The Arrowsmith Program 

WAYNE STAGG

Head of the Arrowsmith Program

My heartfelt thanks to the students, teachers, and parents of the Oakleigh Grammar Arrowsmith program. Term 3, 2021, has been an incredibly challenging term for everyone, however, we have all pulled together, kept going, and managed to make it through to the end.

The holiday break will enable everyone to have a rest and be ready for the learning and challenges that lay ahead in Term 4. In Term 4, most Arrowsmith students will undergo their annual Arrowsmith assessment. The assessment is a suite of cognitive tests designed by Barbara Arrowsmith Young. These tests are used to measure a student’s level of function in each cognitive area, as well as the cognitive gains made each year.

A traditional assessment usually seeks to diagnose a learning disability such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, poor executive function, attention problems, or auditory processing disorder. The Arrowsmith assessment goes beyond such labels and determines which discrete cognitive functions are weak and therefore leading to these diagnoses. Each function is measured on a 12-point rating scale, which indicates the degree to which a function is operating, and therefore the degree to which it is capable of contributing to a given learning task. 

The Arrowsmith Program Assessment is not a traditional psychological or educational assessment and cannot be used to obtain mainstream school accommodations, curriculum modifications, or compensations that a conventional assessment might. Instead, it classifies the nature of one’s strengths and difficulties across a continuum of ability and recommends individualized programming to address the learning difficulty, not compensate for it. Each assessment enables Arrowsmith staff to create a learning profile for each student and individualise their cognitive program.

This term, Arrowsmith students and their families have continued to show resilience and determination as they work through remote learning and their individualised program. The Arrowsmith Program is a journey for students and their families. The journey has been interrupted over the past two years, but as we move forward, I’m sure we will see brighter days, wonderful results, and improvement in all our students.

To all the Arrowsmith students, I look forward to working with you all next term and leave you with this quote from Winnie the Pooh: "You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."