explores Lake Kati Thanda (formerly Lake Eyre) and a family of pelicans who migrate to the western coast of Australia. Accompanying this text, are additional informative texts around Lake Kati Thanda and stories of human migration.

At Macclesfield Primary School, many reading sessions take place with students reading aloud to one another, reading in pairs and/or small groups.

Writing

All students from Prep to Year 6 learn to write through an explicit, skills based writing curriculum. Teachers develop writing lessons to target specific writing skills.

Some examples:

• In Prep students learn to identify verbs, adjectives and nouns and how to use these to write correct, descriptive sentences.
• In Grade 3, students will learn to extend simple sentences to include more informative information (who, what, where, when, why).
• In Grade 5 and 6, students experiment with subordinate clauses to add information to the noun in the main clause.

Each week students review the skills learned recently and then move on to a new writing skill. Once a week, students write a response to a prompt linked to the current knowledge unit, with an opportunity to include the recently learned writing skills.

Numeracy

Mathematics

All year levels from Prep to Year 6 learn Mathematics by applying number knowledge to solve problems through a variety of challenging problem solving activities. Teachers provide models and explicit instruction to demonstrate the skills and strategies that can lead to success, before allowing students opportunity for independent and small group work. Every Maths task has entry points and extension points for students who may require additional support or further challenge.

Students also participate in daily Maths fluency tasks which are independent, short (5 minutes), and allow students to practice until mastery of a specific number-based skill before moving on to a new skill. These fluency tasks allow students daily opportunities for additional success with Mathematics, whilst building the important knowledge required to be fluent and automatic with number skills.

In 2024, we began implementation of ‘Top Ten Mathematics’, an evidence-based program, that ensures there is a consistent and systematic approach to the teaching and learning of Mathematics at our school.

STEM

At Macclesfield Primary School, we are proud to offer 1-to-1 notebooks in Grades 2, 3, and 4, and 1-to-1 Chromebooks in Grades 5 and 6, at no cost to families.

We have strict guidelines and policies for correct technology use.

While we acknowledge technology’s growing presence in our lives and the need to be proficient in technology use, we value the importance of handwriting in the development of spelling and writing, therefore are balanced in our use of technology.

Science themes and knowledge are covered through our Knowledge-rich units. We also celebrate Science Week every year, with guest speakers and incursions throughout the week.

Specialist Programs

Students at Macclesfield Primary School have the opportunity to participate in 50 minute specialist lessons each week. The subjects on offer are:

Japanese
Music
PE
Visual Arts

In addition to the weekly lessons, we also look forward to the following events which showcase these curriculum areas:

• Japan Day (held bi-annually with dress-ups, food, Taiko drumming, and traditional games)
• Christmas concert (held annually; each class performs two songs to our school community)
• During the Performing Arts semester, classes often perform at our weekly assemblies.
• State School Spectacular (on non-concert years, we are lucky to secure spots for the 5/6 students in the mass dance element of the performance)
• Visual Arts exhibitions to showcase student work (Prep-6)
• Sporting events (see below)

Sporting Events

Students can participate in inter-school sports events and competitions. Our local network of schools facilitate different activities including:

Cross Country, Athletics, Swimming, AFL/AFLW, Soccer, Volleyball, Basketball.

We have sought additional sporting opportunities outside of our network, so students can participate in sports of their choosing, including Cricket, Tee-ball, Softball.

When students want to participate in a sport, it is encouraged and expected that they will participate in 3 training sessions a week, 2 weeks before the event, during a lunch break, so they can build the skills and understanding for the game. Our focus for sporting events is active participation, sportsmanship, and trying our best.

In preparation for whole school events like cross country and House Athletics, our PE teacher runs lessons to build knowledge, confidence and skills in individual sports.

Each year we also participate in Ride to School Day (Term 1 and 4), and Walk to School Day (Term 2) to build positivity around physical movement.

Concert

Every two years at Macclesfield Primary School all classes perform in a school wide Concert held at EPAC (Emerald Secondary College Performing Arts Centre).  Weeks of rehearsals culminate in a wonderful performance for all students and classes.  A much anticipated event for our school community.  Each student provided with the opportunity to create props, perform a dance, music performance and/or display their acting ability as part of the Concert.

Camps & Excursions

Camps

Students across the school have the opportunity to participate in annual camps.

In Grade 2, students participate in a school sleep-over, where they are involved in helping to prepare and organise the event, from choosing activities, to voting for meals.

In Grade 3-4, students travel via bus to local camps to participate in 1 night camp, within 2 hours of school. The camps combine a mix of outdoor exploration and challenging activities, providing students with an introduction to camp experiences with school. Recent local camps have been to Yarra Junction and Forest Edge.

In Grade 5-6, students travel further afield to participate in 2 night camps. These camps often extend on the initial skills and experiences from Grade 3-4, and involve both an educational experience (Beechworth historical camp), and an experiential camp (challenging activities and experiences, often giving students the opportunity to step outside comfort zones- Phillip Island/ City Camp).

Excursions

All students benefit from the opportunity to learn from others. Wherever possible, students may travel by bus to participate in different excursions (local library visits, Puffing Billy etc). We regularly invite guest speakers to our school to build on learning opportunities for students.