Curriculum
The Statement of Faith and Mission for Catholic Education Wilcannia-Forbes, ‘Faith, Learning and Transformation in Jesus Christ’ promotes a balanced curriculum that integrates life, faith and culture and is illuminated by the presence of Christ and the light of faith.
Catholic primary schools in the Diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes use the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) syllabuses for Key Learning Areas as the basis to plan student learning programs, assess student progress and report to parents. The Religious Education Program, ‘Educating in Christ’ is central to the curriculum.
Each school prioritises the planning and coordinating of the mandated curriculum and extra-curricular offerings to ensure the greatest impact on student learning. A flexible approach to curriculum planning enables schools to respond to the needs, interests, motivations and aspirations of their students and community.
STEAM – Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics
Students and teachers across the diocese are provided with authentic and purposeful learning opportunities to work individually and collaboratively on projects in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) disciplines.
Some of these initiatives include;
- Ingenious Inventions – Annual Rube Goldberg Challenge.
- A Rube Goldberg machine is a deliberately complex contraption in which a series of materials that perform simple tasks are linked together. They produce a domino effect in which activating one material triggers the next in the sequence resulting in a chain reaction. Rube Goldberg machines are designed to encourage teamwork and out-of-the box problem solving for students of all ages. Students use materials to design and make a machine that performs a simple task such as dropping a can in a recycling bin, watering a plant or raising a flag.
- STEM Lending Library – CEWF has invested in a range of resources to assist teachers and students to engage with STEAM related learning opportunities. Schools may borrow the resources through the CEWF STEM Lending Library for an extended period of time.
Some of the resources include;
- Sphero Bolt kits and coding mats
- Lego We Do 2.0 kits
- Lego Mindstorm kits and robotics training mat
- Ozobot Bit 2.0 kit
- BeeBots, mats and activity cards
- Digital Microscopes
- Fermi Problems – A Diocesan Fermi Challenge is held annually.
- Enrico Fermi is the father of solving maths problems that we will never know the exact answer to such as, How many leaves are on all the trees in Central Park? They are great for getting students to think mathematically and use problem-solving skills. Students need to be able to explain and justify what they did when coming up with their solutions.
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