Sadadeen Primary School
Summary
Sadadeen Primary School is a small school in Alice Springs. There are 130 children and around 92 per cent of them are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background and 80 per cent for whom EAL/D (English is an Additional Language or Dialect). The school welcomes all children, acknowledging and valuing the cultural and social diversity the students bring. Sadadeen Primary School has a mobile student and teacher population. The Australian Curriculum has become an essential part of allowing new students and staff to have a smooth transition into the school. The staff have used the implementation of the curriculum to develop a common language that is used across the school and has assisted in building teacher capacity to cater for the needs of students with EAL/D.
The school was an early adopter of the Australian Curriculum with an emphasis on literacy and numeracy, and a gradual approach taken for implementation. Consistency of teaching was emphasised and was implemented through the establishment of leaders and teams of teachers. This also assisted in building teacher capacity, particularly in regard to using the Australian Curriculum and catering for EAL/D students. Oral language is the starting point for all work and visual aids, modeling and scaffolding are part of the consistent teaching practice in the school. The Multi Year Level units developed by the Northern Territory Department of Education form the basis for program planning.
The students of Sadadeen come from the ‘town camps’ and the suburb of Sadadeen. The students come from diverse Aboriginal groups including the local Arrernte people. There is a high mobility of students. The school is made up of multi-age classes with many students having different entry points into the curriculum. Differentiation is essential with the Australian Curriculum achievement standards being used to set high standards. The focus of the school is student learning with key qualities of ‘work as a team, aim high, and question and wonder’. Environmental education is a specific area used to increase student engagement and provides a meaningful context for literacy and numeracy.
Sadadeen Primary School
Alice Springs NT 0870 Australia
School type
Government
School sector
Primary
School location
Remote
School size
130-250 students
Copyright
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