Communicate, fix it, reset
Melton Secondary College have introduced a new way for students to get the most out of their learning; for themselves and for their peers.
In a meeting held at the end of term two, teachers were taken through what a ‘fix it’ room is and the benefits for the school community.
Sending a student to a teacher monitored classroom allows them to evaluate what resources they need to continue their learning, how they can fix it, and then reset for the rest of the day without consequence.
Using this approach to rectify learning barriers allows a clear channel of communication between child and teacher.
How are the kids interacting?
Head of Year 11 Bryan Cook said the fix it rooms are a great way to keep students engaged in learning despite being unorganised for the school day.
“In the past if a student was late they would just miss out on that part of learning and we would ask staff to keep them back at the end of a session [to make up for it],” Mr Cook said.
“Students are in [fix it rooms] because they’re late to class and don’t have the right resources. They’re being given an opportunity to fix whatever the issue is.”
Mr Cook said it took students a little while to get used to what the fix it room was achieving.
“I think when we first did it a lot of students were a bit hesitant to go to a fix it room.”
“Whereas now I think we’re seeing an increase of students knowing that the space will be monitored and supervised, so instead of being in those spaces they’re in the yard or somewhere else socialising,” he said.
The expectation is a student shouldn’t be in a fix it room for more than one period very occasionally .
Mr Cook said the supervising teacher will work with the student so they can get the resources they need to head back to class.
“If a student is deliberately late more than once and they’re not ready to be at school, the expectation would be that if they’re in a fix it room more than once they’ll be sent home.”
“Discussions will then be had to sort out what other support they might need,” he said.
Is the ‘fix it’ room working?
MSC Principal Kathryn Sobey told teachers the fix it room is tailored to three tiers of student.
Tier One students are the kids that see fix it rooms as a deterrent.
They don’t want to be late, and they don’t want their parents to know they haven’t done their learning.
Tier Two students take the path of least resistance. They require reasonable adjustments to get them back into the classroom and to deter them from returning to a fix it room.
Tier Three students are generally complex needs students that mainstream processes are never going to meet their needs. The fix and reset approach is not appropriate for those students, so when we find students appearing in the fix it rooms again and again, it’s a sign that we need to look more closely at what’s going on for that student and examine what else needs to be done to support them.
“The fix it rooms are serving those kids that aren’t actually in those rooms,” Ms Sobey said. “They’re in class learning because they don’t want to end up in the fix it rooms.”
“It’s important to reflect on the process that fix it rooms are helping a large portion of our kids.”
Ms Sobey said staff had been sharing evidence of the fix it rooms at work. She said students are arriving to class on time, with the right equipment and uniform.
“Since fix it was introduced the classrooms are calmer and more focused. Students in the classrooms are ready to learn, and the ones that aren’t are getting the support they need outside the classroom.” Ms Sobey said.
“The students the fix it rooms aren’t working for are no longer hiding in the corner of a classroom, they’re visible or they’re in the yard outside of class, so we know who they are.”