Director of Teaching & Learning Update

A Commitment to Continuous Professional Growth

At the heart of a thriving educational community is a commitment to continuous growth. Professional Learning (PL) is not just a policy requirement or a box to check; it is an essential part of the life of an educator. Guided by our school’s Strategic Plan, our PL framework is designed to support both individual professional growth and our collective vision.

“Through PL, staff are encouraged to deepen their practice, nurture their passions and walk alongside others in a spirit of learning and service, improving student outcomes.” – Professional Learning Policy

When our teachers grow, our students thrive. The ultimate goal of every professional learning opportunity we undertake is to make a meaningful, positive impact on our practice, policies and processes, ensuring we continue to provide excellent service to our community.

Professional learning is rarely a one-size-fits-all experience. It is essential that we offer variety, targeting the goals of our staff and the evolving needs of our students. Across our campus, PL takes many forms, including:

Collaborative & Social Learning: Engaging in coaching and professional conversations, participating in network meetings and conducting school visits to exchange best practice.
Independent Research & Study: Engaging with professional readings and subscriptions, conducting action research such as New Metrics or pursuing higher education courses.
Structured Events & Courses: Attending seminars, conferences, workshops, webinars and dedicated staff development days throughout the year.
Authentic Application: Engaging in on-the-job learning and collaborative project development.

This year, we are incredibly excited to have implemented Quality Teaching Rounds (QTR), a PL framework developed by the University of Newcastle.

QTR brings groups of teachers across the School together in a collaborative, supportive environment to analyse and refine their practice. The process is deeply reflective and involves:

Reading: Engaging with current educational research targeting professional practice.
Observing: Watching peers apply learning in their classrooms and observing student outcomes.
Coding: Utilising a structured framework to code observed teaching to support data collection.
Feedback: Participating in professional, data-driven conversations to discuss impact and improvement.

By walking alongside one another in this spirit of shared learning, our teachers are gaining insights into their own instructional practice, directly benefiting the learning environment for our students.

We look forward to seeing the ripple effects of this powerful initiative and all our PL endeavours as we continue to foster a culture of curiosity, growth and service.

Megan Eddington - Director of Teaching and Learning (K to 12)