Junior School - Developing Competent Learners

William Clarke College is divided into three sub-schools, Junior (Kindergarten to Year 4), Middle (Years 5 to 8) and Senior (Years 9 to 12) with each student being challenged to learn and apply the values of SPELL in life. 

These values are:

• Serving others
• Participating fully
• Exploring Christ
• Learning to learn for life
• Leading by example

In the Junior School class sizes are small to enable students to receive an excellent grounding in Literacy and Numeracy.  In Kindergarten to Year 2 there are 20 students in each class and in Years 3 and 4 there are 24 students in each class.  Additionally each class has a collaborative teaching approach which includes two qualified teachers (one full-time and one part-time) co-teaching each class throughout each morning with a focus on Literacy and Numeracy development.  This means that class sizes are in reality one teacher to 10 or 12 students each morning so that students are engaged in their learning and remediation and enrichment can easily occur. In the afternoon specialist subjects are delivered in Japanese, Music and Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE).

Serving

Students are introduced to the concept of serving by helping others in their family, school and local community. Students also have the opportunity to contribute to the overseas mission work in Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea by donating school resources and small fund-raising activities.

Participation

Students are challenged to participate both in their learning and a range of co-curricular activities available in the Junior School. The lunchtime activity programme allows students to be involved in a variety of cultural and sporting activities such as gardening, chess, crafts, netball and Japanese brush painting.  Additionally Years 3 and 4 are involved in an instrumental programme where students are introduced to the playing of a string or brass instrument.

Exploring Christ

Christian Development lessons and daily devotionals are taught by the classroom teachers. All students attend weekly Chapel services.  Students in Years 1 to 4 have the opportunity to attend Junior GLO, a Christian group led by staff and senior students.

Learning

Reduced student-to-teacher ratios and early intervention provides students in the Junior School with a strong foundation for learning throughout the College. Literacy and numeracy skills are a significant focus because of the importance they play in opening up learning opportunities across all key learning areas. Integrated inquiry-based learning approaches are also used to make learning meaningful in the areas of Science and Technology, Human Society and Its Environment and Personal Development/Health.

Leadership

Student leadership in the Junior School is intrinsically linked to service and is developed informally and formally.  Classroom leadership involves rotating roles such as line leaders, collecting the canteen baskets and book monitors. Additionally each class takes it in turns to present and lead the Junior School Assembly which gives students experience of public speaking and develops their leadership skills. Students in Year 4 are also involved in rotating monitor duties which serve the Junior School community. Roles include playground monitors and distributing class bags.