Young Learners

Head of Junior school at Ruyton Girls’ School, Ms Nicole Ginnane, discusses the how the school ensures students feel at home from day one.

Starting School is sometimes perceived as a traumatic event but not so at Ruyton. We are so proud of the way our young Preps settle into School and take to the job in hand. It was very rewarding to see, even on day two, that the Preps were intuitive enough to be able to line up independently, ready to learn. We build on the excellent foundations laid in Ruyton’s Early Learning and the girls coming through are able to manage their new independence with confidence. In this way we have been able to focus on our units of Inquiry from the very first week of Term one.

In Prep this has been about Relationships: an effective community requires participants who display inter-connectedness, who are able to voice their concerns, to problem-solve and to share collaborative experiences. Our class size is deliberately small to enable the girls to get to know one another and also to allow the teachers to know the girls well.  The teachers focus on understanding the whole child and to this end there are formal meetings both at the beginning and end of the year, as well as weekly informal meetings between the teacher and the child, where the level of understanding in numeracy and literacy is assessed. We nurture our girls and seek to discover where their passions lie, to extend their talents and interests.

By Year 1, as the unit of Inquiry becomes Living Things, we are ready to fine-tune the academic programme even further, to present the girls with greater challenges and to offer further support where there is a need. For instance, reading and comprehension becomes less about decoding text and more of a pleasure as the child achieves more fluency and increased comprehension in her reading skills.

A particular focus at Ruyton is a commitment to learning around Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The girls are exposed to powerful scientific learning experiences. They are not just consumers of technology but are using technology in creative ways.  For instance we are introducing robotics from the ground up: in Prep and Year 1 the focus is on Bee Bots. In Years 2-4 the application is called We Do, and in Years 5-6 we are exploring the use of the Lego EV3 – robots which can be programmed to move by using an iPad application. The Preps have employed their iPads already to tell a story, to communicate, and to capture their learning. They take photos and record their experiences so the iPad becomes a reflective tool.

In the Junior School we are fortunate to have specialist teachers in Science, Languages, (French and Chinese) Music, Art and Digital Learning to enhance the girls’ learning experiences. Some of these teachers will have already spent time in Ruyton’s Early Learning (Languages and Music) getting to know the children.

We are proud of how well the Preps transition into the Junior School. With such a positive start to their learning journey we are sure the girls will continue to thrive throughout their schooling.

For information on the programs at Ruyton Girls’ Grammar School visit, www.ruyton.vic.edu.au

 

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