Welcome to Turner School. I encourage you to take some time to find out about our unique school. The snapshots on this website provide a window into the school day, our processes, and our educational experiences. Learning and community activities highlight the value we place on connecting with others.
Turner School is located on Ngunnawal Country and as part of our Cultural Integrity learning, we have looked at ways to draw wisdom and learning from the people who have been here tens of thousands of years before us! Every day at Turner School you will see us listening to the stories, ideas and voice of our diverse community; and then responding with a collective voice. How we do things is a part of what we do, and the perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are embedded in this approach. We talk with a spirit of mutual respect, based on our strengths, positive relationships and connection to Country- especially in difficult times.
Turner School has approximately 500 students enrolled across the school, from the preschool programs where children begin their school journey through to year 6 students who are ready to transition to secondary schooling. Inclusive classrooms, learning experiences and playgrounds are a feature of our school and our dedicated and highly skilled staff team work together to meet the needs of all our students.
Turner School opened in 1953 and is one of Canberra's oldest schools. While respecting the many traditions and practices established over these 60 plus years, Turner School continues to embrace educational change.
We do this through fostering our Turner Learner Profile which highlights the characteristics and dispositions needed to become active and informed citizens who are confident and creative learners equipped for our rapidly changing world.
The teaching teams at Turner are experts in the fields in which they teach and have expert levels of curriculum knowledge and high impact teaching strategies. Through collaboration, each of us take personal and collective responsibility for analysing student data, giving feedback and improving student learning and wellbeing. We do all this because we know that expert teachers make the best judgements to support your children to learn.
Our Learning Support Assistant and Administration team plays a vital role in supporting children’s learning and our admin team is there to support our whole community. We could not achieve what we do as a school without every staff member’s expertise, professionalism, strong and positive relationships with children and goodwill. I am very proud of our Turner staff.
We are currently focused on Turner School’s 2022 to 2026 Strategic Plan. This plan was developed following input from parents, staff and students. Our School Board monitors its implementation along with the staff School Improvement Team. Our current strategic priorities are:
- Increase learners’ ability to demonstrate Literacy and Numeracy skills
(I am becoming Literate, I am becoming Numerate)
- Increase learners’ ability to demonstrate globally essential skills
(I am a self-manager, I am a thinker, I am a researcher, I am a communicator)
- Increase learners’ ability to demonstrate obligation to self and community.
(I am a collaborator, I am a positive contributor)
North Canberra schools are part of a close community network. At Turner we work together with all the public schools ensuring connected transitions for every student. In particular we work closely with the O'Connor Cooperative School and Lyneham High School.
A feature of our school community is the dedicated and enthusiastic support of our parent community. I encourage families to be involved in our school at whatever level they can to ensure all children have a rich school experience.
Along with our Deputy Principals, Heather Hill and Antonia McGuire, I welcome our families. Please don't hesitate to contact the school if you would like to learn more about our programs, or to enquire about our enrolment process.
Allison Edmonds
Principal, Turner School