Evidence-based Teaching

Craigie Heights Primary School offers a full and robust curriculum, catering for the needs of all students. Teachers employ consistent student engagement strategies and daily review to maximise learning. We use whole-school, evidence-based programs to teach phonological awareness, synthetic phonics and spelling, and use an approach consistent with the science of reading. 

Our curriculum aligns with the WA Kindergarten to Year 10 Outline and the WA Department of Education’s Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting policy and procedures.

English

The English teaching approach at Craigie Heights Primary School is grounded in evidence-based pedagogy, particularly Structured Literacy informed by the Science of Reading (SoR). This method prioritises explicit, systematic, cumulative, and diagnostic teaching across reading, writing, spelling, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. It is built upon high expectations for all students, inclusion, and a firm belief that all learners can succeed with the right instruction. This instruction is delivered during the morning literacy block, which follows a predictable format using daily reviews, explicit lessons, fluency activities, and integrated comprehension and writing tasks. These components are delivered in a sequenced and cumulative way, particularly targeting at-risk learners from the earliest years.

Maths

We enhance daily learning through structured Daily Reviews and high-quality explicit teaching, ensuring students have frequent, purposeful opportunities to practise, revisit and consolidate key knowledge and skills. Lessons are deliberately structured using the I Do, We Do, You Do model, providing clear teacher modelling, guided practice, and supported independent application. This consistent instructional approach builds clarity, confidence and success for learners across all ability levels.

The program is further strengthened through engaging mental computation routines and problem-solving games that build fluency while promoting deep thinking and student talk around mathematical strategies. To extend students’ thinking beyond procedural fluency, Lighthouse Maths is used to develop higher-order problem-solving skills, mathematical reasoning and perseverance. This balanced approach ensures students not only become accurate and efficient in their skills, but also flexible thinkers who can apply their learning to unfamiliar and complex problems.