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Tour Details
Overview of Lalor North Primary School
Lalor North Primary School is one of the few bilingual schools in Melbourne. One of their main draw cards is they offer Greek and Macedonian bilingual education.
On the tour, we observed classes for the monolingual children and the children in the bilingual program ( Macedonian ). The children and teachers were calm and engaged in learning.
When questioned about zoning, the principal Elizabeth Bryan stated that the monolingual curriculum was zoned but the bilingual program is not zoned.
Class sizes seemed quite small at around 20 children per class. The principal explained that she has done this on purpose to assist with learning. She also noted that there is an aide in most classrooms and fruit is available in classes for “brain food”.
The principal is very onboard with children who have additional needs and require sensory breaks and other supports to assist their learning. We went to the STEM space and I noted sensory items such as wobbly chairs.
At LNPS, the day is divided into 5 sessions ( 9am-10am, 10am-11am, 12pm-1pm, 1pm-2pm and 2.30pm-3.30pm )
The principal noted that their NAPLAN results were in the average range for the state.
The principal has placed additional funding into painting the walls and buying new resources as well. They have a handyman and gardener employed at the school.
School fees are around $150 per year.
Principal’s view of LNPS
The principal, Elizabeth Bryan, was very enthusiastic about her school. She was very happy with her teachers and said that there’s an extremely high retention rate of teachers.
Elizabeth also said that she doesn’t like a “quiet classroom”. She wants the students to be talking and engaging with their peers and their teacher.
No formal presentation was given.
Bilingual program at LNPS
The most exciting and innovative program at Lalor North Primary School is their bilingual program. LNPS is unique in that they are one of the few schools in Melbourne offering bilingual programs.
LNPS have both a Greek and Macedonian program. The Greek bilingual program has been in operation since 1977 and is the oldest continually operating bilingual program in Victoria. The Macedonian program began operation in 1984.
Both programs are recognised by their respective country governments. In the bilingual programs, from Prep to grade 2, 60% of the week is delivered in LOTE and from grade 3-6 is 40% in LOTE.
For the children who do not want to enrol in either language, they can opt to do Italian for one hour per week.
Sports / art / music / camps at LNPS
Programs at the LNPS include sport, art, languages, camps and other extracurricular programs.
STEM, Visual Art, Music, Library and PE are specialist subjects are delivered at the school. At lunchtime, clubs are run for various interests including Lego, STEM, music, art and dancing.
They have interschool sports in grade 5 and 6. They have summer and winter competitive sports.
Diversity and inclusivity at LNPS
There’s definitely an emphasis on diversity and inclusivity.
The principal and teachers are respectful of people and cultures and ensures that everyone is treated with respect. I noticed on the tour that there was a student with a hearing impairment with an adult completing some additional work. The principal also noted that there were books in the library discussing gender roles such as men washing dishes for example and the students being given an opportunity to discuss this.
I also noted that a speech pathologist attends the school 2 days a week and there’s also a wellbeing team at the school as well. The assistant principal is also a social worker.
Other points of interest
- There’s a canteen on site
- Out Of School Hours Care is run by Camp Australia.
- The school delivers one excursion for the year and 2-3 incursions per year. This is due to needing to pay teachers additional for time taken outside of their standard work hours.
- Camp is in year 5 and year 6.
- They have an excellence program for students who are excelling in their academic work and additional tutoring for students who require additional support
- Synthetic phonics is used to teach reading
Do you have any experience, questions or comments about this school? Let our community know and add a comment below. We’d love to hear from you!
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