Teaching and Learning

Welcome to the Teaching and Learning section of our newsletter. We have a great team of people working together with one main goal in mind - to improve the learning outcomes of all students at Sandringham College. So settle in and peruse the news, suggestions and information that follows... 

Homework and Study

Homework and study play a key role in supporting student learning. Homework includes completing activities provided by a teacher, activities not completed in class or aspects of assessment tasks that can be completed at home. Study refers to time spent reading and processing or practising material, or time spent practising skills either to review what's already been covered, or to prepare for future classes. Sandringham College has a strong focus on study as the core aspect of homework.

At Sandringham College, we aim to ensure that homework is meaningful and that students undertake a combination of homework and study. 

Various studies’ findings suggest that it is generally agreed that “good” homework should be:

• personalised to each child rather than the same for all students in the class. This is more likely to make a difference to a child’s learning and performance
• achievable, so the child can complete it independently, building skills in managing their time and behaviour
• aligned to the learning in the classroom.

Our new proposed Homework/Study policy will be introduced across all Year levels in 2023. Support at home is essential in ensuring crucial homework and study is completed and positive completion habits are formed.

In most cases, students will have less than the suggested amounts allocated in relation to homework but we know that positive study habits lead to success at a VCE level. 

Year 7: Up to 4 hours per week 30-40min per night and up to 1 hour on weekends

Year 8: Up to 4 hours per week 30-40min per night and up to 1 hour on weekends

Year 9: Up to 6 hours per week 1 hour per night x 6 days (including weekends) 

Year 10: Up to 8 hours per week 1 hour per night x 6 days (additional time required in the lead up to assessments)

Year 11: Up to 10 hours per week 1-2 hours x 6 days per week (additional time required in the lead up to assessments)

Year 12: Up to 12 hours per week 2 hours x 6 days per week including school based study periods (additional time required in the lead up to assessments)

Sandringham College Reporting Review

Victorian schools have the flexibility to determine the timing, frequency, and format of reports in partnership with students, parents and guardians. Schools will determine how student progress and achievement and other information in the student report will be displayed – either as a written or a graphic representation. 

Sandringham College is currently reviewing our reporting practices to best support the learning outcomes for our students. Feedback is a key element in the process of ongoing learning and assessment. Providing frequent and ongoing feedback is a significant means of improving achievement in learning.

Sandringham College understands that effective, transparent, and timely reporting to parents and guardians strengthens family partnerships by engaging teachers and families in regular and meaningful communication about students’ learning needs. We also understand how essential it is that students know how they can improve.

In Term 2, a parent forum was held to gather feedback on making adjustment and changes to our ongoing reporting process. Feedback from the parents’ forum indicated the need to continue using Victorian Curriculum Achievement Standards. Maintain the use of online Parent Teacher Student Interviews. Keep the reporting frequency of two Learning Habit reports at the end of Term 1 and Term 3, and Semester Reports at the end of Term 2 and Term 4.

Teacher judgements made against the behaviours outlined in the learning habits was appreciated, alongside the use of Compass Chronicle posts to keep parents/carers updating on the behaviour of their children. 

Improvements could be made in defining the learning habits, improving communication when Assessed Learning Tasks (ALTs) are visible, educating parents on how to use Compass and access feedback, and having students set learning goals and include student reflections on the reports.

Feedback also included, using plain language, highlighting learning strengths, incorporating social/personal skills and recognising extracurricular information were also suggested as some areas that could be enhanced.

Student voice and agency being including in the reports was seen as an important aspect to demonstrate the need of students taking ownership of their learning. 

Parents suggested that the areas that needed to be avoided, included the use of impersonal and generic comments, errors in personal pronouns and in the use of any comments on the reports. 

The reporting and review process will continue during Terms 3 and 4 of 2022. We will continue to meet with students, parents, guardians and teachers to gather feedback and make the changes necessary for our community to understand how essential it is that students, parents and guardians have the information they need to understand students’ achievement, progress and growth.

                                                                          Michael McGowan - Assistant Principal-Operations

Other news from Teaching and Learning

Year 7-8 Reading Program Update

In Semester 2, the Reading Program at Years 7 and 8 is building on the strong reading foundation that was established earlier in the year. Students will spend some of the lesson (one per week) reading freely, and some time engaging in a modified Literature Circles model. Literature Circles encourages students to take on roles in a conversation about the texts they are exploring, enriching their reading experience through directed oracy and building active listening skills. There is also a strong focus on students reading at home; every student should be reading a new book from now until the end of the year, and they are strongly encouraged to make use of the school Library. 

                                                                                             Denholm Pickering- Learning Specialist

Gifted Education - Masterclasses

In the penultimate week of Term 3, students were invited to attend a High Ability Masterclass -  a new initiative being offered at Sandringham College to provide additional challenge to our gifted students. The two half day sessions were designed to enable students to extend their literacy and numeracy skills and offer more academic challenge in these two core subject areas.

Year 8 students were treated to sessions with Dr Wendy Taylor and Mr Sean Mundy, exploring pure mathematics and applied mathematics. Students were able to work collaboratively to extend their logical reasoning and problem-solving skills. 

Year 9s engaged in historical fiction explorations with Mr James Kerr and Ms Julia Vogel. In these sessions, students had to consider purpose, audience, and language conventions to write from the perspective of different characters in a shared narrative. This was constructed around a key historical event that students selected, and all written texts were created in SWAY presentations and shared to form a gallery walk of work.  

These masterclasses were a great success – congratulations to the students involved on the work they completed and thank you to the wonderful teachers for running these. Students provided valuable feedback on their experience and indicated the areas they’d like to explore further for enrichment and extension. As a result, these masterclasses will be offered again in Term 4 to students who have demonstrated excellent work habits and high achievement in Assessed Learning Tasks. 

VCE Study Skills Sessions

A number of VCE Study Skills sessions are being run at Holloway Campus for our eager cohort of Year 12s. The short lunchtime sessions are run by an array of skilled VCE teachers, many of whom are also trained VCAA assessors. The sessions are designed to support and prepare students for their Unit 4 SACs and for that all-important end of year examination period, by providing general study tips and tricks, along with some specific strategies on approaching different subject areas. 

The next session is to be held on Friday 29th July in the Theatrette and is entitled ‘The Art of Effective Study.’

                                                                                          Ms Laura Washington - Learning Specialist