Learning and Teaching

Goal Setting

Over the course of Term 1, the children have been focusing on the Big Idea of Wellbeing during their Inquiry learning sessions. A big part of the units will be setting goals and thinking about how we can achieve our goals. Goal setting has been identified as a High Impact Teaching Strategy (HITS) and is enabled by teachers through their clear intentions and expectations for the lesson and their conversations with the children in their class about the purpose of the learning. Children then are able to set learning goals with their teacher or independently, and monitor the progress of their learning.

At school, we work with the children to set goals that are achievable, timely and relevant to what they are learning. Opportunities are given to reflect on, set and plan how they will achieve their goals. This:

• teaches students to take responsibility for their own behaviours and learning
• promotes a “can-do” attitude
• forms a powerful lifelong habit

Children need direction and encouragement in this both at school and at home. At home, having daily conversations with your child/ren to check-in to see how things are going can encourage children to discuss their goals. You can also help your child to set goals they can achieve at home. The chart below shows a process for goal setting.

Deborah Courtney

Director of Learning and Teaching