As a Catholic faith community, Siena Catholic Primary School inspires students with a love of learning and a heart of hope, empowering them to shape and enrich our world. With our mission of following the footsteps of Jesus Christ and inspired by the example of St Catherine of Siena, we work to transform the lives of our students and inspire and nurture their personal and academic development. Following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ and inspired by the example of St Catherine of Siena, we are committed to:

• Prayer – by nurturing and growing our relationship with God as members of a faith community
• Care – by fostering respect, recognition of difference, compassion for others and the courage to act on our beliefs
• Learning – by developing the knowledge, attitudes and skills essential to reach our potential as learners

Through our values of Excellence, Integrity, Justice and Hope,  we educate all to live the gospel of Jesus Christ as successful, creative and confident, active and informed learners, empowered to shape and enrich our world. We believe that teaching creates equity and excellence for all through the way in which it is visible, explicit and responsive in moving each student forward in their learning.

We inspire each learner to grow and succeed in a changing world by:

• Maximising learning growth for each learner
• Engaging learners in deep learning
• Responding to learner voice
• Developing young people as local and global citizens

Curriculum design and delivery at Siena Catholic Primary School is grounded in the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Declaration and its vision for 'a world class education system that encourages and supports every student to be the very best they can be, no matter where they live or what kind of learning challenges they may face'. We support students to achieve high standards and provide structures and adjusted strategies that enable equitable learning experiences. As a school community, and in alignment with the declaration, we will promote excellence and equity so that all Siena students become:

• Confident and creative individuals
• Successful lifelong learners
• Active and informed members of the community.

To support this, we provide significant encouragement, advice and support to nurture the unique abilities of each Siena student. ​

Model of Pedagogy

At Siena Catholic Primary School, we believe in maintaining consistency of research-based teaching practices across all classrooms to reduce the variability of student progress within our school. We believe that effective pedagogy relates to the principles and practices of learning and teaching that lead to success for all learners.

The Brisbane Catholic Education Model of Pedagogy describes the broad principles through which research and evidence are applied to the learning and teaching practice. It focuses on learners and learning and teachers and effective teaching.

This Model of Pedagogy brings together the principles and practices of learning and teaching that lead to success for all learners.

These principles arise out of the beliefs and values of the Brisbane Catholic Education Learning and Teaching Framework and an evidence-base upon which teachers can construct their practice to ensure that all students are progressing in their learning and development.

Principles:

• High expectations
• Equity and excellence
• Learning entitlement.
  

Through the three lenses of planning at a whole school level, year level and at the class and individual school level, this Model of Pedagogy provides a common language and process for effective teaching practice across our school. ​

Effective pedagogy:

• relates to the principles and practices of teaching children
• is teaching that makes learning visible and leads to successful achievement for all learners
• creates conditions where the relationship between the learning and teaching is focused, generative and responsive - enabling every learner to participate and progress in their academic and social development

The BCE Model of Pedagogy is used by teachers to guide planning, teaching and assessing by:

• Focusing on student progress and planning to accelerate this
• Establishing clear learning intentions and success criteria from the Australian/Religion Curriculum
• Activating learning and multiple ways of knowing and doing
• Responding with feedback to support the student in their next steps to achieve the success criteria
• Evaluating the impact of teaching on each student's learning progress and achievement.
  

Curriculum Delivery

The Australian Curriculum is the source of all curriculum planning, assessment and reporting for all learning areas covered by the Australian Curriculum. Multiple opportunities are provided for each student to develop knowledge, skills and understanding as clearly outlined within the Australian Curriculum through developmentally appropriate and differentiated rich learning experiences. Currently, Siena has implemented Version 9 of the English & Technology Curriculums. Mathematics and Science is being rolled out in 2025 and all other Learning Areas will be fully implemented by 2027.

The Religion Curriculum P-12 is the source for all planning, learning and teaching of Religion in Brisbane Catholic Education schools.

Religious Education consists of two distinct but complementary dimensions; namely an educational dimension and a faith formation dimension. The first dimension, most commonly referred to as the classroom teaching of religion, is focused on Religious Education as an educational activity. As one of our subject areas, Religious Education is based on an interrelated approach, emphasising the educational alignment between this subject area and the other areas. We align quality Religious Education with the Archdiocesan vision, policies and guidelines.

The second dimension, faith formation, is reflected in the religious life of the school, family and parish. As a Catholic school, we aim to effectively support our students in their faith growth by providing opportunities for reflection, prayer and the celebration of liturgy. We acknowledge that the family is the first place where faith can be nurtured and strive to work in partnership with parents/guardians and our parish.​

Siena Catholic Primary School provides learning from BCE Religious Education and P-10 Australian Curriculum in the following areas:

Reporting

The collection of a body of evidence, along with the process of teacher moderation allows teachers to make a judgement on student achievement against the Achievement Standards, using a five-point (A-E) scale to report to parents twice per year via formal students reports. This reporting happens at the end of Semester One and Semester Two. Parents are also invited to meet with teachers during Term One to discuss their child, raise concerns, ask questions and develop a line of communication. Parents are invited again to meet with teachers at the beginning of Term Three to discuss progress to date and develop goals for the remainder of the year. Reporting processes are clear for parents, so they understand their child's level of achievement against expected standards, how they are engaging with learning and how they may be able to improve.

Supporting all learners

At Siena Catholic Primary School, we recognise that every classroom is made up of learners with diverse prior knowledge, interest, abilities, and aspirations. The BCE Learning and Teaching Framework guides our beliefs at the system, school and class level. As such, we share the beliefs that:

• Every learner is in some respect, like all others, like some others, like not other and we respond creatively, flexibly and with a futures orientation to ensure dignity and justice for all.
• Every learner can achieve success in life and learning where diversity is valued and shared wisdom contributes to decision-making that enriches and enlivens our world.
• Every learner brings to the learning experience their own richly diverse life journey to contribute to a community in communion, empowered by the spirit to be at the service of others.

Differentiation is considered in various ways:

• Process: how students learn
• Environment: how learning is structured
• Product: how students demonstrate what they know
• Content: what students need to know.