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Specialist Subjects

At Golden Grove Lutheran Primary School, we provide a comprehensive education that goes beyond the basics. Our curriculum includes a range of specialist subjects designed to enrich students’ learning experiences and foster their interests and talents. With a commitment to holistic education, we aim to empower students with the skills and knowledge they need to thrive in an ever-changing world.

Music

Our Music programme is designed to meet the needs of both beginners on their path of discovery of music, as well as more advanced students who enjoy enrichment and extension.

Our music learning encompasses a large range of concepts and topics, as well as teaching a variety of practical skills. Along with our comprehensive extracurricular choral and instrumental programmes, we develop well-rounded musicians, who are strongly equipped for their secondary studies.

Students explore pitch, tempo, rhythm, structure, dynamics, music theory, and instrumental and vocal performance. Our learning is based on the Orff approach to music education which research has shown to develop strong vocal, aural and improvisational skills.

Our students also enjoy a range of opportunities in addition to their weekly specialist lessons which include Choir, Worship Band, Festival of Music and Wakakirri.

Peripatetic instrument lessons (weekly lessons with a visiting music tutor in a specific instrument) are also available in a wide variety of instruments, as well as voice. Lessons take place during school hours by a team of highly professional musicians. Students in the peripatetic music programme perform each term at a special assembly.

Our music education programme is led by Mrs Naomi Ali, who holds a BA (Hons), Dip. Piano, Grade 8 violin and Grade 6 Harp.

Physical Education and Sport

Golden Grove Lutheran Primary School provides students with a comprehensive range of sporting opportunities. We believe that participation in a range of sporting activities promotes a sense of resilience and self-belief, which complements overall student achievement.

Our extensive Physical Education and Sport programme is delivered by our specialist teacher, Mrs Adele McCusker, and aims to develop children’s movement, communication, and thinking skills. Physical Education lessons take place twice a week for each class and are strongly integrated with the units of inquiry with which students engage as a component of the IB PYP.

Our PE programme is also complemented by our broad and diverse co-curricular sports programme which includes school basketball and lacrosse teams which participate weekly in the oval Saturday Sport competition, as well as both the SACSA and SAPSASA pathways for basketball, netball, Australian Rules Football, tennis, athletics, swimming, cross country, soccer, tennis and many more!

Art

Students experience stimulating, creative weekly specialist art lessons, where they learn and develop a range of different artistic techniques including drawing, painting, printmaking, design, sculpture, and the use of clay.

Our students enjoy an engaging and broad Art programme which is taught by our specialist Art Teacher, Mrs Cloe Richardson. Art is a component of our Unit of Inquiry cycle, enabling our Art lesrning to integrate with classroom inquiry. Art lessons are delivered in our specially equipped Art Room.

Our Art programme provides students with the opportunity to experience a wide variety of artistic ideas and methods and to use a variety of forms of media and a range of artistic processes. Multicultural perspectives and art history are integrated within the our units of inquiry. Students explore and develop skills with the various elements of art – form, space, colour, texture and tone, as well as creating and responding to artwork from a range of styles and artists from across the globe.

In Year 6, students draw on their art learning into an independent inquiry for a piece of art work as part of their PYP Exhibition. This is an incredibly rich piece of art which is independently researched and crafted by students.

Japanese

As an internationally-focussed PYP school, students from Foundation to Year 6 learn Japanese each week. Golden Grove Lutheran Primary School is proud to enjoy a strong sister school relationship with Eisugakkan School in Japan, with students enjoying annual international study tours and cultural exchanges.

Japanese lessons are planned and interwoven into the Units of Inquiry by our specialist teacher of Japanese, Mrs Melissa Bishop. Students learn to speak, read and write Japanese, as well as to learn about Japanese culture, life and festivals.

Students are encouraged to learn the language through active collaboration with one another as well as through enjoyable and practical learning experiences. Our younger learners use play, songs, stories and puppetry. As they develop their knowledge and dispositions, they then begin to read and write Japanese text. Upper primary students are encouraged to identify their own areas of interest within the Japanese culture, formulating questions for research, and designing and creating presentations to share their learning.

Students all enjoy our very popular, annual Matsuri Day, an exploration and celebration of Japanese culture, as well as our annual study tours to Japan for Year 5 and 6 students and their families.

Library

Our library is a warm, welcoming environment for children to further grow their love of reading and literature. It is a bright, open and inviting space which supports students in developing their appreciation of literature, as well as growing their research capacities.
Our extensive book collection supports the diversity of student interests from Foundation to Year 6, promoting a life-long love of reading, and supporting our learners as global citizens.

Our library is open throughout the school day. Each class visits the library on a weekly basis with their classroom teacher.

These visits include information and media literacy learning sessions with our school Librarian, and the borrowing of books and resources to support literacy for learners.

A range of events are held in the library throughout the year including Book Week Character Parades, Book Week activities, Book Fair and the Premier’s Reading Challenge.

We would love to welcome you to our library; an environment that serves as a centre for discovery and wonder, and a space designed to energise learning.