Science, Design Technology and Humanties
Understanding the World Through Science, History and Culture
At Gladesville Primary School, we take an explicit and integrated approach to teaching Humanities, Science and Technologies, ensuring students develop strong content knowledge alongside literacy skills. We use evidence-based frameworks that promote deep understanding through carefully sequenced learning.
Through our literacy programs, students engage with rich, subject-specific texts that build vocabulary, background knowledge, and comprehension. These sessions are generally focused on a history or geography topic. Lessons are structured to support reading, helping students to unpack complex ideas and make meaningful connections between what they read and the world around them. Our writing complements this by giving students regular, structured opportunities to write about what they’ve learned in humanities and science topics. Writing tasks are purposeful and closely linked to the content being taught.
Our science lessons align well with our focus on explicit instruction. Lessons follow an inquiry-based structure, but with clear learning intentions, guided discussions, and hands-on investigations that build conceptual understanding step-by-step. The integration of literacy within science lessons supports our whole-school approach to strengthening students' reading and writing in context.
The science program is organised around the four key learning areas of the Victorian Curriculum: Physics, Biology, Chemistry and Earth and Space Science. Our students develop understandings of important science concepts and processes through a variety of investigations and hands-on experiments.
At Gladesville Primary School, our Design and Technologies program encourages students to think creatively, critically, and practically as they explore how things are designed, made, and used in the world around them. Students engage in hands-on projects where they identify problems, generate ideas, and develop solutions using a design process. They work with a variety of materials, tools, and digital technologies to plan, create, and evaluate their designs. Learning is connected to real-world contexts and often linked with other curriculum areas such as our Kitchen Garden program.
Digital Technologies at Gladesville PS empowers students to become confident and responsible users of technology. They learn how digital systems work, how to create simple programs, and how to use technology to solve problems and share ideas. Our focus is on building creativity, logical thinking, and safe online behaviours so students can thrive in an increasingly digital world.