At Buchan Primary School our specialist programs include Physical Education, Library, The Arts (Drama, Music and Art), Cooking, Student Leadership, STEAM, Outdoor Education, Environmental Play and LOTE (Italian)

Music

All students have approx half an hour of Music a week over an alloted term.
The Junior School (Foundation, Grades 1 and 2) learn to:
Sing - To communicate their experiences and ideas and to use their voices to perform music.
Play instuments - To communicate their experiences and ideas and to understand and respond to beat and simple rhythm patterns.
Composing - They explore contrasting sounds and improvise with them, as well as describe the ways contrasts and effects can be created in the music they listen to.
The Senior School (Grade 3,4,5 and 6) learn to:
Sing - Accurately and expressly perform songs to communicate intentions and ideas to audiences. They also use their voices to perform music and sing music in different styles.
Play instruments - Students accurately and expressively perform instrumental music to communicate intentions and ideas to an audience. They play music in different styles and use music technology.
Composing - Students improvise, arrange and compose their ideas to communicate their intentions. They use elements of music and technologies to improvise, arrange and compose music.
Listening - Students describe and discucc similarities and differences between music they listen to and they explain how the elements of music are used to communicate ideas and purpose in the music they listen to.
Responding - They describe how music making is influenced by music from different cultures, times and locations, using terminology. Students also describe and discuss similarities and differences between music they listen to, compose and perform.

Cooking

All students have an hour of cooking each week over an alloted term. We have a well equipped kitchen where they are taught how to cook nutritious and healthy food. We also have a vegetable garden which we use to source some of our ingredients.

Library and reading opportunities

School Library - Students are given regular opportunities to access and borrow books from our well-resourced library during our Literacy sessions in the mornings.

East Gippsland Library Van - Students are also encouraged to borrow books from the East Gippsland Library Van which visits the school once a fortnight each Tuesday. Students are able to borrow dvd's, books and audio books.

MARC VAN - We also have the MARC VAN visit the school once a fortnight. Students are given the opportunity to be engaged in Literacy activities and borrow library resources from here too.

The Scholastic Bookclub - This book club operates in the school throughtout the year and children pay for their books at the time of ordering.

Premiers Reading Challenge - We sign up for this challenge every year.

Physical Education

All students have an hour of Physical Education each week over an allotted term.
Swimming - Students are also involved in swimming lessons in term 4.
Daily Bike riding / scooters - We encourage students all students to be active. All students can ride their bikes on the bike track and or scooters in the playground on any given day at recess and lunchtimes. We also provide bikes and helmets for students who can't access their own.

Sporting Schools

We are part of the Sporting Schools Program that involves a coaching session from a qualified practitioner. Programs have included; Surfing, tennis, A.F.L, cricket, gymnastics, orienteering, netball etc.
Buchan Primary School is part of the Schools Victoria East Gippsland Division - Students are given opportunities throughout the year to represent their school in a variety of sports at local, regional and state levels.

Art - Visual arts, pottery and or drama

All students have an hour of Art each week over an allotted term.

Pottery - Buchan Primary School has it's very own pottery kiln and classes run for 1.5 hour over an allotted term by an artist in residence.

Drama - This specialist class runs for an hour each week over an allotted term.

Vegetable Garden

We have a dedicated group of gardeners that tend our small raised garden bed. The produce they grow is then used in cooking classes when available.

Student Leadership

Our student leadership program gives every student the chance to experience leadership. All grade 6 students are given the opportunity to be a School Captain or vice captain and this is voted by their peers. They have specific roles within the school and are called on to represent the school and make speeches at special events e.g. ANZAC Day, Remembrance Day and when visitors come.
The Junior School Council takes an active role within the school, organising and running special days, while being the voice of the students, they are encouraged to develop ideas they would like to see in the school.

Fund Raising for Projects

Our JSC work with our business manager to raise money for special projects they would like to do.

Transition

Our Grade 6 students also have a program to help them adjust to the changes from transitioning from a small school to a large secondary environment. This includes a whole day trip to the Bairnsdale Secondary College via the secondary school bus and having students and year 7 coordinator and or teachers visit the students.

Camps and Excursions

The school has a comprehensive camp program, beginning in Foundation and going through to Grade 6. The camping program is shared with 4 other small schools, Tambo Upper, Bruthen and Swan Reach and Metung Primary Schools from Grades 3-6.

• Foundation, Grades 1 and 2 have a sleepover in the school library and or an overnight sleepover at a local venue. This includes dinner, games and Netflix.
• Grade 3/4s attend a school camp towards the end of the year, spending 3 days and 2 nights away.
• Grade 5/6s spend a week away, 4 nights and 5 days, alternating between a city camp and an adventure camp. Activities including rope courses, bush cooking, bush walking, canoeing, horse riding etc.

Excursions are used as an activity to support learning that occurs in the class. Incursions happen at regular times as it is often easier to get people in to the school than for the students to travel long distances to attend activities.

Information Communications Technology (I.C.T)

The school has progressed to a one to one program, where every child has the opportunity to lease a netbook for 3 years and at the end of this period own it outright. Students are able to take the netbooks home and use them for research and homework.

Targeted ICT lessons are held once a week with students learning how to operate a computer effectively in the F/1 and 2 class and in the 3/4/5/6 class where they put their skills to use in teaching others in a collaborative learning atmosphere. Students are asked to explore and take risks, sharing their knowledge and presenting their work in a formal and informal ways to the class. They give and receive feedback as well as self assessing their own work. This provides ongoing learning of the skills required in the 21st century.