History, Geography, Science, Health
The Australian Curriculum outlines the content to be taught at each year level in History, Geography, Science and Health. At Turner our units of work each term are taught through an integrated curriculum, allowing students to investigate a concept across a number of learning areas. Some examples of concepts investigated are sustainability, forces and gravity, rules and decision-making and cycles of life. In each unit there is a strong focus on either an area of Science, History, Geography, Health or the environment. The unit aims to assist students in developing a deep understanding of one or two key concepts, rather than gaining a shallow understanding of a broad topic. The content from the main curriculum area is what drives the inquiry and the other learning areas such as literacy, numeracy, technology and the arts are how the children process their understandings of the content. Our integrated curriculum approach has two key characteristics:
- It is inquiry based, structured according to the principles of inquiry and learning
- It is understanding driven, enhancing students' understanding of the way the world works
Students are actively involved in wondering, questioning, investigating, clarifying, synthesising and articulating ideas and responding to their learning so they learn to participate responsibly and effectively in society.
To ensure all students access the Australian Curriculum content at the appropriate year level without repetition when in a multi-age class, we plan an odd and even year sequence of inquiry units for each team of classes. Each year teachers communicate the term inquiries through their term letters.
The Turner School kitchen garden program is an integral part of what makes the school grounds so special. It is often a feature of inquiry units and provides all children with the opportunity to learn and practice valuable living skills and sustainable practice. Children in the small group special education classes access the garden program on a weekly basis.
Turner School also endeavours to maintain sustainable practices and students engage in regular composting and recycling and resource use. A team of student leaders in sustainability work across the school to support classes with sustainable practices and in a variety of projects in the garden.