Educational Philosophy and Aims
All phases of schooling at Mary Immaculate School are informed through Brisbane Catholic Education's Learning and Teaching Framework and The Alice Spring's (Mparntwe) Declaration (2019).
The Alice Springs (Mparntwe - pronounced as 'M-ban-tua') Education Declaration sets the national vision for education for all Australians and notes two goals:
- The Australian education system promotes excellence and equity.
- All young Australians become confident and creative individuals, successful lifelong learners, and active and informed members of the community.
Curriculum design and delivery at Mary Immaculate Primary School is grounded in the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration and is mindful of the declaration's goals. In alignment with the declaration, which promotes excellence and equity, we support students to achieve high standards and provide structures and adjusted strategies that enable equitable learning experiences. This is achieved within a faith-filled learning environment in which we are committed to supporting students to become confident and creative individuals, successful lifelong learners and active and informed members of the community.
Our learning environment is based on the charism of the Josephites in which we value Compassion, Justice, Humility and the daily living of Gospel values. We value every child as a learner and understand that all children learn in different ways and at different rates. Mary Immaculate Primary School supports the nurturing of children's spirituality and their faith experience through our connection to St Mary of the Cross MacKillop and the Josephite charism.
At Mary Immaculate School, we are committed to providing opportunities for learning which encompass the diverse aspects of all life experience and, in particular, those relevant to our diverse community and society. This is achieved through the explicit teaching of essential concepts and skills in literacy, numeracy and ICLT and by applying the gradual release model of responsibility. With an increased emphasis on the soft skills essential for young people to be contributing members of local and global communities, we aim to support students to have the capacity to affect positive change and thrive in a changing world (Mparntwe Declaration).
Mary Immaculate school aims to provide a student-centred, holistic approach to education. We recognise that students have different strengths, needs and backgrounds which emphasises the importance of meeting these individual needs with a focus on student progress and growth regardless of the starting point (Mparntwe Declaration). Through multiple and varied opportunities, we aim to teach students to negotiate, observe, engage in, reflect on, demonstrate and enact their learning. Such learning will occur in individual, small group and whole group contexts.
We believe in learning that is personalised and allows for differentiation. Teachers will use digital learning opportunities that engage students and bring worldviews into the classroom. This will occur through the provision of appropriate technologies and resources. Mary Immaculate teachers aim to build upon current knowledge and understandings in order to create new knowledge so that students can be co-creators of learning through a supported and structured environment. We value parent engagement and encourage home/school connections.