Five Dock Public School

At Five Dock Public School we provide a quality education experience for students from Preschool to Year 6. The school population has increased over the last few years and reflects the diversity and vibrancy of Sydney's inner western suburbs. The local Italian community is still well represented within the community and its contribution to the local area and indeed the school, is highly valued. Italian classes are provided to all students from Kindergarten to Year 6. A number of our students are second or third generation Five Dock Public School pupils and the school has always been, and remains, integral to the Five Dock community. The core values of our school community translate into four clear expectations for our students. These are: Respect everyone; participate safely; belong with pride; and, achieve your best. The school is now in its fifth year of implementing the Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) program. An important component of this program has been the development of lessons that provide our students with learning experiences to support their understanding of explicit behaviours that support them to meet our expectations. As a result our students are empowered to meet community expectations within the school environment and out in the broader community. At Five Dock Public School, we take great pride in ensuring an inclusive approach to all members of our school population. We cater to the needs of a number of students with a moderate intellectual, autism and mult-categorical disabilities in our support unit. The school provides assistance for those children identified as experiencing difficulties in literacy and numeracy and have a number of students with disabilities who receive additional funding to access the mainstream classroom. Active participation in the life of the school is a priority for all our students and everyone is supported to reach their potential. A dedicated group of teaching and support staff work collaboratively to ensure individual student needs are identified and catered for. Specialist staff support students through our learning and support program, Reading Recovery and English as a Language Dialect (EaLD) program. Monitoring of student progress through ongoing assessment is an essential component of all teaching and learning programs. The parent community works in partnership with the school to achieve positive outcomes for our students. In addition to fundraising activities, a significant number of parents/caregivers, as well as other community members, work within the school to assist with resource preparation and support students in classrooms. Opportunities are also provided for parent participation in decision making and in providing feedback regarding the effectiveness of whole school programs. Quality literacy and numeracy teaching is a priority at Five Dock Public School. This is reflected through school organisation and ongoing professional learning for all staff that directly links to our school improvement targets. As a result there is a consistent approach to the teaching of literacy and numeracy across the school. Students have ongoing opportunities to interact in meaningful ways with technology and interactive whiteboards have been installed in all rooms and ipads are used as part of a team teaching program. At Five Dock Public School we provide our students with a range of extra-curricular activities to foster the development of skills across a number of areas. These include a range of competitive and non-competitive sporting activities, a school band, a strings (violin) group, choir, ukelele, visual and performing arts activities and debating. Leadership programs operate across the school from Kindergarten to Year 6. Students have opportunities to be part of the Student Representative Council (SRC), participate in buddy and the Peer Support programs. The school's vegetable garden provides our students with the opportunity to learn about sustainability as well as providing the broader community with an opportunity to engage in the life of the school. At Five Dock Public School we are proud of our school and our students' achievements. We are continually working to improve what we do. Through this culture of continuous improvement we believe we are providing our students with a firm platform to achieve their potential across all areas; academic, social, emotional and physical, to become confident, self motivated and caring young adults.