Assistant Principals' Report
Hello and welcome to our newsletter item for this week.
Victorian Lesson Plans (VLPs)
The Victorian Lesson Plans (VLPs) are curriculum-aligned lesson sequences created to support teachers in delivering the Victorian Curriculum 2.0 and supported by the evidence of the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0. They provide a consistent structure for teaching important knowledge and skills while still allowing teachers to adapt learning to meet the needs of their students.
This year, year levels across the school are trialling a range of the Victorian Lesson Plans across Literacy and Mathematics and reflecting on the impact it has on student learning.
This week during a staff professional learning session, the Year 2 team shared feedback on the implementation of a text study unit completed at the end of Term 2. This unit had a focus on reading and writing information texts using the mentor text The World’s Most Pointless Animals by Philip Bunting.
The goals for our Year 2 students were:
- Explaining the purpose of an information text
- Comparing a book and a website as sources of information
- Using a template to organise writing
- Identifying facts and writing using sentence starters
- Drawing a labelled diagram
Through explicit instruction and modelled practice, students selected an Australian animal to research, take notes on and write a draft of their report. Once they had revised and edited their draft, they created information posters that they then shared with the school community in the last week of term. They were able to share all the stages of their writing process, including their self-assessment rubric, which they used to ensure they included everything they needed to in their posters. This culminated in them sharing their posters with their families and school community.
The Year 2 students were highly engaged, had opportunities to work in groups and independently, used multiple sources to find their facts and even linked their learning from their previous unit on First Nations’ culture by finding the Woiwurrung names of their Australian animal. Through predictable, structured routines during the literacy block, all students were able to be successful and create an information poster they were proud of.
Throughout the implementation of the text study, the Year 2 teachers reflected on the resources used, modifications made to support and extend student learning throughout the course of the unit and how this has impacted planning for future text study units.
Throughout the professional learning session, staff across the school were also able to discuss and reflect on the Victorian Lesson Plans they have used so far this year – sharing the great work happening across Foundation to Year 6.
We would like to thank the Year 2 team for presenting both their learning and student learning throughout the text study unit. It was apparent how much the students learnt and how engaged they were throughout the unit.
If you would like to find out more about how Victorian schools are strengthening teaching and learning to help every student succeed, please click here.
Have a great weekend and week ahead.
Warm Regards,
Helen Thomas & Monique Rankin
Assistant Principals
Heidelberg Primary School