In our Junior School there is a commitment to the education of both boys and girls to Year 3 and girls only from Year 4. Our awarding winning Junior School places an intentional focus on the explicit teaching of foundation skills in literacy and numeracy. Our students are encouraged to take risks in their learning, identify with strong role models and engage in higher-order thinking.
Philosophy of Learning in the Junior School
At CGGS we believe students learn best when strong relationships have been formed and they feel safe, happy and respected. We believe students learn through interaction and collaboration and that they learn best when they have agency, voice and flexibility in the way they learn.
We believe learning should be meaningful, challenging and accessible for each student. At CGGS learning is built on prior teaching and learning and fosters enduring skill development, resilience and curiosity. Reflection and feedback, from a variety of sources, are integral components to the learning process at CGGS, and helps to inform the personalised next steps in learning for each student.
Curriculum
The study of English is central to the learning and development of all students. It helps to create confident communicators, imaginative thinkers and informed citizens. It is through the study of English that students learn to analyse, understand, communicate and build relationships with others and with the world around them. Our language program ensures students learn to listen, read, view, speak, write, create and reflect on complex and sophisticated spoken, written and multimodal texts. Students are encouraged to appreciate, enjoy and use the English language in all its variations and develop a sense of its richness and power to evoke feelings, convey information, form ideas, facilitate interaction with others, entertain, persuade and argue.
In Mathematics, our students are competent users of the language of mathematics and use it as a way of thinking, rather than an isolated set of skills. In our Junior School the Mathematics program ensures that students are confident, creative users and communicators of mathematics, able to investigate, represent and interpret situations as active citizens. Students develop a sophisticated understanding of mathematical concepts and fluency with processes, and are able to pose and solve problems, reason, engage in Mathematical conjecture, and test proofs and theories.
Primary Year Programme: Kindergarten to Year 5
The International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) is a transdisciplinary, inquiry-based curriculum framework that builds conceptual understanding, enabling students to learn between, across and beyond traditional subject boundaries. It is a student-centred approach to education for children aged 3-12, based on the best of educational research, with responsible action at its core.
The PYP focuses on the development of the whole child as an inquirer, both in school and in the world beyond. It is a framework that is engaging, relevant, challenging and significant. PYP learners know how to take ownership of their learning, collaborating with teachers to deepen understanding and increase their confidence and self-motivation. Through actively engaging in integrated ongoing assessment they become effective, self-regulated learners who can act on constructive feedback.
Middle Years Programme: Year 6 onwards
The MYP is a challenging framework that encourages students to make practical connections between their studies and the real world. The MYP is a programme for 11-16 year old students, beginning in Year 6 at CGGS. There are MYP students all over the world – the programme is taught in almost 100 countries. The MYP aims to develop students who are active learners, internationally minded, able to empathise with others, have the intellect and skills to pursue lives of purpose and meaning.
In our Junior School the MYP allows our students to develop their potential, explore their own learning preferences, take appropriate risks and to reflect on, and develop, a strong sense of personal identity.
At a time when students are establishing their identity and building their self-esteem, the MYP motivates students and helps them to achieve success in school and in life beyond the classroom.