Our School


We are an inner bayside school located in the City of Port Phillip, established in 1917 with students drawn from within our neighbourhood boundary. The school is in a quiet, residential area close to other facilities such as public transport, beaches and shopping villages. The school forms part of the Elwood Learning Hub,  an education precinct which  includes the Poets Grove Maternal Health, Childcare and Kindergarten Centre, Elwood Primary School and Elwood College.

 

The school population reflects the diversity of Elwood and one of our strengths is the value placed on `community'. Parents and staff work in partnership to support each child's learning journey and parental involvement in the many aspects of school life is highly valued.  Our school markets provide a strong sense of connectedness and are a major source of fundraising for our school. The mix of creative and performing artists in the community also supports and enhances the school’s learning and teaching programs.

 

The school has grown considerably and presently has a student population of approximately 790. There are  35 classes including 136 Preps in six Prep grades this year.  There has been significant development of the school's internal and external facilities recently.  We enjoy spacious playgrounds including a park, half soccer pitch, cricket pitches and nets, asphalted basketball, volleyball and bat tennis courts, creative play areas, a play pod and sandpits.  Classrooms have all been modernised and refurbished with information and communication technology integrated into all learning and teaching programs. 

 

The school's programs reflect our priority focus on the wellbeing of students, and are designed to assist in developing skills for life-long learning. The values which form the basis of the school's actions are: empathy, resilience, respect, integrity and responsibility. They include the YCDI Foundations of organisation, persistence, getting along and confidence, all of which promote resilience in students. Programs are based on the belief that students have the ability and the right to learn and we ensure that the environment is friendly, calm and orderly, safe, and responsive to the community's diversity.

 

We celebrate success in all areas of student achievement.  We specifically focus on high quality programs with a clear commitment to student achievement in English and Mathematics as well as all other Victorian Curriculum areas. Professional learning is a key strategy for the school with a literacy and numeracy coaching model in place. The school is focused on personalising its curriculum to further meet student needs and abilities. The inquiry approach to learning has been adopted in all grades, and will be further strengthened in the coming years.

 

The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program encourages pleasurable food education.  Students in Grades 3 and 4 experience first-hand the links between growing, harvesting, preparing and sharing fresh, seasonal produce. This program is a key driver in the ethos of the school and helps facilitate our strong community links.

 

Specialist teaching areas include Music and Performing Arts, Visual Arts, Physical Education and Sport, Library/ICT, Reading Recovery and Indonesian. An Outside School Hours Care program and School Holiday programs are operated on the school site by TeamKids.