Deputy Principal's Message
St Fidelis' Catholic Primary School
Strengthening Teaching and Learning at Our School
This year, our school has continued to strengthen our teaching and learning practices in alignment with the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) Vision for Instruction and Flourishing Learners position statement.
In line with our school’s pedagogical framework, we have continued to strengthen the use of Daily Reviews and retrieval practices across our learning spaces. These strategies provide students with regular opportunities to revisit and practise previously taught knowledge and skills. This supports long-term memory development and helps students confidently connect new learning with what they already know.
Over the past three terms, we have strengthened our instructional practices and routines to ensure students are actively engaged in learning, and every child is supported to flourish and achieve their full potential.
A key focus this year has been further improving explicit teaching and teacher modelling. While explicit instruction is already well established across our school, we are continuing to refine our practice so that teachers clearly explain new concepts, model their thinking and demonstrate the steps involved in successfully completing a task.
Through MACS, staff have also participated in professional learning with Bronwyn Jones, further supporting our understanding and implementation of effective instructional practices. This professional learning has enabled us to place greater emphasis on providing students with frequent opportunities to respond during explicit teaching and Daily Reviews. This includes answering questions, explaining their thinking, practising new skills, recalling previously taught knowledge or responding to their teacher and peers. These opportunities allow teachers to check student understanding in the moment and provide timely feedback and support.
We have also continued implementing systematic phonics with InitialLit in Foundation and Year One. This structured, evidence-based program supports the development of strong foundational literacy skills and provides students with the knowledge and strategies they need to become confident readers, spellers and writers.
Through ongoing professional learning, collaboration, observation, feedback and reflection, our teachers have improved and refined our approach to explicit teaching, ensuring that our practices remain evidence-informed and have the greatest possible impact on student learning.
We will continue to improve our practice to create classrooms where students have the best possible opportunity to learn, grow, and flourish.
Vira Pirrotta | Deputy Principal
Learning and Teaching /Learning Diversity Leader