At Wooranna Park Primary School we take great pride in our Specialist program, enabling students to learn more skills and develop further passions outside of their classroom experience.
Japanese
We offer an engaging and stimulating Japanese language program, where students are introduced to the language and culture of Japan. Language learning fosters students’ ability to think and reflect about how languages work, as well as develop their understanding of other cultures and communities. It relies on a cognitive skill set that promotes mental flexibility and supports student learning in all disciplines.
From Prep to Year Six students learn Japanese once a week. Classes provide an opportunity to learn about Japanese culture and how to speak, read and write in Japanese. Students also engage in crafts, singing, and cooking lessons to support their broader understanding of Japanese language, culture and everyday life. In the junior years, the focus is on developing basic communicative skills and vocabulary whilst exposing students to various aspects of Japanese culture. The senior years see a stronger focus on communication and language skills such as learning to read and write in Japanese.
Physical Education
We offer a comprehensive sports education aligned with the Victorian Curriculum. Our program focuses on enhancing students' physical skills, teamwork abilities, and overall well-being. Through a range of age-appropriate activities and sports, we aim to instil a love for physical activity and a sense of achievement in our students.
Aligned with the Victorian Curriculum's Health and Physical Education strand, our curriculum covers fundamental movement skills, active play, and basic game strategies. We create a positive and inclusive environment where students can discover their strengths, build resilience, and develop a lifelong appreciation for a healthy lifestyle. By engaging in a variety of sports activities, students not only improve their physical fitness but also enhance their social and emotional skills. Teamwork, communication, and problem-solving are integrated into our sports sessions, nurturing well-rounded individuals who are prepared for success both on and off the field.
Join us in cultivating active and confident learners through our sports program, where we blend educational outcomes with the joy of sports, all in accordance with the Victorian Curriculum guidelines. Together, we are shaping a generation that values physical well-being and embraces the spirit of healthy competition.
Wooranna Park Primary School is a member of the Dandenong Sporting District within the SSV network. Students can participate in Gala Day sports throughout the year. Our Sporting Schools lunch time activities are Badminton, coaching with Badminton Victoria, and Tennis coaching with Tennis Victoria
STEM
Students learn different approaches to real world problems and are given the skills to collaborate with peers, communicate effectively, think critically about the issues, and develop solutions. Each term, an overall focus allows the students to be exposed to different ideas, the chance to research a theme deeply and to showcase their learning in a variety of ways.
We are proud to have an Edible Garden at our school. This garden allows children to learn in a hands-on environment about living things, food production and harvesting, as well as healthy eating and food wastage. In 2023, the children have planted a range of winter vegetables such as broccoli, snow peas, peas and potatoes and harvested a variety of fruit from our trees. The students have also seen how farms are crucial to providing the food we eat and saw firsthand the process that ‘farm-to-plate’ goes through while making our own bread from wheat seeds and olive oil from olives.
We are very fortunate to be a school participating in the FEAST Program from OzHarvest in 2023. FEAST is a 10-week curriculum-aligned education program for primary schools, inspiring students to eat healthy food, waste less and become change-makers in their local community. Through this practical program student learn skills about food preparation, storage and hygiene along with trying new foods!
Performing Arts
In Music, the teaching of skills is broken down into three main areas - Preps, Grade 1 and Grade 2 focusing on rhythm and playing clapsticks. Grade 3 and 4 focusing on melody and playing recorders, and Grade 5 and 6 focusing on chords and playing ukulele. eEach level also focuses on singing, drama, dance, musical appreciation, and an introduction to reading written musical notation.
In Drama Prep, Grade 1 and Grade 2 are given short poems to learn and recite, and they perform them on stage, learning their cues as to when to enter and exit the stage, speaking to and bowing to an audience. Grade 3 and Grade 4 learn to recite verses from a narrative ballad, eg The Ballad of The Drover and present them on stage. They also do improvisational work based on basic scenarios such as job interviews, and domestic situations. Grade 5 and 6, focus is on learning parts of narrative poems such as The Man From Ironbark. Each student learns a verse or a few lines and participates in a performance on stage.
In Dance Prep, Grade 1 and 2 learn basic steps to the Heel and Toe Polka, the Galopede and learn song and dance routines as in Shark Shuffle. Grade 3 and 4 learn more complicated dance steps such as the troika, Grade 5 and Grade 6 learn dances that focus on complicated steps and dances that require learning and practicing dance etiquette. This is quite a challenge for this age group, although they usually enjoy dancing with a partner after being introduced to it. They are also given the opportunity to make up their own choreography for a Flash Mob.
