Message from the 

Head of the Junior School

A Diverse Learning Community

As the teaching and learning community at Kinross Wolaroi draws to a close for the term this is an opportunity to reflect of the diverse range of activities your children have experienced this term.  As teachers we continually strive to plan achievable, yet challenging tasks that are of high interest and personally relevant for students who come from diverse backgrounds with a diversity of learning needs and readiness. This work is acknowledged in the Australian Teaching Standards (NSW Education Standards Authority, 2017) where teachers are asked to address the physical, intellectual and/or emotional diverse needs of students within their classes. 

The work of Felder and Brent (2005) identifies three broad categories of diversity which we consider when planning for teaching and learning. These relate to differences in students’:

1. Learning styles – characteristic ways of taking in and processing information
2. Approaches to learning – surface, deep, and strategic
3. Intellectual development levels – attitudes about the nature of knowledge and how it should be acquired and evaluated (Tomlinson, 2004)

The Junior School staff work in teams to understand these differences to then meet the diverse needs of our students, based upon their readiness, interests, or learning profiles, through varying the content, the process, and/or the product of learning.  

The concept of 'readiness' has many different definitions, from a concrete skills basis (eg. can count from one to ten), to a developmental or behavioural basis (eg. can listen and follow directions [Voyles, 2011]). Schunk (2008) defined readiness as, “what children are capable of doing or learning at various points in their development” (p. 330). Therefore, readiness is a more developmentally useful term to talk about a child’s learning, rather than ability with its notions of fixedness and intractability. 

When designing tasks, where possible, we work to provide equitable access to not only the tasks but the learning opportunities the tasks represent. Creating equity means creating differences between students in the type of task they receive, the way they present their learning, the time given, the environment they are working in and adult intervention. What it does not mean is a different experience or task for each student in the class. Through creating differences, teachers acknowledge the common stages students move through and the social, emotional and academic readiness of their students at that moment in time. Much time and thought goes into developing these experiences as we know students have different needs. An inherent challenge in different offerings is: while students want to be treated individually they don’t want to be seen as different.  

At Kinross Wolaroi we recognise the importance of adapting instruction not only between grades but within grades. Students are always developing and can undergo big changes in a month or two. As teachers we are aware not only of the content knowledge required for a particular year group but the readiness of students to take on board this content. Within any given class, students represent a range of ages and subsequent readiness. Even within a cohort of same-age students, there can be years of difference in readiness! We understand the developmental progression as what we can expect from the average child, but we also know there is no such thing as average in our classrooms. As teachers in 2021 we know it is not enough to know the content and deliver it, we must also understand, know and respond to the diverse needs of the students we are working with.

As your children continue to grow and learn so do the teachers in the Junior School. This year we are looking closely at how we track growth in student learning in the area of reading. The work being carried out is providing deeper understanding of student readiness and what the next steps need to be in their learning.  In Terms 3 and 4 staff are taking a deep dive into mathematics data as we examine our current approaches and better understand how to provide for mathematics learning going forward. We are looking to work with our students not only on developing their mathematical skills but continue to transform them into critical thinkers who have a better understanding of who they are as learners and what their role is in the learning process. They know they may not understand something (yet!), but they will, and in doing so are well supported in their journey.  They understand support comes in many different forms. There are variations in activities, the number of tasks they complete, the time an adult may spend with them and some lessons may even happen in small groups outside the whole class context because that is the best approach for the diverse range of needs, at that moment in time. What a wonderful place to learn!

Parent Teacher Learning Conversations

Next week all families have the opportunity to meet with their class teacher online or face to face. How lovely to be able to utilise both forms of communication. A little silver lining after COVID. I hope parents find the two options mean it provides easier access to meet with staff. 

At Kinross Wolaroi, parents are encouraged to contact class teachers throughout the year to discuss their child’s learning. We devote two evenings to interviews and encourage all parents to take advantage of this time. In Term 2 it is a great opportunity to discuss the Semester report that will be going home this week. Kinross Wolaroi is a place that hums with learning and cocurricular activities. These evenings are set aside so all class teachers are available for parents. For teachers, it allows them to focus on interviews, leaving other times at the beginning and end of the day for lesson preparation and collaborative planning.

At this point in the year this interview is a time to reflect on the growth students have made to date and what their next steps are for the remainder of the year.

As the term draws to a close

We have reached the end of another term filled with a diverse range of learning and experiences. From trips to Canberra, reading with astronauts in space, musical and sporting opportunities your children and you have been kept on the go! I hope you have planned some down time over the term break, an opportunity to step away from the routine of lunches and early starts. 

I personally am continuing my getting to know the region efforts as I take a driving tour that will take me a bit further afield from Orange for a few weeks. Many a weekend to date has been spent visiting the postcodes our KWS Kids come from. On each of these trips I have taken many photos but over the term break would like to turn the camera over to the children.

Hopefully, this is a fun little activity over the holidays for the kids to take a photo of where they live, something that shows where they come from and what stands out for them. It might be a view, a tree, the animals, the house itself. It might be something in the local community. The ideas are limitless, which I know could also be as much of a challenge as no ideas at all.

Upon returning in Term 3 I would very much like to receive a photo, a short explanation and of course the name of the student and year group. The goal being to display these in the School, to show where our KWS Kids come from through their eyes.

Kinross Wolaroi Students making their Mark

AT KWS we value and strive for academic rigor. Students have a myriad of opportunities to engage in enriching learning experiences which in some instances the School provides or facilitates student access to them. 

Congratulations to Oscar Chandler-Sullivan who has been chosen to represent NSWCIS at the upcoming NSWPSSA Rugby Championships to be held in Mudgee from the 17th - 19th August 2021.

Mrs Denise Hayward  

Head of the Junior School