Hands On Heads Literacy Coaching 

Dear Principals, 

Welcome to Term 3! 

Hoping your break was restful and that the term has started off positively. Term 3 is the 'jam-packed' term- the term where you cannot fit anything else in; the term when you don't know how you'll 'get through' all of the teaching and learning; and the term where everything seems to happen at once- excursions, sporting events, performances, art shows, and more.

I had a fabulous time in Italy visiting the white-washed cities of Puglia, eating fresh seafood and soaking up the sun along the Adriatic!

Here are a few happy snaps from the trip.

Using Mentor Texts in Years 5-9

Straight back into it, and I had the privilege of collaborating with 22 teachers/leaders from a range of sectors, exploring how to purposefully and effectively use mentor texts with PETAA. One teacher shared how grateful she was for the rare opportunity that the professional learning was dedicated to mid-upper primary. 

Teachers/ leaders shared that the following strategies will be implemented in their classrooms and schools as a result of the PL .

Questions about mentor texts to take to your teams when planning a unit/learning experiences:

• Which specific element of writing do our students most need to see modelled in high-quality writing?
• Using the selected mentor text, what language features or text structure have been used by the author?
• How do the writing features and text structure from the mentor text align to the whole-class writing focus?

Instructional Literacy Coaching

Perhaps your teachers have attended PL during the year, but you’re still not seeing the impact you’d hoped.

Maybe you’ve invested in a resource or program, but the delivery is inconsistent- or it’s missing the mark.

There could be teachers still 'not getting it' or 'still doing their own thing' in literacy, even after many meetings, PL, PLCs and planning sessions.

You might still be finding it hard to build literacy capacity in a way that’s sustainable and actually shifts what’s happening in the literacy block or English classes.

I have 2 places that have just become available for coaching in Term 3 to help you build your literacy capacity and bring sustainable consistency to your teams. I also have limited

availability in Term 4.

If you're interested, email me: amanda@handsonheads.au. 

Enjoy the rest of the week.