The Learning Zone
"Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere." - Chinese Proverb
"Coming together is the beginning, staying together is progress,
and working together is success." - Henry Ford
Professional Learning
A focus for staff professional learning this term has been to investigate ways we can nurture creative and critical thinking within students. Our professional development has centered on how to best empower students to ask questions, solve problems in new ways, and think deeply about the world around them.
Some ways you can help encourage this kind of thinking with your children at home:
When solving problems ask, "What do you think is a good way to solve this problem, and why?" This encourages them to come up with their own solutions and justify them.
Use the simple prompt - 'Tell me more about that." This pushes children to elaborate on their thoughts and ideas, helping them build on their reasoning and communication skills.
Mathematics - Retrieval Practice
As stated in our last newsletter, we're kicking off our mathematics lessons with a powerful five-minute warm-up. This isn’t just any activity; it's a short, focused exercise called retrieval practice. It’s a highly effective way to help your child's learning truly stick.
See some examples below.
Kindergarten: How many more make 10? How many dots?
Stage 1: Which has more biscuits? 3 columns with 8 cookies in each column OR 4 rows with 6 cookies in each?
Think of retrieval practice as a brain workout to recall what they’ve learned from memory.When we ask our brains to pull information out, we’re strengthening the neural pathways that connect to that knowledge. The more we retrieve a memory, the stronger and more accessible it becomes. This simple act directly tackles the "forgetting curve"—the natural tendency for us to forget information over time. By consistently revisiting content from earlier in the year, we’re helping to prevent that knowledge from fading away.
Stage 2:
Stage 3:
By making these warm-ups a regular part of our routine, we are equipping your child with the tools to build a strong, lasting foundation in mathematics. This approach will help them feel more confident and successful in their learning journey. We encourage you to support this process at home by asking them about the concepts they revisited in their daily retrieval practice.
Have a wonderful week of learning!
Maree Holland & Greg O'Toole