Specialist Education – Years 3 to 6
Unlike many other schools, we employ specialist educators to teach a range of subjects to our early learning students.
Each specialist teacher is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about their subject, which enhances our students’ learning experiences and provides them with opportunities to identify their passion.
Specialist teachers teach the following subjects in Years 3 to 6.
| YEAR 3 | YEAR 4 | YEAR 5 | YEAR 6 | ||
| SCIENCE | |||||
| RELIGIOUS STUDIES | |||||
| MUSIC | |||||
| STRINGS PROGRAM | |||||
| CHORAL PROGRAM | |||||
| BAND PROGRAM | |||||
| JAPANESE | |||||
| VISUAL ARTS | |||||
| PHYSICAL EDUCATION | |||||
| OUTDOOR EDUCATION |
Scientist in Residence
Our Scientist in Residence Program affords all our Years 3 to 6 students an opportunity to learn alongside a qualified scientist in our purpose-built science laboratory. Our Years 3 to 6 students participate in the program weekly, which allows them to engage in hands-on, practical Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) experiments and activities.


Outdoor Learning
We believe that nature can inspire learning. That is why we aim to integrate outdoor learning experiences into our curriculum and to provide our students with guided, interdisciplinary learning opportunities in natural environments. Through practical experiences in natural settings, students enhance their knowledge, understanding and skills, promoting effective living and movement, improved health and wellbeing and a sense of social justice. Being outdoors often allows students to experience challenge and productive struggle, helping build resilience and an appreciation for their own capabilities. The program addresses content across various learning areas, general capabilities, and cross-curriculum priorities, fostering personal and social capabilities, critical thinking, ethical understanding, and sustainability.
Year 3: Beach School and Connecting Community
Year 3 centres on promoting social and emotional wellbeing, resilience, creative and critical thinking, and fostering community connections. During assertive behaviours and communication skills sessions, students learn how to respond to unsafe situations by keeping calm, utilising appropriate non-verbal communication and seeking help when needed. Unique beach-based activities, such as dune restoration at Trigg Reserve and coastal conservation programs, provide the girls with hands-on experiences that connect them with the environment. Our students also visit our Metricup campus for the first time during an overnight mother-daughter stay.

Year 4: Garden School and Adventure Awaits
Our Year 4 students become stewards of our Year 4 Edible Garden, a program that sees them plant, work and harvest from their own gardening space. This program is integrated into the Year 4 general curriculum, allowing our students to gain a deeper understanding of how food grows. Our Year 4 Adventure Awaits program introduces students to learning outdoors and to staying away from home, as they spend extended time exploring and working in natural environments. Through shared experiences, they build friendships, get to know their peers in new ways and discover what the outdoors has to offer through hands-on activities, observation and play. A series of small, supported challenges helps students grow confidence and resilience as they learn to be comfortable, capable and curious in outdoor settings. Their physical skills are challenged through a high ropes course and a coastal hike along a section of the Cape to Cape.

Year 5: Challenge, Discover, Thrive
The Year 5 program focuses on instilling a sense of responsibility, environmental awareness and cultural understanding in our students. Aligned with the theme of stewardship, it blends geography, inquiry learning and the formation of friendships to create a holistic learning experience. Students learn to respect and better understand the outdoors while developing essential campcraft skills, including pitching a tent and cooking for the first time on a Trangia stove. Students will also deepen their understanding of Country through visits to local Indigenous sites near our Metricup campus and further develop their physical skills through mountain biking and hiking a section of the Cape to Cape.

Year 6: Adventure Challenge
The Year 6 program is a purposeful and enriching experience that supports students as they prepare for the transition to secondary school. Through a combination of outdoor challenges and shared experiences at our Metricup campus, students build confidence, resilience and independence, while developing stronger connections with their peers. The program offers a range of carefully selected activities, such as high ropes, mountain biking and hiking, that foster teamwork, reflection and challenge students to step beyond their comfort zones, develop leadership skills, build upon their existing skills and grow into confident, capable young people.

Music
Music Making Program
From Year 3, students participate in weekly Music Making classes as part of the Junior School curriculum. The program is structured, sequential and Kodály-based, placing active music-making at the centre of learning. These sessions provide a practical, hands-on environment where students build core skills and confidence through active participation in singing and practical instrumental experiences.
To support each student’s musical development, St Mary’s offers foundational instrumental tuition at no additional cost (excluding any necessary consumables and a subsidised instrument hire fee). Delivered in small groups, these lessons introduce students to orchestral and concert band instruments, providing a broad, well-supported entry point into instrumental music.
Year 3 String Program
Students from Year 3 have the opportunity to learn one of the following string instruments:
Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass.

Year 5 Band Program
Students from Year 5 have the opportunity to learn one of the following concert band instruments:
Woodwind: Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Saxophone.
Brass: Trumpet, French Horn, Trombone, Baritone Horn, Euphonium, Tuba.
Orchestral Percussion: Tuned Percussion, Timpani, Concert drums, Auxiliary percussion.

Instrument Tuition
Instrumental tuition is provided by specialist music teachers who visit the school each week. Lessons provided through the Music Making program are 30 minutes long and shared in small groups. Alternatively, students may enrol in individual 40-minute instrumental lessons. All music lessons are scheduled within the school day, on a rotation: the lesson day is fixed, but the time changes each week to ensure students do not continue to miss the same class.

Visual Arts
Our Years 3 to 6 students enjoy a vibrant and diverse visual arts program offering learning opportunities that foster their curiosity about the world and understanding of their place within it.
Art lessons are designed to expand our students’ critical and creative thinking skills and develop their dexterity through exposure to a broad range of resources, techniques and processes.


Sport
Our Physical Education curriculum focuses on the benefits of being active. We believe that participating in recreational and competitive sporting activities contributes to our students’ health and wellbeing. We focus on developing our students’ motor skills, fitness and game skills. The girls represent their Houses during interhouse carnivals and participate in several interschool sports, including Junior Independent Girls Schools Sports Association (JIGSSA) carnivals and tournaments.



Technologies
Our Years 3 to 6 students enjoy a term of learning to code in our robotics program, allowing them to explore and experiment with algorithms and robotic mechanisms.
Considering St Mary’s for your daughter’s education?
Enquire now.
St Mary’s is all about girls discovering their best. We want our students to be engrossed in the exploration of ideas, to be self-motivated and self-directed, to delight in trying something new and to contribute positively to the community.
