St Bernard’s has adopted the Integrated Inquiry Model as the basis for teaching and learning.  The inquiry approach supports contemporary learning theory in that it is built upon the idea that students are actively involved in learning and continue to reconstruct understandings in the light of experience.  It encourages students to participate in active investigation and to integrate rather than separate knowledge as they move from acquisition of facts to the development of deep understanding. 

As described by Kath Murdock in her book, Classroom Connections, Strategies for Learning, (1998) Integrated Inquiry is a model which begins with student’s prior knowledge and experience and moves through a deliberate process wherein that knowledge is extended, challenged and refined.  

The staff at St Bernard’s is also committed to encouraging students to be self-regulated learners.  A self-regulated learner is one who is independent and confident, looks for challenges, is focused and engaged in ‘learning for life’.  The Generic Skills have been introduced to all classrooms from Kindergarten to Year 6 in an effort to contribute to ‘life-long learning’.  The Generic Skills include Research, Communication, Problem Solving, Using Technology, Expression, Task Management, Co-operation, Responsibility, and Critical Thinking.

Through incorporation of the Generic Skills into the Integrated Inquiry Model, the staff at St Bernard’s believe that students may transfer those skills into contexts different from the ones in which they are learned, such as when working in a different field or leaving education and joining the workforce.