The primary years at Newman College are where curiosity deepens and confidence grows. At our Lavalla Campus in Churchlands, children experience a rich curriculum designed to stretch their thinking, nurture their passions, and help them understand what it means to belong to something bigger than themselves.
Our learning spaces are flexible and purposefully designed to encourage students to collaborate, and discover how they learn best. More than anything, we want our primary students to develop a genuine love of learning, and the belief that they have something meaningful to contribute.
Every student at Newman College deserves to be appropriately challenged, whatever their starting point. Our SHINE Program, available from Pre-Primary through to Year 10, is designed for students identified as having exceptional academic ability or talent.
In SHINE, students are encouraged to Solve, Hypothesise, Investigate, Navigate, and Enrich, developing the higher-order thinking skills, creative problem-solving, and intellectual courage that will serve them throughout life.
Guided by our four pedagogical principles, SHINE students are challenged to think critically, collaborate with like-minded peers, create original solutions, and celebrate the growth that comes from genuine intellectual stretch.
The program is designed with the College’s four pedagogical principles in mind:
Students are CHALLENGED to engage in critical and creative thinking tasks
Students are guided through COLLABORATIVE approaches to learning with like-minded peers
Students CREATE solutions and prototypes to demonstrate their learning and
The College and students CELEBRATE students’ efforts, learning and growth
SHINE at Lavalla
SHINE Years 3-4
Students invited into this program are challenged to develop their reasoning skills and ethical understandings. Students are encouraged to develop their problem-solving, critical, and creative-thinking skills through real-world contexts and problems.
SHINE Years 5–6
In 2021 students will be invited to participate in a range of external competitions to enhance their critical, creative-thinking, and problem-solving skills. The first of which is the Future Problem-Solving skills competition which develops a six-step problem solving process.
Mathematics
Based on regular testing, students are invited to participate in Maths Discovery classes based on their mastery or talent in Mathematics. In the Extension programs students extend their Mathematics skills and understandings, increasing the complexity of their learning experiences.
Art Extension
Students exhibiting gifts or talents within the Visual Arts are invited to participate in the Arts Extension program.
Program Selection
Students are invited into the various SHINE program levels using a multi-faceted identification process. This includes both subjective and objective tests and reports. Student’s progress, suitability, and readiness for the various stages of the programs is reviewed regularly.
Our Primary Library is a warm, stimulating space where students come to read for pleasure, discover new ideas, and let their imaginations run.
Our librarians are passionate about putting the right book into the right hands, and about nurturing the kind of reader who doesn’t just read for school, but reads for life. From print books and eBooks to the World Book Online encyclopaedia, the library’s resources support learning across every subject area.
Each lunchtime, the library hosts a variety of activities open to all students, a welcoming space for every kind of learner.
Stay Connected – SeeSaw
We believe families are partners in their child’s education. SeeSaw gives parents a genuine window into classroom life, photos of your child’s work, teacher updates, assessments, and activities, all in one place.
SeeSaw lets you see what your child is doing, celebrate their progress alongside them, and stay in real conversation with their teachers.
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