Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Emmaleen Oakley
Assistant Principal
In our Classrooms
Students are back into the day to day routines of the class now, engaging in the curriculum and outdoor activities and settling really well each day. The Classroom Teachers, Teacher Aides and Specialist Teachers are supporting the younger students to re-establish friendships and giving students lots of opportunities for cooperative play. The students really enjoyed the Book Week dress up opportunity as this gave them a chance to make a connection to the books they have been reading in the classroom. Across the school, the students that didn't want to dress up as a Book Week character got to wear their footy gear instead.
The Annual VCAL Car Wash.
The VCAL students had their annual staff car wash as part of their literacy and numeracy outcomes. Students created an advertising video that was displayed in the staff room. Creating the video enabled them to demonstrate their literacy skills as they had to prepare a script to convince their audience (the teachers) to use the service. The numeracy component came during and after the car wash through the organisation of the cars coming through and calculating the profit. As Covid restrictions had prohibited the use of commercial car washes, most of the teacher's cars were looking a bit sorry, so the students had plenty of business!
Curriculum News
The Art Show
We are having the annual Art Show through the JSA Facebook page this year, due to Covid restrictions. Please follow us on Facebook to celebrate some of the amazing art work our students have produced, and that Rosie Lugg our Art Teacher, has taken the time to photograph.
STEAM beyond 2020
Whole-school curriculum planning plays a key role in enabling JSA to deliver a curriculum for all students and reflect the decisions, resources and priorities of our school. JSA has the flexibility in the design of our teaching and learning programs; this enables us to develop particular specialisations, areas of expertise and innovation, while ensuring the mandated curriculum is delivered. Our programs at JSA are regularly monitored and evaluated to ensure that our curriculum plan meets students' learning goals and needs in the most engaging manner possible. Currently, students at JSA have been working towards achieving their ‘Technologies’ goals as part of the STEAM Program, however in 2021 all students will be taught their 'Technologies' goal by their classroom teacher. Commencing 2021, Visual and Media Arts will be added to the specialist program while STEAM is incorporated into the classroom learning program.
Professional Learning Communities
Teachers are currently in the middle of a peer observation round. The lessons have been planned and are currently being implemented. Some teachers are recording a section of their lesson on an Ipad and some are going into each others classes to observe. During PLCs this week the recorded observations will be taking place and the feedback conversations will enable teachers to reflect on their practice and how they can implement more targeted teaching.