Welcome to Andamooka Primary School & Children's Centre

School Philosophy

Andamooka Primary School is a South Australian Government school located in the Far North of South Australia. Nestled in the heart of Andamooka, we offer small, mixed-age classes for R-6 students with the key belief being the holistic wellbeing, both physically and mentally, of every person, along with a strong focus on achieving meaningful academic growth for each and every student. Our whole school community promotes a mindset of dreaming big and embracing diverse opportunities which values an individual students' search for knowledge and growth in skills and life-long learning. We take pride in knowing our students as individuals, and feel privileged to be able to shape every child as capable learners who know the purpose of their education and how to measure their own achievement. Andamooka Primary School delivers a literacy and numeracy-rich curriculum, aligned with the vision “a place where hidden gems are unearthed.”

Wherever possible, we endeavour to provide our students with access to ‘hands-on’ activities and facilitate the time and space needed to use concrete materials that reinforce the learning being explored.

Wellbeing

APS has a fully integrated positively aimed wellbeing approach which is always at the forefront of everything we do. We are proud to be a ‘Berry Street’ aligned community and we incorporate a five point learning zone scale into our language to assist everyone manage their own learning readiness. Expectations of learning behaviours and personal conduct are constructed together at the start of each year, and strategies are explicitly taught as to how to restore any relationships that may be strained from time to time. The opportunity to contribute to one’s own learning through actions and voice is always built into all we do. The school maintains high expectations of the entire school to care for each other and this expectation is embedded in our school values, to BELONG and to be CURIOUS.

Literacy

As we know that proficient literacy is a foundational skill to navigate our ever changing world, the development of this is a key focus for APS, as stated in our School Improvement Plan. Core literacy skills are essential for learning across every curriculum area. Every day each student has the opportunity to develop their literacy through a dedicated literacy block, which is aligned to the Australian Curriculum. As with every learning task at APS, differentiation and life centred contextualisation of the task, affords all students the best chance of growth in reading and writing. We strongly believe in rigorous learning in our multi-age settings, and students are encouraged to celebrate their successes.

We currently use the Read, Write, Inc. Phonics program four days a week throughout Junior Primary which is a valuable tool to support through targeted intervention any literacy gaps in students of all ages. Our staff are all trained in this approach and we engage the students in small, targeted groups, at their point of need. Our staff embody a high level of pedagogical knowledge and utilise effective evidenced based strategies to increase student achievement and engagement in English.

Numeracy

While no-one can predict what the future will hold for our children, at APS we are certain that there is a clear trajectory towards employment paths that require strong numeracy skills. To develop strong numeracy skills requires the concurrent development of strong literacy skills, particularly in the fields of problem solving and applied maths. As such, our focus is ensuring students develop these skills and also have regular exposure to problem solving opportunities to develop the investigative thinking skills and a love for challenge in their learning.

Utilising the ‘Learning Through Doing’ approach we explicitly teach the ‘Big Ideas in Number’, especially focussing on ‘Trusting the Count’, ‘Place Value’ and ‘Multiplicative Thinking’,

Finally,

It is such a pleasure to be part of this amazing community of passionate educators and I warmly invite you to consider us as a place to nurture your student with an
individualised tailored approach to their unique educational needs. Please feel welcome to contact me at any time to further discuss the possibilities.

Bronte Stanford
Principal