Teaching & Learning

Curriculum Day – A Day of Learning on Teaching Writing

Thanks to all families for making alternative arrangements for their children last Thursday as we held a Curriculum Day at school. The teachers were busy at school spending time with Education Consultant Andrea Hillbrick to work on developing an improved approach to the way in which we teach writing.

Over the coming weeks you will notice differences in the way writing is taught in the classroom that will help engage students in the art of writing. It is important to note that our students have a very good knowledge of the features of writing, this added support will help students engage in the craft of writing.

So what will you notice?

You will not see as many Big Writes/Cold Writes, but we will have one every 5 weeks to help analyse the needs of each student.

You will see Writer’s Notebooks appear in the classroom which help teachers to model the art of writing and thinking that occurs while writing. Students will have one too, which will be a place to record their thoughts and ideas.

You will see rich texts being used to model what great writing looks like and we won’t be just looking at these texts once, they will be used multiple times across a week or two.

You will see different experiences being offered to students to help them connect to their writing.

You will see writing conferences happening in the classroom with students focussing on writing strategies.

Over the next month teachers will engage with Andrea one more time in small teams to further enhance this model. Stay tuned for more details.

Focus on Learning Behaviours – Student-Led Learning

Our focus on Learning Behaviours moves to Student-Led Learning this week. This type of learning occurs when the student takes on control of the learning opportunity and works independently to practise or apply a skill or new piece of knowledge.

An example of this type of learning might be Independent Reading where students are applying a reading strategy while reading their ‘Good Fit’ book. They must organise the pace at which they work in order to identify and record evidence to show how they have applied their strategy independently of teacher or adult help.

It is important for students to know that during this time they must learn to:

• Listen to others to support learning.
• Talk to others to support learning
• Ask questions of self to check learning..

• Learn from mistakes.

During this time the teacher will be:

• Conferencing widely.
• Roving to all areas of the classroom.

• Assessing continuously through questioning, reflection and feedback.
• Providing positive reinforcement.


School Disco

The Year 4 team will be conducting our very first disco of the year on Thursday 19th March. The disco will be raising funds to support the Story of Buninyong program where we engage indigenous experts to help us understand the rich history that came before English settlement. No doubt you will have had a child participate in this program or will in the future.

The Disco will start at 6pm and finish at 7.30pm with drinks and nibbles available to purchase.  We look forward to seeing you all there for a fun night of singing, dancing and socialising. 

Collaborative Learning Days

Over the next few weeks all students will participate in Collaborative Learning Days. These days are designed for students to engage in activities with peers of a different year level where they can build deeper connections with each other. Often on these days, students will participate in project type activities where many elements and skills are required in order to complete the final piece. These days really test students’ ability to listen, communicate, tolerate, persevere and celebrate each others’ strengths as a learner.

Your child’s classroom teacher will be letting your child know in advance of these days.