Primary curriculum Illustrations of practice

Baynton West Primary School

Summary

Baynton West Primary School is an independent public school in Karratha, Western Australia. At the time of filming the school had close to 600 students in Foundation – Year 7, and 50 staff members. The school strives to provide a rigorous education for students who live in a remote Australian environment. This school is unique as it was able to start planning for the Australian Curriculum at the same time as the school was established in 2013. The teachers plan for their students collaboratively in teams, with support from learning area coaching specialists. Teachers co-teach classes to use their expertise and “share the load.”

Baynton West Primary has a strong collaboration model. Six teachers in the school were identified and undertook ‘Train the Trainer’ professional development to become coaches. The coaches work within the school and across schools in their network to share their knowledge of the Australian Curriculum. They assist with planning, programming and demonstration lessons and use a whole school shared panning tool. The Australian Curriculum is used to differentiate the curriculum for students with specific learning needs. ICT is a strong component of the teaching and learning strategies in this school.The implementation of the Australian Curriculum has helped to develop the partnership with parents. The school has coordinated a series of information sessions and ongoing communications about assessing and reporting, and use the work sample portfolios to develop parents’ understanding of the child’s achievement. 

Baynton West Primary school is situated in the Pilbara region in Western Australia. The school opened in 2013 with 350 students and has grown rapidly. Currently 10 per cent of the students have EAL/D. The school is governed by a school board and employs its staff through a local selection process.The school is a regional Teacher Development School, so a number of the teachers have been trained as coaches for a learning area. The school has a comprehensive specialist teacher timetable that allows teachers to be released from class at the same time to program and plan collaboratively for their students. Due to the remote location, students and staff are transient and the Australian Curriculum enables them to move around the country with minimal disruption to teaching and learning.

Baynton West Primary School
WA 6714 Australia

School type

Government

School sector

Primary

School location

Remote

School size

400 - 600 students

Copyright

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