The Western Australian Curriculum provides teachers and supporting staff information to help plan student learning programs, assess student progress and report to parents. The curriculum is established by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA).
Our Lower School program encompasses Years 7 to 9 with a focus on developing independence, resilience and Protective Behaviours, while also building on functional Literacy and Numeracy skills. Students also engage in specialist areas of Design & Technology (Woodwork) and Physical Education.
Focus areas of our Lower School learning areas are:
Literacy and Numeracy
All lower school students participate in literacy and numeracy programs that are designed to meet their individual needs and levels of development in line with the Australian Curriculum.
Students participate in regular assessments to determine their progress in both literacy and numeracy. These assessments provide teaching staff with valuable data that allows them to see what each individual student understands and build on that knowledge to targeted skills and learning outcomes each student needs to develop.
Literacy programs are supported at each student’s developmental level to meet their needs through Sounds Write, Soundwaves Spelling, Talk 4 Writing, and DSF high interest readers and activities. Units of work are developed for functional writing through to more complex tasks such as procedures and persuasive writing.
Numeracy programs are developed and supported using Paul Swan Mathematics Kits. These provide hands-on learning strategies that help our students see and understand mathematics concepts.
Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS)
At Kalamunda Secondary Education Support Centre Humanities and Social Sciences cover History and Geography. We plan lessons that are relevant to our students as learners.
History focuses on the local and Perth area. This allows us to make the learning relevant to our students, providing real life opportunity to explore and visit historical places, gaining increased understandings of their importance.
Geography explores mapping skills that are local, and Perth based. Students explore the biomes within Western Australia and will gain an understanding of Australia, states and territories and capital cities.
Learnings include the development of understandings of Aboriginal and Cultural Perspectives.
Health & Physical Education
Our Health and Physical education program is delivered by a specialist teacher. Students attend a two-hour lesson each week.
Health focuses on the development of social and emotional skills of our students. This ensures resilience is built, ensuring positive health and well-being, for our students as they move forward through school towards post school options and/or employment. Programs such as Zones of Regulation, Rock and Water, and Social Thinking Skills provide the foundations and strategies students need.
The Physical Education program reflex the modified sporting games students play at our Kalability Carnivals each term. Our specialist teacher develops skills needed to participate successfully in modified Basketball, Cricket, Soccer and AFL. Students learn the concepts and rules of each modified sport to participate with skill and sportsmanship at each term’s carnival with other students from Education Support Centres and Schools in and around the Perth area.
The Kalablity Sports Program focuses on the values of sportsmanship, teamwork and respect. It provides links to community sporting groups through supporting organisations such as WA Basketball, All Abilities Football and local Community Cricket. We also receive support from the Perth Wildcats, Perth Scorchers and the Westcoast Eagles. These links encourage and develop an increased sense of belonging in the community for all students.
Design and Technology (D&T)
With the inclusion of Design and Technologies in the curriculum and a strong national focus on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Mathematics), KSESC introduced a new woodworking room in 2021 which enables students to learn real world skills in a realistic environment.
Students learn about workplace signage, identifying workplace safety and hazards as well as personal protection equipment.
Our D&T workshop provides students a safe environment with a wide variety of tools and machinery, specifically chosen to maximise their learning potential.
Students are encouraged to solve problems, follow simple instructions and complete basic routines to create a variety of projects throughout the year.
Protective Behaviours
Protective behaviours are taught across all classes each week using the ‘Circles’ program. These programs are child-focused and informed by a fundamental belief that children always have a right to physical and psychological safety. Children are taught the Circles concept, which assists students to group people within colour-coded circles of interaction. This allows students to learn appropriate behaviours that could be used with people within each coloured circle.
We teach our students that we all have the right to feel safe, all the time. We teach the students how to identify safe and unsafe situations and how to seek help immediately - and to persist in seeking help until they feel safe again.
