Heard on the Hill Term 2, Week 3

NUTS AND BOLTS

Please remember if you have been in Perth or the Peel regions in the last 14 days you are required to wear a mask at school. While you are actively teaching you are allowed to remove the mask.

This is also true of students. Please remind them that they need to do this.

Shared Instructional Framework

This week we are looking at the Show and Tell

Show and Tell

Teachers demonstrate (show) and explain skills or concepts (tell) while considering the students’ abilities and interests

Demonstrating a skill or task creates a mental image that students can identify as they try to reproduce the task or skill. The concept is a picture is worth a thousand words.

Instruction when combined with a demonstration further helps students assimilate the task being taught. The danger is giving too much instruction. Excessive talking or skill instruction can overload the learner with too much information.

Funnel technique. List all the elements that you want the students to know about your skill or task. Narrow it down to five of six key elements. Highlight two to mention while you are demonstrating. This is referred to as attentional focus.

Examples of Demonstrations – worked examples, sample answers, modelling behaviour, action movement, cooking/sewing,…. Can you think of some in your learning area?

A VISION FOR THE MODERN AGE

Andrew Healey, Paul Reynolds and Kelly Anderson recently attended the launch of "A Vision for the Modern Age", a report compiled by Skills of the Modern Age (SOMA) who are a Perth-based organisation. SOMA offer a range of workshops aimed at assisting innovative thinking.
The launch of the report - available via the link below - also included a panel discussion with three experts looking at the future of work in WA.

Some of the key ideas discussed were:

Why do people work?

• money
• social connection
• education (learning on the job)
• structure and routine
• self-worth

Those who structure work for others need to consider the factors that are important for job satisfaction. We need to design work to be SMART:

S - Stimulation - task variety
M - Mastery - task completion, a sense of accomplishment
A - Autonomy - feeling empowered to make decisions
R - Relatedness - connecting with others
T - Tolerable demands - a balanced workload

The report is directly relevant for WA and has a lot of interesting ideas and is worth a read.

THE HIDDEN FACTORS

In their newly published book, What Really Works in Special and Inclusive Education, David Mitchell and Dean Sutherland suggest preconditions for any interventions to be successful. These were also published in the Autumn 2021 edition of the Australian Educator. These preconditions are:

Acceptance
For learners to want to learn from others - whether they be teachers, parents or peers - they need to feel valued, safe and included and they need to feel they are known as a person, not merely as a receptacle of special needs. They have a right to feel respected.

Expectation
Those around learners with additional learning needs often underestimate their students' ability to learn. In many cases, these low expectations become self-fulfilling prophecies. A corollary of this point is that educators need to have high, but realistic, expectations as to the potential of their teaching strategies.

Engagement
For the preceding two attitudes to be translated into outcomes, learners must be engaged behaviourally, emotionally and cognitively (all are interlinked). This means engaging them with the teacher, fellow learners, the curriculum content and their own memory.

If the above preconditions are not in place, any interventions attempted for the benefit of the learner are likely to be less effective, if effective at all.

If you have a student with additional needs in your class and you are not sure that you are making the right choices with how you are working with them, please talk to their Education Assistant or to the Learning Support Coordinator, Inga McQueen, for extra guidance.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN Online Testing will commence in week 4 through until the end of week 5 for all Year 7 & 9 students. The test window is nine days and tests need to be taken in a specific sequence. This increases the security of the writing component that is required for some linkages however, the writing component is unavailable to students on Day 1 so we are able to commence with the reading component on Tuesday 11 May. The writing component will commence on day 2 and must be completed by the end of day 3. After that, the correct test sequence must be followed before students can move onto the next component.

Please note the entire Macbook Fleet will be out of service and internet usage during testing sessions must be kept to a minimum to allow for maximum internet capacity for the online testing sessions. Due to the nature of the testing, SCSA has recommended that a preparation period of 10-15 minutes in addition to the allocated testing time is factored in for student instruction, log in and any other technical issues that may be experienced at the start of each testing session.

The NAPLAN test order is:
Writing (45 minute test + 15 minute prep = 60 minutes)
Reading (65 minute test + 15 minute prep = 80 minutes)
Conventions of Language (45 minute test + 15 minute prep = 60 minutes)
Numeracy (65 minute test + 15 minute prep = 80 minutes)

I have attached the NAPLAN schedule. Students have been divided in alphabetical order in each year group to allow for the maximum and equal number of students sitting the test at one time and the maximum capacity of our WAPs in the library testing area. The schedule also allows for the change out and recharging of Macbooks between testing sessions and any other technical issues that we may experience with devices.

• Year 7 Surname A – K Group 1
• Year 7 Surname L – Z Group 2
• Year 9 Surname A – H Group 1
• Year 9 Surname I – Z Group 2

Please note this will affect gridlines with minimal students attending class and this interruption will affect both elective & MESH classes. Please ensure you are aware of the schedule and how this will affect your lesson planning for weeks 4 & 5.

Students will be given the opportunity of catch up sessions should they be absent on the day of testing and this will be managed daily by our Test Administrator and Student Services team. We will be using a dedicated Test Administrator (Brad Hicks) to administer the testing with the assistance of an EA and Library Staff.

During this time the Library will be out of service including before school and lunch 2. Library duty teachers please assist in other duty areas. Homework club may continue however is to remain in exam set up.

SIDE students will use Online Room and Private study will be allocated rooms (TBA).

Students will receive an individual timetable next week and I will send student lists daily as a reminder of who needs to be where and when.

Please see me with any further questions or queries. Thanks in advance for your support and I apologise for the major interruption this will cause to your timetable during Weeks 4 & 5.

SENIOR SCHOOL EXAM TIMETABLE

Please find attached a copy of the Senior School Exam Timetable that has been approved by the Leadership Team. If you have any queries or concerns, please speak to your HOLA.

NEW EMAIL SIGNATURE

It is great to see that many of you are now using our new email sign off.

If you haven't done so already, can you please ensure your email sign off is in line with our new branding.

YEAR MEETINGS - WEEK 3

The Year meetings for Year 7 to 10 students this week are as follows: 

• Year 7 - Tuesday Period 3, Library
• Year 8- Tuesday Period 1, Library
• Year 9 – Thursday Period 1, Library
• Year 10 - Tuesday Period 2, Library

Please mark the roll, instruct students to leave their bags in class and supervise your students to the year meeting.

These meetings will feature a short video presentation from the Safe On Social team which focuses on being aware of your online presence and what it really means to sign ‘Terms and Conditions' when you download an app.

Term 2 is a long haul and student behaviour may start to drop off in the classroom. Can we please ask that classroom behaviour issues be sent directly to your HOLA, if the Classroom Withdrawal process has not been successful. HOLAs will then involve Student Services if necessary.

Principal's Calendar