We are very proud to announce that we are officially an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School. The IB Primary Years Program (PYP) underpins our approach to teaching and learning.

Our students learn in a supportive personalised school environment, with access to a full and outstanding range of programs across all areas of the Victorian Curriculum.

At Aspendale Primary School we endeavour to provide students with learning experiences that are engaging, relevant, challenging and significant, in learning environments that are stimulating and provocative. We provide students with opportunities to build meaning and refine understanding, through explicit teaching sessions and structured inquiry.

There is a strong focus on Mathematics, English and Science as well as developing higher-order thinking skills, design and digital technology skills and creativity.

The IB learner profile attributes detail what learners at APS strive to be: Inquirers, Open-Minded, Knowledgeable, Caring, Thinkers, Risk-takers, Communicators, Balanced, Principled and Reflective. These align closely with our Core Values of Passion, Respect, Integrity, Commitment and Empathy which guide how we teach, learn and interact at Aspendale Primary School.

Inquiry learning at Aspendale Primary School is characterised by students:

• asking questions, building on prior knowledge and making their own discoveries;
• finding out information from primary sources to answer generative questions and develop deep conceptual understandings;
• making connections between ideas, learning domains and experiences;
• using a range of thinking routines, strategies and tools to compare/contrast,problem solve, summarise and make thinking visible;
• engaging in genuinely integrated tasks linked to other curriculum areas with a ‘real life’ emphasis;
  actively participating in his or her learning;
• developing reflective practices inclusive of: goal setting and feedback; utilising cooperative strategies
   

Our students benefit from a full range of specialists programs, including Performing Arts, Visual Arts, Physical Education and Chinese Mandarin. A range of extra curricula activities are provided, including school band, choirs, school musical productions, camps, excursions, incursions and large variety of Extra Curricula (Enrichment) lunchtime clubs.

Over the year, each year level inquires into each of the six PYP transdisciplinary themes. These themes are the most significant and distinctive feature of the IB PYP. They provide IB World Schools with the opportunity to incorporate local and global issues into the curriculum and effectively allow students to ‘step up’ beyond the confines of learning within subject areas.

Aspendale Primary is commited to:

• teaching and emphasising literacy and numeracy as core and essential subjects – these are linked, wherever possible to PYP Units of Inquiry;
• Circle Time and Restorative Practice;
• providing a genuine curriculum that relates to students’ real lives;
• developing our students as literate global citizens who understand how knowledge is accessed, organised and communicated;
• encouraging students to investigate and solve problems, develop and employ a creative solution, to reflect and think about thinking;
• providing opportunities for students to develop community, global and environmental awareness
• promoting and developing personal and social skills through our Social Skills Program which includes Circle Time, ensuring student are aware of their own learning through feedback, refection and goal setting.