Education Week: Care, collaboration and commitment at Armstrong Creek School

Armstrong Creek School opened its doors to the community in 2018 and is proud to say the school has since grown to be the heart of opportunity for the students and families it serves.

The school is a place where children go to learn and reach their personal best, regardless of ability or circumstance.

At Armstrong Creek School, teachers value the individual needs and strengths of students and tailor teaching to achieve the best learning outcomes for all.

In 2021, Armstrong Creek School was honoured to receive the statewide Lindsay Thomson Award for Excellence in Education.

This award recognised Armstrong Creek School for the most outstanding contribution for excellence in education in the Victorian education system.

Principal, Evan Savage said, “The past four and a half years have seen our school go from strength to strength, evolving into a school celebrated statewide that the whole community should be proud of”.

In addition to the Lindsay Thomson Award, the school was also awarded the 2021 Victorian Education Excellence Award for Outstanding Inclusive Education.

This award recognised the ability to support and extend all learners at their point of need and model truly inclusive education.

Everything done at Armstrong Creek School centres around three core school values: Care, Collaboration and Commitment.

The school’s values form a key part of our positive climate for learning which is strengthened by a whole school evidence-based approach to Positive Behaviour Support.

The positive behaviour approach provides a structure and process for our learning environment, which in turn promotes the development of social, personal and emotional capabilities, while maximising academic outcomes for individuals.

The school’s vision for teaching and learning means that all teaching practices are evidence-informed and based on cognitive science.

Armstrong Creek School recognises that learning only happens when information moves from short term to long term memory.

This information can then be organised and applied in meaningful ways and Armstrong Creek School places strong emphasis on developing automaticity in core skills such as phonics, number fluency, spelling and handwriting, enabling students to make connections and apply their deeper level skills in meaningful ways.

Inclusion is about understanding, caring and catering for students of all abilities.

Armstrong Creek School has a truly unique model that utilises the best components of mainstream primary and special school settings under the one roof.

Inclusive education is not new, radical or experimental. At Armstrong Creek School all students, regardless of ability or disability, learn together within a Learning Community as they work towards achieving their individual goals.

The school is proud of the achievements and milestones achieved in its journey so far and looks forward to sharing the school through upcoming tours with new families as they enter the Armstrong Creek community or start their education journey in Prep for 2023.