MAINSTREAM CLASS

St Pius X School offers full immersion into an age related class with the opportunity to experience and interact within New Zealand culture and English language. Subjects offered in these classes as a part of National Curriculum are: Maths, English (oral, reading, listening and a variation of writing styles), Social Studies, Science, Physical Education, Health, Religious Education and the Arts.

The school is a Catholic school and Religious Education is a compulsory part of the curriculum. Students are also encouraged to participate in activities offered by the school that are of interest to them. They are given the opportunity to be a part of representative school sports teams and or cultural groups.

Students will be placed in a mainstream class on the first day of attendance. Any change to the original placement into a mainstream classroom will be made, after an English language assessment has been completed. Assessment will take place after the student has been studying at the School for three weeks.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE SUPPORT

Students will receive ESOL support as considered relevant, by staff of St Pius X School, for the level of English language the student is recognized as having, after our assessment is completed. We have trained ESOL staff and teacher aides to support the students learning needs.

Individual student programmes are developed to assist with student learning needs. The ESOL programme concentrates on developing skills to assist the student with becoming proficient within the mainstream classroom curriculum topics and activities, with a focus on writing, reading, listening and speaking.

There are three areas of support available to students:

• Students are withdrawn from the mainstream class to receive structured language tuition relevant to their English level. This is usually done in small groups with students of like age and ability.
• Assistance with reading and writing at the level determined by the mainstream class teacher. This will be done in small groups or one-on-one tuition.
• Teacher support with other curriculum subjects and topics. This will be done either in the mainstream classroom or in a small group withdrawn from the class.