Director of Teaching & Learning Update

Traditionally, summative assessment often means an exam or test used in some way to evaluate a student’s knowledge and understanding of a topic. But learning is a lot more than what a student can achieve in a test. At Friends’, we have many ways in which students can share and evaluate their learning. Performances or exhibitions of learning not only demonstrate what a student knows and understands, but also highlight what they can do with that knowledge. This provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate a high degree of competence in authentic and meaningful contexts.

This Term alone, we have seen students perform in soirees and concerts, exhibit in the IBDP Visual Art Exhibition, create delicious street food for the VET Dinner, share their learning through the PYP Exhibition, perform in the IBDP Theatre performance and much more. We are very proud of what students have produced and shared, and these experiences are a testament to the hard work that goes into learning.

To do well in these types of learning experiences, students need to apply their learning, demonstrate competence and act on feedback. This is where our work with New Metrics becomes particularly important. New Metrics provides us with a way to unpack what we mean by a complex competency and to explore the extent to which these competencies impact student performance and learning, particularly Agency in Learning.

Teaching and assessing complex competencies, as well as knowledge and understanding, will continue to be a challenge for our teachers and students as we explore ways to bring these competencies to the surface and better understand how they impact learning, both in and beyond school. We also need systems that allow us to capture and communicate this learning effectively.

As mentioned in the Deputy Principal's section, we are currently preparing to move from SEQTA as a learning management system to The FOX. As we continue through our implementation plan, we are excited to explore how this new platform may support us to plan, monitor and map where complex competencies are being taught and assessed. The FOX provides an opportunity to review and evaluate how we plan and record our curriculum and how this learning is communicated with our community.

Like SEQTA, The FOX will be a place where families can find a snapshot of what students are learning, how they are being assessed and their progress across all areas of the curriculum. Importantly, it will also support the work we are doing to better understand and make visible the broader range of competencies that students develop through their learning.

We are currently building The FOX, ready to go live in January 2027. More information will be provided as we get closer to the transition to ensure a smooth move for families.

Megan Eddington - Director of Teaching and Learning (K to 12)