Frequently Asked Questions

Teachers set homework that is appropriate to the age and maturity of students. You can expect to see regular reading and for older children, maths, spelling, Religious Education and some Topic work. The purpose of homework is to reinforce or complete work being done at school and to allow parents an opportunity to share in the learning. The school expectations for homework are no more than 30 minutes daily.

If your child is unable to complete their homework you should communicate this to the classroom teacher – a note in your child’s homework diary would suffice.  

SOLO Taxonomy is a tool for extending learning.  It measures learning progress and allows both teachers and students to assess the level of understanding of any subject.  St Leo’s students learn to gauge their own progress – from pre structural stage (ie acquired bits of unconnected information) to extended abstract stage ( ie grasping not only the subject matter but applying it in other ways.)  

We are lucky at St Leo’s in that one of our teachers,  Mrs Pasley is the lead teacher on SOLO for our cluster of local schools.  Mrs Pasley runs SOLO taxonomy thinking groups throughout the school to benefit the childrens thinking skills at all levels.  Since SOLO was introduced to St Leo’s in 2008 we have found that it has improved our ability to tailor learning towards each individual child.

At St Leos our small class sizes mean that all our children can receive a focused and individualized program of learning.  However we also operate a number of more specialized teaching programs.

• Reading recovery: Reading recovery is a very successful programme instituted by the Ministry of Education to allow early intervention for students who could fall behind with reading.  Our specialist teacher works with 6/7 year old students to help give confidence and boost reading techniques.  A number of our class teachers are also reading recovery trained.
• Special Needs: At St Leos we have a Special Needs Committee which implements  a system of early identification for early intervention if required.  Should parents have any concerns at any time, please speak to the Principal.

St Leo’s does have a limited number of spaces for non-catholic children so do enquire if interested to see if any are available.

Current educational thinking is while advanced children need to be challenged and extended, separate programs for gifted children can be isolating. 

At St Leos we believe that the needs of our gifted students can be best met by teachers tailoring specific learning programs to challenge within the classroom environment.  As part of classroom planning, all teachers at St Leo’s must identify those high achieving children who need extending in particular areas.  We find our small class sizes make this approach particularly successful.  We have also found that  SOLO Taxonomy as a means of extending thinking is a useful tool.   

Please call the school office and make an appointment