Vision

We develop inquiring, knowledgeable, and caring young people who value language and culture, understand their place in the world, and contribute to a more peaceful, just, and sustainable future.

Our Pillars

Our Footscray PS pillars guide all of our work and underpin our decision making. These pillars were collaboratively developed with Footscray Primary School community, to represent our 'why’. They capture our identity as a school, as a learning community, as a member of the Footscray Learning Precinct, and as a bilingual and inquiry-based school. 

The pillars of Inquiry, Empowerment, Equity and Connection are a culmination of our learning and reflect what it means to be a learner at FPS for our young people and for the adults learning alongside them. Each pillar represents a range of dispositions, values and behaviours that create a strong foundation for the way we aspire to live, learn, achieve and influence our world.

Inquiry/Curiositá

Inquiry is at the core of our educational philosophy, as an approach that values learner agency and autonomy. Our learners are our students, and our adults, who are encouraged to engage in questioning and research that is authentic, relevant and purposeful. Our adults remain open to new learning, offer questions before suggestions, and are curious, not furious. With an emphasis on seeking to understand the world around them, our students and educators develop the skills to be empowered to drive their own learning and have a positive impact on their own and others’ lives.

Empowerment/Autonomia

We believe in Empowering all members of our FPS community:

• students through their interests and motivation and writers of their own learning stories who seek to create a more just and peaceful future;
• Educators who work and learn in a culture of strength-spotting as researchers and designers, and who understand their colleagues and learners through an admiring lens. Our teachers regularly engage in professional learning to develop themselves as teachers and leaders, and in service to their colleagues; and
• families who connect and partner with the school with their children’s best interests at the centre of all their decisions.

Equity/Equitá

Equity is a core belief that every one of our students can achieve, and every one of our students has the right to a rigorous and engaging education that provides them with the necessary knowledge, understandings, skills and dispositions to succeed in their education and beyond. We treat all members of our FPS community with respect and equity, with an understanding that equity takes into consideration our diverse student body and their different contexts and backgrounds.

Connection/Connessione

As a diverse cohort of learners and families, FPS values Connection within and beyond our learning community. As an inquiry-based school, students make connections between their learning and their own lived experiences, and across and between different learning areas. They connect the known with the new through Italian language learning and an exposure to other cultural experiences. Educators and families connect through the shared interests in our young people’s achievements and learning growth. Footscray PS partners with Footscray City PS, and Footscray High School through the Footscray Learning Precinct. Underlying all of these relationships is a strong belief in the importance of connecting humans, respecting others’ ideas, learning other languages and cultures, all with student growth at the centre.