Early Years: F – 2 Curriculum
At East Preston Islamic College, we aim to provide your child with a safe, nurturing environment in which to make new friends, discover the world around them and explore the endless possibilities that come from independent,
Early Years: F – 2 Curriculum
At East Preston Islamic College, we aim to provide your child with a safe, nurturing environment in which to make new friends, discover the world around them and explore the endless possibilities that come from independent, collaborative and whole class activities. We provide a strong emphasis on the literacy and numeracy skills that form the foundation for their future and our teachers are committed to giving your child a caring and positive experience at school as they begin their journey of lifelong learning. In partnership with parents we are delighted to guide each child as they grow into all that Allah has called them to be.
Our curriculum nurtures your child’s natural curiosity. It encourages exploration and discovery in a supportive, enriching, multi-sensory learning environment. Your child will thrive when given opportunities to engage in hands on learning that provides opportunities for movement and space; they love to construct, investigate, experiment and question. Through inquiry based learning, our teachers guide your child to discover and explore new concepts. We are dedicated to tailoring our teaching methods to support how your child will learn best.
Literacy and Numeracy skills play a pivotal role in the early years for a student as part of the school curriculum.
Early Years English Program
East Preston Islamic College uses the frameworks of the Australian Curriculum. This is centred around a regular literacy block where children participate in reading and writing activities. Reading is based on whole class and small group work, with the children being involved in modelled reading, explicit reading instruction during group guided reading sessions in Prep to Year 2. All students have independent reading opportunities. During writing the students are involved in modelled, shared, guided, interactive and independent writing. The English curriculum is organised into Reading and Viewing, Writing, and Speaking and Listening and is studied through the strands of Language, Literature and Literacy. Australian Curriculum Standards are embedded into our English curriculum. Children are immersed in and surrounded by language. The premise that language permeates all aspects of curriculum and programs naturally is essential to our program. An approach is followed which allows for the integration of each main aspect of language – listening, speaking, reading and writing.
The learning of spelling is a developmental process. It involves the use of strategies which focus on the features of written language such as spelling patterns, rules and the relationships between words. Children use these strategies in their daily writing as they attempt to spell unknown words. Spelling strategies are taught in groups or class lessons. Spelling is explicitly taught using a variety of strategies including the THRASS strategy. Prep to Year 2 emphasise the use of phonological skills, listening for sounds at the beginning, middle and end of words through the study of word families and rhyming words. Teachers also use techniques and strategies to assist children to make correct choices of letter patterns. They also study homophones, contractions, and plurals. As the children progress, they develop visual strategies to complement their phonological knowledge. At East Preston Islamic College we advocate the use of both phonological awareness and whole language approaches. It is important that spelling is linked to writing for the students to apply their spelling skills in context.
A wide range of published and electronic resources are used to support the English program, including PM Benchmark, Reading Eggs. Oxford Reading Program, readers, guided read