Welcome to Forrest Primary School

‘We acknowledge the Ngunnawal people as traditional custodians of the ACT and recognise any other people or families with connection to the lands of the ACT and region. We acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and this region.’

Forrest Primary School Acknowledgement of Country

We pay our respects to the Ngunnawal people. Thank you for sharing your knowledge of the land where we meet today. We will care for this land, animals, plants and people too.

We respect the land (hands touching the ground)

We respect the sky (hands in the air)

We respect each other (hands to the side, palms facing out)

Forrest Primary School, an international Baccalaureate (IB) World school, is well-situated in the National Parliamentary Triangle with the iconic flagpole dominating the landscape. The school has an international feel with 45% of enrolments from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and it sits in the heart of the Canberra diplomatic community.

Forrest responds to our community by providing an international style of education whereby we bring hearts and minds together to develop global citizens who will make a difference in the world. In order to develop learners who are knowledgeable and compassionate we provide an inspiring, challenging, significant and relevant educational programme.

The preschool to year 6 programme uses an inquiry model in which students question, research, think and reach their own conclusions, showing their understanding in a variety of ways. We celebrate students who take action to make a difference in our world. The programme uses Australian Curriculum outcomes to explore big concepts, driving deep-thinking and helping students make connections. A pre-6 programme of inquiry (PoI) balances the short term and long term knowledge needs of each child and it helps them make considered choices and take positive actions to make the world a better place.

In all of our endeavours we maintain the integrity of an individualised programme that is tailored to the needs of every child. This has the effect of providing both extension and remediation as appropriate. Forrest offers support to learners of English as necessary. This includes a Response to Intervention or RTI to children across the school, extension curriculum for Gifted and Talented students, English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EALD), an Indigenous Culture Club and a range of interest clubs at lunch times. The school has strengthened its Restorative Practice approach to both student welfare and staff cohesion. This approach focuses on developing and maintaining healthy, thriving relationships that underpin effective learning. From this approach we cultivate a strong staff culture and we develop students who are confident, emotionally literate and resilient.