About Preston
Here are some of the reasons why Preston Primary is such a special school.
Guiding Principles
The school strongly believes that through quality teaching and learning, education can make a difference to student’s lives. The school addresses the issues of social justice through its curriculum delivery and learning expectations for each student. This means its core role is to develop numerate and literate students who, as a result of a significant primary grounding, can effectively access future learning.
Preston Primary School is located in the northern suburbs of Melbourne some ten kilometres from the CBD. In 2007 Preston has an enrolment of 670 students. The school is situated in a residential area. A unique feature of the school is that it is located on two separate sites. The sites are some hundred metres apart. The junior school is located in Bowden Street and is home to grades Prep and One. The main building is in Tyler Street and accommodates grades two to six. The main administrative facilities are located at the Tyler Street site and a smaller office is maintained at the Junior School.
Preston’s students are from diverse cultural and socio economic backgrounds and provide the school with a rich ethnic mix. We celebrate our diversity. We are cognisant of the need to educate the leaders of the future and cater for the large number in our community for whom English is a second language.
Special Features
Communication is a key element of the schools ethos. The school community must work together to ensure Preston is a high achieving school. The school’s goals need to be clear and presented to the community with a strong sense of purpose as it strives to provide the best educational outcomes possible. The school should be a trusting, cooperative, empathetic, safe and focussed environment where people are treated with respect and fairness. We must be pleasant and helpful. The adults of Preston have a key role in modelling positive relationships and behaviours. Parents and teachers, as the adults in the school, are encouraged to form a partnership so that there is a clarity of purpose to improve the learning of all children. Curriculum expectations are in place at all levels and the school emphasises academic performance at every opportunity.
A key principle of the school is the belief that people work best in teams and as such the school is in organised in five work groups. Four groups are teacher based and the fifth group is support staff. Each group has a coordinator whose pivotal role managing is a designated area of the school. The preferred class configuration is to have age appropriate grades with composites kept to a minimum. Grade sizes across the school are kept as small as possible and in 2007 we have an average of 19.5 students per grade. Currently our smallest grade is 18 and the largest is 24.
Preston Primary is a school that values participation and positive competition in sport both at intra and inter school level.
The school has a fifteen member School Council. The school council is a dynamic force in the life of the school and provides positive leadership. Other key groups within the school are the Parents & Friends and the Safety House Committee. Both of these groups make significant contributions to the school. Students participate in the decision making process through the Junior School Council
The school believes that it is essential to set ambitious standards, intervene to maximise achievement, assume and share responsibility, collect accurate data that validates the schools targets and most of all be accountable. To realise these goals the school must be more effective in what we have traditionally done and learn to do new things well.
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 28 October 2009 04:59 )
