Growing together in a living faith: Stella Primary School
Our primary school is a place where children simultaneously feel safe and cared for and encounter challenges that help them grow as people. Our aspiration goes beyond simply teaching academic subjects; we want to help our children learn values and a spirit of openness to the world on the basis of the Catholic faith. Our aim is to lay the foundations for our pupils both to meet their academic potential and to grow into responsible, engaged and active members of society.
Stella Primary School at a glance
Stella Primary School came into being on the initiative of a group of committed parents. Our aim is to support the educational and personal growth of the children entrusted to us in close cooperation with their families, on the basis of Christian, specifically Catholic, values. We aim for our children, while they are with us, to receive a comprehensive general education and develop a strong ethical awareness and a sense of social responsibility for people in our country and beyond.
As initiators of the school, we draw inspiration from the message of Opus Dei, that encourages us to live out our faith in everyday life and to make a positive contribution to society.
Four key components are at the centre of our work with children in our primary school:
The curriculum of Stella International School complies with the Austrian national primary school curriculum.
At Stella International School, we place particular emphasis on encouraging good habits and character in our children, working with parents and in accordance with an educational scheme. We focus on each good habit for a two-week period, with children, parents and the school joining their endeavours to put it into practice.
A wise person once said:
“Education is what is left over when we have forgotten what we have learned”.
Much of what we learn at school is forgotten over time. The attitudes and habits we acquire in childhood are what carries us through life. A child’s primary schooling has a central part to play in this process, serving, in the ideal case, as a space for children to learn such vital tools for life as a good work ethic, self-organisation skills, the ability to think for themselves, and interpersonal competencies.
At Stella International School, we focus on nine attitudes during the year: tidiness, generosity, gratitude, a good work ethic, strength, respect, honesty, a sense of responsibility, and joy. We formulate good habits around these nine attitudes,
for example:
Generosity: ‘I include everyone in my play and exclude no one’
Gratitude: ‘I am grateful for the beauty in my life’
Tidiness: ‘I help to make sure the classroom is tidy and a pleasant space to be in’
We use motivational pictures to address the good habits in class, and send these pictures home along with exercises and tips to help you work on the habits with your child.
Another key aspect of social, emotional and character education at Stella is cultural education, engaging children with beautiful literature, visual arts and music. We introduce the riches of our culture to pupils in an appealing and age-appropriate manner. Reading, particularly classic stories, and work with classical music and art are important aspects of our curriculum.
We value our partnership with parents.
At Stella International School, we work closely with parents to help them develop their children’s potential and character. Parents are their children’s most important educators and their role is vital and irreplaceable. We seek to establish sustained communication between home and school, discussing and coordinating our shared work on curricular content and the children’s development.
We support and encourage parents in their important task, continuously reflecting with them
on what we can proactively do to help children’s progress in all areas of their development.
Meetings with parents can also help us work together to gain perspective on potential problems and crises and see them as opportunities. We run parent education seminars, talks on aspects of parenting, and themed parent information evenings with a specific educational focus.
The Stella International School Parents’ Association is the link between the school management and parents. Community building, the promotion of a good school culture, plays an important role for us. During the school year, the Parents’ Association is always involved: providing the carnival snack, at the Open Day and on the first day of school with a welcome stand. Our highlight is the spring festival: a fun-filled day with a colorful program, performances, competitions and food and drink.
We also attach great importance to expanding the school library, and this important service is promoted through targeted projects.
During the school year, we are always involved: providing the carnival snack, at the open day and on the first day of school with a welcome stand.
We would like to thank all families who support our activities and thus actively contribute to our children’s enjoyable and successful time at primary school!
The work of Stella International School is guided by Christian, specifically Catholic, values.
We run social outreach projects that help our pupils experience and practise active solidarity and generosity towards others who may be in need of help.
We believe that a well-rounded person is aware of and takes account of the spiritual dimension of life. In line with the Christian tradition of our country, we celebrate the liturgical feasts of the Church year with the pupils and their families, and we hold school services and other Christian celebrations. We have entrusted the pastoral care of the school to a priest of Opus Dei.
In doing so, we maintain the good and beautiful Christian traditions of our country.
Religious education classes gently introduce pupils to the day-to-day practice of a living Christian faith.
Overview of Christian values at Stella International School
Stella International School seeks to prepare its pupils for life in the globalised 21st-century world. Commencing at primary school level, we teach parts of some curricular subjects in English, following the CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) concept. In addition, there is one English lesson per week from Year 1 onward.
Children who are not yet proficient in English when they enter school quickly improve their language skills, broaden their horizons and acquire intercultural competencies and awareness of other cultures.
Pupils who complete Years 1 – 4 at Stella International School earn a Cambridge Certificateat the end of Year 4 on the basis of the Starters, Movers and Flyers qualifications, which meet international standards and correspond to levels Pre A1, A1 and A2 of the Council of Europe’s Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
We are working on forging partnerships with other schools in Austria and abroad and on running joint projects with them.
Stella International School came into being on the initiative of a group of committed parents. We seek to provide a cosmopolitan education centred on values that will enable young people to forge the society of tomorrow. Public funds cannot cover the crucial extra support, inspiration, resources and activities a Stella education gives.
For this reason, we ask you to please support us with your donation!
