ConnecTED 

Learning

Term 4 is an exciting time for us in ConnecTED Learning as we reflect on the amazing growth of our Year 7 students over their first year in high school. 

We have a strong focus on writing development across the school for Year 7 and our TED classes are at the heart of this important work. In English, Year 7 students have regular explicit teaching on core writing skills in the context of the topics being studied. This term it is film techniques and a film study of ‘The Jungle Book’. This explicit focus is carried through to other subjects and as students write in HSIE and Religion, they practice the skill that has been introduced or reviewed in English. 

Teachers across ConnecTED Learning look for opportunities to link their own writing, as well as that of students, to the skill of focus and this is also carried through into other subject areas. An example of this is the focus on sentence structure and the use of subordinating conjunctions to create more sophisticated complex sentences to add detail and depth to writing. 

Students initially reviewed the terms in the context of their English classroom. They then experienced a workshop run by our Literacy Instructional Teacher in a Religion class where they used their learning while writing within the unit ‘Belief Practice and Prayer’. Opportunities for further transfer, extension, or repeated review occurred in HSIE where students were writing about artefacts and what they tell us about the past. 

Along with this carefully considered and planned progression of skills, we also offer ‘Sprint’ lessons during ConnecTED Learning where small groups of students have short explicit lessons on a specific writing skill. During recent parent, student and teacher interviews, many students shared their pride in the achievements they have made in improving their use of sentence structure when writing. We celebrate their success and look forward to ending Year 7 as we began, with enthusiasm and passion for learning!

Mrs Rebecca Sadler | Leader of ConnecTED Learning