Teacher Insights - Working at PYP school
New Learning Initiatives at St Columba's
The past 2 years at St. Columba’s has been a time of dynamic growth and change. Under the guidance of Nicole Spence, our PYP coordinator, we have introduced a number of new learning initiatives in all year levels across the school. The impact on student learning and engagement has been impressive, and as teachers, it has been both exciting and rewarding to witness the growth in our students.
The introduction of Mindset Maths at the beginning of 2023 has been both powerful and transformative. As an educator, it has been inspiring to witness the changing attitudes of my students towards learning maths. Professor Jo Boaler's Mathematical Mindset Theory transforms traditional mathematics instruction by emphasising growth mindset principles and a flexible, inclusive approach to maths. Central to her philosophy is the idea that maths should be a space for creativity and diverse thinking rather than a rigid discipline of right and wrong answers. Instead of repetitive questions with single correct answers, we engage students in open-ended problems to encourage students to think creatively, consider different perspectives, and respect their own and others’ ideas.
As a PYP school, encouraging students to view math as a conceptual subject not only allows for more engagement and deeper understanding, it is also in keeping with our IB philosophy of inquiry-based learning where students are guided to explore, ask questions, and solve real-world problems collaboratively, building critical and creative thinking skills. As teachers, we believe it is imperative to inspire our students to be innovative problem solvers who are better equipped for their future in an ever changing world.
Our goal as educators is to inspire curiosity and engagement in our students. Mindset Maths has allowed us to achieve this and we are seeing boosted student involvement, interest, enthusiasm and confidence during maths lessons. Part of assessing maths involves student reflection. It has been heartening and affirming to hear students communicating the connections they have made between mathematical concepts and to learn that each student has a personal point of entry to the learning taking place in our classrooms.
2024 has seen a dedicated commitment from our team to deliver a consistent approach to teaching literacy. The introduction of the VCOP program has fine tuned our focus on the conventions and craft of writing and has also provided a wonderful vehicle for assessing in a way that allows us to set explicit individual writing goals. This enables us to tailor our instruction to respond to the needs of each child as a writer.
Earlier this year, I was fortunate enough to attend a Matt Glover professional development day. Matt is an international literacy consultant and an expert in nurturing and developing children as writers. It was inspiring. Semester 2 at St Columba’s has seen a collective effort from our staff to implement Matt Glover’s approach and the results have been mind blowing!
During the course of term 3, the year 3- 6 cohort were introduced to two Matt Glover units of writing. The first of these was a unit entitled “Reading Like a Writer.” This had a profound impact on the quality of the students’ writing. Within my Year 6 class the students achieved the following results:
- 94% of students showed an improvement of at least 6 months growth.
- 67% showed a year or mores growth
- 39% of students showed an improvement of more than a year and a half.
- 22% of students showed growth of 2 years or more.
Mindset Maths, VCOP, Matt Glover, The Resilience Project and Daily 5 are examples of some of the exceptional teaching programs delivered at St. Columba’s. Student engagement and achievement has shown marked improvement. As a staff, we are exceptionally proud of this and we will continue to find ways to achieve even greater success for our students. As lifelong learners, we strive to continue to grow as educators. We are highly motivated and inspired by the positive learning outcomes and are committed to place your child at the centre of all that we do.
Jane Dixon
Years 3-6 Leader