Department of Education - Victoria

Coolaroo South Primary School and Kindergarten is situated in a well-defined residential area in the City of Hume.  The school is in a comprehensive community recreational precinct with proximity to a range of local facilities including public transport.  Along with Foundation to Year 6 programs, Coolaroo South also facilitates a playgroup through our Community Hub.  Our 3 and 4-year-old Kindergarten programs are managed by Northern Schools Early Years Cluster. The school has excellent facilities with 13 well-resourced classrooms along with staff offices and spaces to allow for small teaching groups.

This year the school has an enrolment of 270. Its 49 staff include 2 principal class, 21 teaching staff and 26 ES staff. The SFO Index is 0.79 and its SFOE Index is 0.6. The school's community draws from a wide range of cultural backgrounds.  It has a very high proportion of families from disadvantaged backgrounds and generally, very high numbers of newly arrived EAL learners.

Coolaroo South Primary School has spent time and energy in developing strategies, processes and procedures that not only improve student learning but provide a safe and efficient working environment. The school is a Respectful Relationships partner school and is focussed on developing socially competent students who are aware of their responsibilities in the wider community. The school also works hard to build positive relationships with all families ensuring they feel safe and supported.

Coolaroo South Primary prides itself on its commitment to improving student achievement by offering all students a challenging academic program devised to meet their individual needs. All teaching teams implement inquiry cycles using the Professional Learning Communities (PLC) and the Extending Mathematical Understanding (EMU F-2) intervention model.

The schools aims to connect all members of the community to learning and through its community hub, engages parents in a range of courses and programs preparing them for life in Australia. 

The school is organised into single classes whenever possible. It provides instruction in Physical Education, Visual and Performing Arts, Science, STEM. The school offers weekly Arabic immersion classes to mother tongue students for years 2 - 6.

Student wellbeing continues to be a high priority for staff.  The school employs the equivalent of 1 EFT speech therapists who provide phonological work alongside teachers as well as individual clinical work for PSD students.  A Play Therapist and student counsellor are employed to work individually with students experiencing social, emotional and behavioural challenges. All staff are trained in Berry Street (trauma informed practice) ensuring consistent implementation of these strategies.

SC1    Demonstrated knowledge of the relevant curriculum, including the capacity to incorporate the teaching of literacy and numeracy skills. Demonstrated capacity to respond to student learning needs.

SC2    Demonstrated capacity to implement high impact teaching strategies, guided by how students learn, and evaluate the impact of learning and teaching programs on student learning growth. 

SC3    Demonstrated capacity to monitor and assess student learning. Demonstrated capacity to use data to inform teaching practice and to provide feedback on student learning growth and achievement to students and parents.

SC4    Demonstrated interpersonal and communication skills. Demonstrated capacity to establish and maintain collaborative relationships with students, parents, colleagues and the broader school community to support student learning, wellbeing and engagement.    

SC5    Demonstrated behaviours and attitudes consistent with Department values. Demonstrated capacity to reflect upon practice and engage in professional learning to continually improve the quality of teaching.