Learning

Learning at Santa Sophia is aimed at educating the whole child and helping students attain true wisdom, from Preschool to Year 12. Based on leading educational research and the best of today’s technologies, we will prepare students for the workplace of the future by teaching them how to think critically and creatively, how to communicate effectively and how to work collaboratively.

The Learning adventure is made up of four schools of learning:

Learning Framework

The Learning Core

Learner-Core

School Transitions

Schools of Transition - Genesis

Schools of Transition - Curiosity

Schools of Transition - Connect

School of Transitions - Challenege

What is the Santa Sophia Learning Framework?

Santa Sophia Catholic College is a Pre -Post school which ultimately wants all students to gain wisdom through faith, hope and love. The college's learning framework aims to articulate the importance of transference of knowledge and skills which meets the needs of the 21st century world which we live in.
Since Santa Sophia has four transitional schools contained in the one college, there will be specific pedagogical practices used by teachers which align with the different developmental stages of the students (Play Based Inquiry, Guided Inquiry, Rigorous Learning Focused Projects and Blended Mastery). Each pedagogical practice is founded on the Principles of Inquiry Learning.
Santa Sophia Catholic College aims to support parents and caregivers, who are the child’s primary educators.

The Learning Core

The learning core depicts how and what students learn in the contemporary learning environment at Santa Sophia. At the centre of the learning core is the goal for each student to attain Wisdom through Faith, Hope and Love.

Wisdom which is not only right judgment and knowledge but in the Cathloic Tradition is the God incarnate, Jesus Christ and its the purpose of all learning to lead us to Him.
Faith is giving our whole self to God because we are made in God's image and likeness (Gen 1:27) and God is the source of all truth and wisdom.
Hope is having full trust in God and not relying on our own weakness but in Christ who is all powerful and loving and gives us the grace to help one another in struggles.
Love is the queen of all virtues which challenges us to seek God and put the good of the other before ourselves.

What is inquiry learning?

Every school in NSW, is mandated to teach the NESA (NSW Education Standards Authority) curriculum and at Santa Sophia, all students will engage in this curriculum through an inquiry model of learning.
An inquiry model of learning, places the students at the centre of the learning process, which encourages curiosity, relevance, choice, reflection and makes connections to the world we live in.
An important goal for all students, is to not only acquire knowledge and skills in different subject areas, but transfer this learning to all aspects of life. At Santa Sophia Catholic College, this process of learning can be identified by three phases of learning: Surface, Deep and Transfer Learning. Each of these phases of learning is core in all learning activities in each subject.

Learner Capabilities: Preparing for the future workplace

Santa Sophia Catholic College aims to prepare students for the workplace of the future. The College aims to develop the following capabilities in our students, which are of the highest priority in all workplaces:
Holy Wisdom, Literacy, Numeracy, Personal (Intra) and Social (Inter), Digital Intelligence and Enterprise Skills (Collaboration, Critical and Creative Thinking, Presentation Skills).
The learner capabilities have been intentionally included as core learning at Santa Sophia, as we want to give our students the very best foundation to be successful in the workplace and life in general.
Each of the learner capabilities are assessed in all years of learning and are reported on.

Learner Capabilities

Holy Wisdom
  • Demonstrates an understanding of the Catholic perspective of the different themes that are present in the projects.
  • Demonstrates knowledge of the Catholic values and applies them to uphold the dignity of the human person.

Personal and Social

  • Displays self-discipline and resilience, engages in reflective practices and understands themself as a learner.
  • Shows an awareness of the feelings, needs and interests of others, contributes to positive relationships, appreciates diverse perspectives and resolves conflict appropriately.

Digital Literacy
  • Follows class rules and applies basic social protocols when using ICT to communicate with their audience.
  • Capably searches, evaluates, selects and generates information from a range of digital sources, with adherence to copyright restrictions.

Enterprise Skills: Collaboration, Presentation Skills, Critical and Creative Thinking

Collaboration
  • Contributes positively to group tasks
  • Participates in the planning and discussions of group projects
  • Meets group expectations in relation to quality and quantity of work.

Presentation Skills
  • Speaks with accuracy and confidence throughout presentations, maintaining verbal and non-verbal cues and
  • Clearly and concisely articulates their understanding of the content in an engaging manner.

Early Stage One

Demonstrates how they can be like Jesus through their words, actions and interactions with others.

Personal
  • Displays an ability to participate and engage in challenges as a learner.
Social
  • Demonstrates positive interactions with others through respectful speaking and listening.

Follows class rules to appropriately use technology when engaging in and sharing their learning.

Presentation skills
  • Shares topic related ideas with their peers using a clear voice.
Collaboration
  • Participates in conversations and group work to achieve a common goal.
Critical and creative thinking
  • Asks questions, makes connections and reflects on their learning progress.

Stage One

Demonstrates an understanding of Jesus’ teachings and how that can be reflected in their decision making and interactions with others.

Personal
  • Engages in the challenges of their learning and reflects on their personal learning goals by actively participating as a learner.
Social
  • Demonstrates positive interactions with others through respectful speaking and listening and accepts responsibility for their actions.

Follows class rules to appropriately use technology to engage with, share and reflect on their learning.

Presentation skills
  • Confidently shares with their peers using subject specific terminology, a clear voice and cohesive sentences.
Collaboration
  • Actively participates in collaborative group work by asking questions to extend, elaborate and evaluate ideas.
Critical and creative thinking
  • Asks clarifying questions to explain the connections in their learning and evaluate their learning goals.

Stage Four

Demonstrates an understanding of the Catholic perspective of the different themes that are present in the projects. Demonstrates knowledge of the Catholic values and applies them to uphold the dignity of the human person..

Personal
  • Displays self-discipline and resilience, engages in reflective practices and understands themself as a learner.
Social
  • Shows an awareness of the feelings, needs and interests of others, contributes to positive relationships, appreciates diverse perspectives and resolves conflict appropriately.

Follows class rules and applies basic social protocols when using ICT to communicate with their audience. Capably searches, evaluates, selects and generates information from a range of digital sources, with adherence to copyright restrictions.

Presentation skills
  • Speaks with accuracy and confidence throughout presentations.
  • Maintains eye contact.
  • Clearly and concisely articulates their understanding of the content in an engaging manner.
Collaboration
  • Contributes positively to group tasks.
  • Participates in the planning and discussions of group projects.
  • Meets group expectations in relation to quality and quantity of work.
Critical and creative thinking
  • Critically analyses and connects complex issues and abstract ideas
  • Gives reasons to support their thinking.
  • Generates creative ideas, possibilities and solutions in a variety of contexts.

Stage Five

Demonstrates an understanding and analysis of the Catholic perspective of the different themes that are present in the projects and their implications on society.

Personal
  • Demonstrates a high level of self discipline, engages with academic and social challenges in a reflective and analytical way and provides leadership to others
Social
  • Demonstrates an ability to develop and foster positive relationships with peers and adults, works collaboratively with diverse groups and demonstrate effective problem solving skills

Follows class rules and applies basic social protocols when using ICT to communicate with their audience. Capably searches, evaluates, selects and generates information from a range of sophisticated digital sources, with adherence to copyright restrictions

Presentation skills
  • Speaks with accuracy and confidence throughout well-structured and cohesive presentations, maintaining verbal and non-verbal cues, and clearly and concisely articulates their understanding of the content in an engaging manner.
Collaboration
  • Contributes positively to group tasks, participates in the planning and discussions of group projects, devises strategies to meet group expectations and successfully applies appropriate conflict resolution strategies.
Critical and creative thinking
  • Critically analyses complex issues and abstract ideas, provides well-reasoned justification to support their thinking, generates and reflects on creative ideas, possibilities and solutions in a variety of contexts.

 

Contact Us

You can contact Santa Sophia Catholic College weekdays between 8:00am and 3:00pm on (02) 8801 6200 or send us an email using our contact form below

Send us an email

Find Us

Follow Us

Key Links