Learning Specialist Report
Inquiry Learning: Time and Place
The ‘big idea’ across the school for Term 3 is 'Time and Place', where students are exploring history and the perspectives of others. This term, Foundation students are inquiring into how toys have changed over time; Year 1/2 students are inquiring into the connection between the past and the present and investigating their personal and family history; Year 3/4 students are inquiring into European exploration and colonisation in Australia in the early 1800s and the impact on indigenous culture; and Year 5/6 students are inquiring into the significant events and developments that shaped Australian during the 1900s, including the gold rushes and immigration. Classes have rich mentor texts to support the exploration of the 'big idea' and our teachers have exciting lessons and experiences planned for our students.
Respectful Relationships
This term, as part of our Respectful Relationships education, students at APS are focusing on stress management and help-seeking. Students will be learning about different calming strategies to deal with stress, helping them to cope with challenges they could be facing now and in the future. In these challenging times, it is important to normalise asking for help. Students will learn to recognise situations in which to seek help, how to identify trusted people in their lives to ask for help and will practice asking for and providing help.
Individual Learning Plans (IEP)
Over the past four weeks of school, teachers have been working closely with families, external services and leadership to develop Individual Learning Plans for a range of students across the school. These IEPs are written documents that describe the adjustments, goals and strategies put in place to meet a student’s individual educational needs so they can reach their full potential in the Semester ahead.
At Aberfeldie Primary School, IEPs are created for:
- Students in Out of Home Care
- Koorie students
- Students receiving disability funding
- Students who have curriculum goals and needs well above or below their cohort's curriculum plan, despite the application of differentiation. At APS, each curriculum plan targets students working towards the outcomes, students working beyond the outcomes, and students needing support to meet the outcomes. In some cases students sit outside of these needs and require further extension and/or support. These students are identified beginning and mid-year based on multiple data sets for their cohort.
- Any other students who have been determined by the school to benefit for an individualised plan.
Frequently Asked Questions:
My child used to have an IEP last year, but they don’t this year. Why is this?
As students change year levels, their need for an individualised plan will change due to the cohort of students working at a different level. For example; a student working 18 months ahead in Year 4 would most likely require an IEP as they may be working well beyond the curriculum plan for those in Year 3/4. However, when that student moves to Year 5/6, they most likely wouldn’t require an individualised plan anymore as their learning goals and needs would be catered for within the curriculum plan for students working at Year 6 & 7.
My child had an IEP last semester, but they don’t this semester. Why is this?
If your child was working below level, they may have closed the gap between their peers and are now working within a level that is targeted in the cohort curriculum plan. If your child is working above level, there may now be an efficient amount of students working at that level for their curriculum needs and goals to be targeted in the cohort curriculum plan.
If you have any further questions or queries about IEPs, please do not hesitate to contact your classroom teacher, or a member of the Senior Leadership team.
Tutor Learning Initiative (TLI)
This term's Tutor Learning Initiative commenced this week, targeting early years students whose decoding, phonic and spelling development has been disrupted over the past few years. TLI provides targeted teaching to students identified as needing support. We look forward to seeing the results at the end of our 6-week cycle.
Staff Professional Development
This term, teaching staff are continuing their professional learning on the Science of Teaching & Learning, led by both Emma Sprakel and Erin McNamara. Teachers are engaging with cognitive science research focusing on how the human brain acquires, stores and uses new information. Using this research, teachers are collaborating to select, design and implement instructional approaches that overcome the limitations of working memory and lead to high learning gains. This work is essential in continuing to develop a consistent approach to teaching and learning across the school. We look forward to sharing our upcoming learning and progress with the wider community.
Principals' Day
On Friday 5 August 2022, Victoria celebrated Principals' Day. This is an opportunity to recognise the contribution principals and assistant principals make in schools. After everything principals have done to support their communities through the challenges of recent years, there certainly is no better time to acknowledge their incredible contribution.
We want to acknowledge and celebrate Nathan Gage and Heather Golder for their passion, hard work and dedication as Principal and Assistant Principal at Aberfeldie Primary School. Thank you for all you do for the whole school community!
