School Profile
MISSION STATEMENT
With JESUS as our model, we strive to educate the children acknowledging their uniqueness and challenging them to reach their full potential.
We do this in partnership with the parents and wider community.
We are committed to: LOVE CARE RESPECT and JUSTICE for each member of the School Community.
'Celebrating Me and All We Can Be'
Principal's Message
Welcome to the Catholic school community at St Agnes' Matraville.
At St Agnes' we are committed to developing a Catholic School in which with Jesus Christ as our model, we strive to educate the children acknowledging their uniqueness and challenging them to reach their full potential.
We believe that students learn best when the curriculum is challenging and relevant and teaching practices support the individual learning needs.
We place importance and value on the partnership between parish, school and home. We believe that the partnership will help the children to develop and grow so that they value and respect the importance of community.
Lorraine Adams
Principal
St Agnes' School
St Agnes' Primary School is located on Bunnerong Road in the heart of Matraville with the Parish Church next door. The school is a single streamed school K – 6 with an enrolment of 175 students.
St Agnes' is well serviced in terms of buildings and resources. It consists of seven generalist classrooms, a well resourced Library and Information Technology Lab consisting of twenty-four (24) computers, a Smartboard teaching room, Smartboards in classrooms, rooms for Creative Arts, Reading Recovery, Special Education a spacious School Administration area and numerous gardens. The school also has access to the Parish Hall for music, P.E. and any other school community activity. There is also a Prayer Room.
Our staff is made up of the Principal, Assistant Principal, Religious Education Co-ordinator, seven classroom teachers K – 6, ESL, Special Needs Teacher, Reading Recovery, Creative and Practical Arts and IT/Librarian Technician. We also have a School Parents Association, Student Representative Council and a Student Outreach group called HEROES. Our Senior Student Leadership Team comprises of School Captains, Presidents of the SRC and other leadership roles of SRC Year 3 to Year 6 and Peer Support leaders.
CATHOLIC LIFE AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
At St Agnes’ we believe that through a quality Religious Education Program, celebration of the Sacraments, liturgy and prayer, within a pastoral and supportive community, children are led to know and understand their Catholic faith and Church community.
This school follows the Archdiocesan Religious Education Curriculum and uses the texts ‘To Know, Worship and Love’. Fr Simari is the pastor and takes an active role in the sacramental program, especially Confirmation. The Sacramental programs are a combination of school and Parish based. All staff take responsibility for the Religious life of the school.
The quality of the Religious Education teaching program, with regular celebrations of prayer and liturgy, have assisted in strengthening the faith of the students.
The school community witnesses to the Good News of Jesus Christ and proclaims the Word through participation in a variety of prayer forms. The weekly prayer around the prayer garden, class prayer and significant Liturgical Season celebrations are very much part of the Catholic life and culture of St Agnes’. The school seeks opportunities for the celebration of the Eucharist at the beginning and the end of term, special feast days and regular attendance at Parish Masses. Classes 2-6 take part in the Sacrament of Reconciliation on a term basis. Sacramental celebrations involve the whole community providing support and witness to the students making the Sacrament. The school supports the religious formation of Religious Education teachers and all staff. Staff prayer, invitations to outreach programs and the Staff Spirituality Day have been part of this formation.
SCHOOL CURRICULUM
St Agnes’ provides an educational program based on, and taught in accordance with, the Board of Studies syllabuses for Primary Education. The Key Learning Areas (KLA’s) are English, Mathematics, Science and Technology, Human Society and its Environment, Creative Arts and Personal Development, Health and Physical Education. In addition, the school implements the curriculum requirements of the Catholic Education Office, Sydney.
The curriculum, teaching and learning are informed by the priorities, goals and indicators outlined in the Sydney Catholic Schools, Towards 2010 Strategic Leadership.
Staff members are committed to the continuous improvement of teaching and learning in all facets of school curriculum.
Catering for the diverse learning needs of our students is seen as a priority. The development of an Identification Process has allowed for a greater number of students to be identified in the early stages of their schooling and so effective strategies and programs are put into place to support the individual learning needs of these children. A Gifted Education Program was implemented throughout 2007 with children from Stages 1 to 3. This has been a very successful project where the children have extended their learning and confidence to produce some wonderful projects using ICT.
Peer Support Leaders continued to implement a daily fitness program throughout the year. The variety of skills and games have helped to support the physical stamina of all children.
The school values ongoing development of a ‘culture of Reflective learning’. Continuing to build positive relationships between students, parents and teachers enables a learning environment that allows all children to take risks and responsibility for their learning.