Teaching and Learning

Student Learning Experiences

This week saw the introduction of our school wide maths intervention program - WIN - 'What I Need'. It was wonderful to walk around the school between 11:30 and 11:50 and see our students having time to practice maths concepts based on their current goals. WIN gives our students an opportunity to transfer their knowledge from short term to long term memory and develop their number fluency and automaticity. Students were using a range of tools/experiences to help them develop deeper understanding of maths concepts. Some of these included using concrete materials, making connections, applying their skills to real life problems and practicing for the Australian Maths Competition. 

AMC Maths Competition

Congratulations to the 95 students across L3 to L6 who took part in this year's AMC competition this morning. Well done to those students who attended Maths Lunch Club and practised past papers and questions online in preparation for the event. For some students, this was their first attempt at the competing in the AMC competition and we are very proud of how they overcame their nerves and put in their best effort. Parents of attendees will be informed when we receive the results and hand out certificates, at an assembly, to those students who receive the highest results in each year level.

The Australian Maths Trust, has a great website called Problemo that is free and has a range of problem solving tasks that any student can access. Students can log on here and click on the 'Student Portal'.  https://problemo.edu.au/students/ 

Staff Learning Experiences

Last week,  8 staff members (from Foundation to L5 and an ES staff member) attended 4 days of training on the Orton Gillingham approach. 

The Orton-Gillingham Approach is a direct, explicit, multisensory, structured, sequential, diagnostic, and prescriptive way to teach literacy when reading, writing, and spelling does not come easily to individuals, such as those with dyslexia. It is most properly understood and practiced as an approach.

The curriculum and instructional practices that characterise the Orton-Gillingham Approach are derived from two sources:

1. a body of time-tested knowledge and practice that has been validated over the past 80 years, and
2. from scientific evidence about: 

• how individuals learn to read and write
• why a significant number have difficulty in doing so
•  how having dyslexia makes achieving literacy skills more difficult, and
•  which instructional practices are best suited for teaching such individuals to read and write.

Next week, 4 members of staff will attend the OG Morphology Training.