Curriculum and Pedagogy

Current Foci

During this early part of the school year, two main foci in the Curriculum and Pedagogy area have been well-being and literacy.

Student resilience and wellbeing are essential for both academic and social development and are optimised by safe, supportive and respectful learning environments. With this in mind, staff discussion has been centred around the solid linking of social/emotional well-being with curricular development and implementation. Our aim is to foster a learning community where students feel included, connected, safe and respected while establishing strategies to manage difficulties they may face.

At Mount Carmel we are committed to improving students’ literacy skills, with a current specific focus on vocabulary acquisition. Evidence suggests that schools do not do enough deliberate work to develop vocabulary and yet words, especially subject-specific ones, are at the heart of learning (Hipwell, 2018). Regardless of subject area, we understand that teachers are responsible for improving students’ vocabulary and have adopted a collaborative approach to consciously broaden vocabulary through the use of a variety of classroom activities such as the creation of word walls, revisiting key words periodically and exploring the root of words to ascertain their meaning.

Hipwell, P. (2018). Hooking students into learning... in all curriculum areas. 1st ed. Brisbane: logonliteracy.

Goal Setting

Parents, carers and students met with clan teachers on Tuesday night to discuss goals which will empower students to take control of their learning process and to form a foundation for a positive direction as the year progresses.

SEQTA Engage

A friendly reminder to please contact the College if you have not yet set up an account and require assistance to do so. Seqta is our online learning management system which enables parents/carers to access regular feedback about their daughter’s learning progress. We welcome any request for further information.

Valery Kullrich

Co-Director of Curriculum and Pedagogy (Secondary)