Specialist programs
Find out about the specialist programs our school offers.
Music and arts program
Our arts program includes five subjects: dance, drama, media arts, music, visual arts. We believe the arts engage, inspire and enrich all students, exciting the imagination and encouraging them to reach their creative and expressive potential.
Students enjoy a specialist arts lesson once a week. Depending on the subject area, the teacher has access to a performing arts room and also an arts/ science lab along with interactive whiteboards installed in every room at our school.
Our students also have the option to join our school choir. There are 2 separate choir groups (Primary, years 3 & 4 and Senior, years 5 & 6). Our year 5 and 6 students often participate in the Festival of Choir at the Festival Centre.
Stephanie Alexander kitchen garden program
Our kitchen garden offers food education that inspires children and young people to understand and connect with fresh food through fun, hands-on learning. This approach empowers children and young people to develop practical skills, an appreciation of seasonal produce, and a positive, confident and healthy relationship with food — for life.
The garden an interactive area enabling children to engage in environmental and sustainability learning. Some of our kitchen garden classes involve making compost using 2 litre plastic bottles, so students can witness the compost process over a number of weeks. Students are also involved in planting native species with the help of Greening Australia.
Our middle primary students created the wonderful scarecrows in our garden as a mixed media project linking art to our kitchen garden. Each season the students plant seeds to grow vegetables to use in the kitchen cooking part of the program. We also have a site around the tank area to grow native vegetation with the help of the Greening Australia organisation.
Science program
The teaching of our science program is shared by a specialist science teacher and the classroom teacher.
We advocate an inquiry based approach to the teaching of science that is strongly linked to literacy. The specialist science teacher works with classes on the chemical and physical sciences. Classroom teachers cover biological and earth and space sciences.
Physical education program
Our physical education (PE) program includes physical and specialist lessons. Students enjoy a PE lesson with our specialist teacher weekly for a skills-based lesson. They primarily focus on movement skills, dance, active living, sports games and physical skills.
Virginia School participates in the Premier’s Be Active Challenge each year and has been recognised consistently as a top 50 high achieving school.
Annual swimming lessons for reception to year 5 students are held during term 4. An aquatics program for students in year 6 is also scheduled each year.
Our senior students participate in a range of SAPSASA events throughout the year and have had great success.