Stage Groupings

Our school class structure is based around Stages which are two-year continuums of learning with an emphasis upon a developmental curriculum (rather than on age-grade expectations). This approach facilitates opportunities for greater continuity of instruction and flexible progression for students. 

Byron Bay PS classes are based on a stage structure rather than a grade structure.  The NSW Board of Studies writes its syllabus documents according to the following 6 stages.  Stage 1 = Kindergarten to Year 2, Stage 2 = Years 3 and 4, Stage 3 = Years 5 and 6, Stage 4 = Years 7 and 8, Stage 5 = Years 9 and 10 and Stage 6 = Years 11 and 12.

We believe the advantages of Stage based classes include : greater continuity for students (students will generally stay with their teacher for 2 years) and greater opportunity for flexible progression.

The Board of Studies defines flexible progression in this way:

“The emphasis upon outcomes and upon stages makes it possible to relate students’ progression through the years of schooling to achievement rather than to lock-step yearly promotion. Variations upon traditional school structures may be adopted by schools to facilitate this flexibility of time.”  (p.13 Implementation of Curriculum Initiatives, BOS)

The basic philosophy that underpins our Stage based classes is called The Developmental Curriculum:

Ø      Age Appropriateness

Human development research indicates that there are universal, predictable sequences of growth and change that occur in children during the first nine years of life.  The predictable changes occur in all domains of development: physical, emotional, social and cognitive.  Knowledge of typical development of children within the age span served by the program provides a framework from which teachers prepare the learning environment and plan appropriate experiences.

Ø      Individual Appropriateness

Each child is a unique person with an individual pattern and timing of growth, as well as individual personality, learning style, and family background.  Both the curriculum and adult’s interactions with children should be responsive to individual difference.  Learning in young children is the result of interaction between the child’s thoughts and experiences with materials, ideas and people.  These experiences should match the child’s developing abilities, while also challenging the child’s interest and understanding.

The developmental perspective balances both age and individual appropriateness within the knowledge that children develop at different paces and have different interests and that not all children can reach specific outcomes at the same time’.

“To develop in all aspects of their lives, children must interact with the objects and the people in their environment.  This developmental process can be strengthened if the right activities are matched with the child’s needs.  Developmental outcomes provide direction without holding the child and the teachers to one set of specific experiences.”

(Victorian First Steps Project 1995, p. 9)