Learning and Teaching
Extension Education Showcase
This year, a small group of students from Years 1-6 have been participating in an Extension Education program at St John’s. Each week they have been working on projects of their choice that extend their critical and creative thinking skills and provide valuable practice in collaborating and communicating with their peers. This has been invaluable in building their independence, self confidence and engagement in school activities.
On Wednesday, 6 December, between 9am and 10am, these students will be presenting their work in our Extension Education Showcase. Everyone is welcome to come and see what they have investigated, researched and produced. We look forward to seeing you there!
Ange Crowe and Mel Kerwin
Extension Education Team
Explicit Teaching in the Early Years
Staff Professional Learning
This year our Prep - Year 2 teachers have been fortunate to be part of a fabulous professional learning journey titled “Explicit Teaching in the Early Years.” This learning experience had the intention of improving teacher knowledge and building student capacity in all areas of the Early Years in English. We attended six workshops across the year on Language Knowledge, The Sounds of English, Writing with Intent, Engagement with Writing, Reading and Viewing as Meaning Making, and Text Talk.
Since the first session in February, our teachers have been involved in several enactments in the classroom, working hard, learning a great deal and producing units of work that have dramatically improved the skills of our students over the year. Last week, our Junior teaching team proudly and passionately presented their personal growth and their students’ progression, at a symposium at the Moonee Valley Racecourse.
The focus for their chosen enactment this term was Independent Reading. Routines have been established (see below) and the value of reading has been explicitly modelled to all students. Students reflected on an improvement in their own reading behaviours and an increased enjoyment in the practice of independent reading. Teachers reported that the students are now thoroughly engaged and far more positive about the process. The busy, quiet time is often their favourite part of the day!
Next year we are looking forward to embedding these routines across the entire school. We will be sharing our learning from every workshop in the areas of Reading and Viewing, Speaking and listening and Writing with all of our teachers at St John’s and amplifying our evidence based pedagogical practices to challenge and extend our students even further!
Ange Crowe
Literacy Leader.
Marathon Club
Our last Marathon Club for this year will be held on Thursday 7 December. All students who have attended Marathon Club this year are very welcome to come and join us for a special celebratory breakfast at Halliday Park. Please meet in the school foyer (as usual) at 7.45am. We will make our way to Halliday Park as a group and return to school just before 8.45am.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Literacy
Year 1/2 Literacy
This term the Year 1/2 students have been learning to write procedural texts. As a class we learnt about bread making and followed the recipe ad procedure to make delicious bread. It was great fun and we all enjoyed the special skills of bread making.
