TEACHING & LEARNING

Teachers in their classrooms and in their communication with students and their families will continually reinforce high expectations for all students in all facets of school life. They encourage and inspire students to have high aspirations.

Students will be working towards meeting the high expectations of the college and show this through their preparedness to learn, effort in the classroom and attitude and behaviour while in the school community.

Both teachers and students will create an environment of high expectations by embodying the school values of Respect, Responsibility, Achieve­ment and Community.

• Develop effective lesson within a cohesive unit

• Communicate high expectations to all students

• Help students explore new knowledge

• Establish and communicate learning goals

The College's curriculum maps out a rigorous learning program based on AusVELS. Each domain has identified key threads within which key skills and knowledge are progressively built and reinforced, horizontally across units and subjects and vertically across year levels.

Teachers will use the College's documents to plan and document their teaching programs, and assess student learning.

Students will know what they are learning and how to achieve outcomes through the provision of Assessment Proformas and Rubrics.

• Engage students

• Help students understand and practice new knowledge

• Help students apply new knowledge and test its application

• Develop effective lessons within a cohesive unit

Teachers will create opportunities to access the learner's prior knowledge, locate their ZPD and help them become engaged in a new concept through the use of activities that promote and maintain curios­ity throughout the learning. The pace and flow of the learning will maintain students' attention.

As part of classroom learning experiences, students will have opportu­nities to reflect upon their prior knowledge, making connections be­tween their past and present learning experiences.

• Engage students

• Help students apply new knowledge and test its application

• Develop positive relationships in the classroom.

  Establish and maintain classroom rules and procedures

• Monitor progress, utilise feedback and celebrate achievement

Teachers will clearly identify the learning goals of the lesson, communicating what they intend students to be able to do, say, make or write as a result of teaching and learning activities.

Students will know what it is they need to learn and be able to track their learning progress. They will be able to determine their level of achievement of the learning goals and know what it is they need to do to progress to the next level.

• Help students explore new knowledge

• Engage students

• Establish and communicate learning goals

• Develop effective lessons within a cohesive unit

Teachers will provide critical input experiences that allow students to explore new knowledge, ensuring students understand and remember key concepts that are being taught. A range of strategies will be used to introduce new information at the students level. Teachers will pro­vide opportunities for students to actively process the new information.

Interactions between the student, the teacher and the content will enable students to make links between prior learning and the new information, constructing knowledge around the concept. Students will be able to recall information and demonstrate their understanding of key concepts through differentiated classroom exercises, activities and ped­agogical practices.

• Help students explore new knowledge

• Establish and communicate learning goals

• Develop positive relationships in the classroom.

  Establish and maintain classroom rules and procedures

• Help students apply new knowledge and test its application

Teachers will create learning experiences for students to develop long term retention of concepts by providing opportunities for students to practice new skills and deepen their understanding. Teachers will use higher order thinking activities to help students integrate the new knowledge into their existing knowledge base.

As part of classroom learning opportunities students will be able to perform new skills, strategies and processes with fluency. Students will engage in activities that allow them to apply new knowledge in famil­iar situations, and to review and revise their learning.

• Help students apply new knowledge and test its application

• Develop positive relationships in the classroom.

  Establish and maintain classroom rules and procedures

• Help students understand and practice new knowledge

• Monitor progress, utilise feedback and celebrate achievement

Teachers will provide opportunities for students to experiment with the new knowledge and extend their understanding. Teachers will use activities that will challenge students to problem solve and think in new and creative ways.

As part of classroom learning, students will engage in activities that require them to: critically analyse a wide range of data and sources of information to form an hypothesis; justify decisions based on an evalu­ation of key evidence; and generate new products, ideas or ways of viewing things.

• Help students explore new knowledge

• Establish and communicate learning goals

• Develop effective lessons within a cohesive unit

• Help students apply new knowledge and test its application

Teachers will monitor and assess student progress along a learning continuum, providing specific and timely comments to enable students to determine what they need to do to improve their understanding and to progress with their learning. Teachers will create opportunities where successes can be identified and acknowledged.

As part of classroom learning, students will continuously refine and im­ prove their work using success criteria in preparation for an assessment task which is a performance of understanding. Students will engage in activities that require them to: demonstrate learning goals; reflect up­ on and act on feedback provided by their teacher; identify goals for personal achievement and extension; and recognise their achievement.

• Help students apply new knowledge and test its application

• Help students explore new knowledge

• Monitor progress, utilise feedback and celebrate achievement

• Develop positive relationships in the classroom.

  Establish and maintain classroom rules and procedures

Teachers understand that the relationships they develop with their students underpin the success of teaching and learning programs. Teachers will create constructive learning environments for students by developing positive relationships with them in their classroom, working to continually build these relationships. Teachers understand the im­portance of involving parents and developing partnerships through open communication.

Students will know what it means to be responsible for their own learning and respect the rights of others to learn.

• Communicate high expectations to all students

• Help students understand and practice new knowledge

• Help students apply new knowledge and test its application

• Develop positive relationships in the classroom.

  Establish and maintain classroom rules and procedures