Welcome to Ruthven Primary School. The staff and myself believe education is a partnership between the school and home. We recognise that your child is a special individual that you have nurtured and who now has achieved the independence to take the next step.

This school's aim and focus is, expressed through our Mission and Vision Statement, 'to prepare each student to be successful life-long learner and that each student is equipped with the academic and life skills, knowledge, values and attitudes to be an effective communicator, reflective thinker and responsible citizen'.

All students are provided with stimulating and challenging curriculum programs in the eight major learning areas, English, Studies of Society and the Environment, Arts, Science, Maths, Physical Education and Health, LOTE and Technology. Program implementation and teaching practices at the classroom level are based on small cooperative groups and an inquiry learning approach. To help us achieve this goal in 2001 Ruthven Primary School adopted the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (PYP) to enhance our work in the development of student's skills, values and attitudes.

The International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) offers to schools three programs: the Diploma Program for students in the final two years of secondary school, the Middle years Program for students aged 11 to 16, and the Primary Years Program for students aged 3 to 12. It has 1182 schools in 101 countries.
The Primary Years Program (PYP) provides an opportunity for learners to construct meaning, principally through concept-driven inquiry. Traditional academic subjects are part of the program but it emphasizes the interrelatedness of knowledge and skills through a transdisciplinary program of inquiry. The PYP focuses on the heart as well as the mind and addresses social, physical, emotional and cultural needs as well as academic ones. The PYP aims to develop in children:
• Sensitivity to the experiences of others through the curriculum
• The characteristics listed in the student profile
• The attitudes that are an explicit element of the program
• The expectation of socially responsible action as a result of the learning experience.
The PYP focuses on the development of the whole child, in the classroom but also in the world outside, through other environments where children learn. It offers a framework that meets children's several needs: academic, social, physical, emotional and cultural. The program is a comprehensive approach to teaching and learning:
• an international curriculum model that provides guidelines for what students should learn
• a teaching methodology, which includes a profile of the PYP student
• assessment strategies.
At the heart of the PYP is a commitment to structured inquiry as a vehicle for learning.
• Six organizing themes help teachers and children explore knowledge in the broadest sense of the word.
• Teachers and students use key questions that are concept-based to structure the units of inquiry.
• They acquire and apply transdisciplinary skills while developing an understanding of these important concepts.

The development of explicit attitudes and the expectation of socially responsible behaviour are also essential elements of the program.
Ruthven is a school, which provides a variety of programs to cater for the special needs and abilities of its students. These include specialist Art and Music programs, Perceptual Motor Program (a program designed to enhance children's physical co-ordination and visual perceptions), camping, swimming, Junior School Council, integration and extension programs. A Language Other Than English program (LOTE) in Italian was introduced in 1995.

A feature of the school culture is the harmonious relationship, which exists between staff, parents and students and the focus on values. The school community has developed an agreed set of values and understandings and these are reflected throughout our activities. For students these values are; Responsibility for learning, Cooperation and Teamwork, Respect, Loyalty, Support and Consideration for Others, Honesty, Humor, Fun and Enjoyment.

The atmosphere in the school reflects feelings of mutual trust, good will and co-operation which is assisted by the variety of communication strategies used to consult, involve and inform parents. For example, the development of student learning plans, portfolios and the introduction of student led conferences when reporting to parents.

The staff reflects this culture of the school through their team planning, curriculum content and cooperative teaching approach in their classrooms. Ruthven is characterized by its focus on developing student values and attitudes through small groups and intensive team teaching. This approach allows better focus on individual students and emphasis on developing in the student an ability to work cooperatively and skills to become an independent learner.

Christopher L. Sexton
Principal Ruthven Primary School