Learning and Teaching

Big Write and VCOP Talk Homework 

Our next Cold Write will be held on varying days over the next week. During a Cold Write the students are presented with a provocation for the first time and provided with the opportunity to show off their writing skills with minimal teacher intervention. 

Assessments 

During October, all students will be completing the Progressive Achievement Test (PAT) in Mathematics and Reading. PAT is completed twice a year (May and October/November) as an adaptive version of the test which will adjust the questions while they are working through the assessment based upon their answers on previous questions. Younger students will be participating in the Early Years version of the test, which is not adaptive but does provide more support with the program reading the questions to them. 

PAT will be used to inform the teachers of each student's individual skills and knowledge in the areas of Maths and Reading. This will give the teachers valuable data to inform classroom teaching and ensure that we are extending and supporting each student.  

PAT is a low stress assessment, and we encourage students to do the best that they can. The Foundation students will be completing the PAT Early Years versions of the assessment. 

The Grade 1 and 2 students will be completing either the PAT Early Years or PAT Adaptive versions of the assessment. 

The Grade 3-6 students will be completing the PAT Adaptive versions of the assessment. 

Students have also been completing the PAT-Spelling Skills assessment. This assessment identifies students current spelling knowledge and areas of improvement. These assessments are linear, and the teacher chooses the best test to match the individual student’s ability. 

On top of completing the PAT-M and PAT-R assessments in October, the students will also be engaging in a variety of other assessments for the remainder of the term. These assessments will be used to monitor reading, writing, and maths progression.