Curriculum

The curriculum offered at Our Lady of the Pines is designed to enhance the spiritual, intellectual, social, physical and personal development of each child. We are a welcoming community working in partnership to nurture the values and traditions of the Catholic faith. Embedded throughout the curriculum are the skills of cooperation, problem solving, innovation, self-direction and the capacity to relate to others and manage change.

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 The Religious Education program permeates all areas of the curriculum and is developed through the text of ‘To Know, Worship and Love’. Central to our teaching is the nurturing of a personal, loving relationship with God. Through the support and involvement of the whole school the following sacraments are celebrated: First Holy Communion (Year 4), Reconciliation (Year 5) and Confirmation (Year 6). We celebrate our faith through prayer, sacramental programs and workshops as well as liturgical events.

Our curriculum is based on the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS). The VELS overview can be accessed via http://vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/. VELS encompasses three essential learning strands: Physical, Personal and Social Learning; Discipline based Learning and Interdisciplinary Learning. Under these headings or strands, learning is broken up into areas called domains of which there are 16: Health and Physical Education, Interpersonal Development, Personal Learning, Civics and Citizenship, The Arts, English, Languages Other Than English (LOTE – Italian is taught at Our Lady of the Pines), Economics, Geography, History, Mathematics, Science, Communication, Design Creativity and Technology, Information Technology and Thinking.

We endeavour to foster the potential of every student through a range of specialist, support and extension programs. Specialist teachers are employed in the areas of Literacy and Numeracy intervention, Physical Education, Italian, Performing and Visual Arts.

Other special features include;

  • Student leadership program including the Student Representative Council (SRC)
  • Buddy system (Prep & Year 6, Year 1 & Year 5)/peer support program
  • ‘You Can Do It’ Student Achievement Program
  • Chess club
  • Lunchtime Computer club
  • Seasons grief and loss program
  • School choir
  • Private music tuition (keyboard and guitar)
  • Interschool sport and other statewide sporting championships
  • Swimming program
  • Year 6 camp
  • Before and after school sporting programs
  • Orientation and Transition programs
  • Outside School Hours Care