Excellence in Professional Practice Conference

Day 2: Monday 18 March 2013

KEYNOTE 2: 9.00am - 10.30am

Effective Teaching: Joining the dots between theory and practice

Presenter: Dr Hilary Hollingsworth, Senior Research Fellow, ACER

Findings from international research provide insights into practices of highly effective leaders, highly effective schools and highly effective teachers. So, what do highly effective teachers do, and how does what they do make a difference to student learning? In an attempt to join the dots between theory and practice, this keynote will highlight some of the key research findings related to highly effective teaching and provide snapshots of some successful practices at the classroom level.

SESSION 4: 11.00am - 12.15pm

SESSION 4 |Implementing the Australian Mathematics National Curriculum: A journey of innovation and reflection in shifting to a new paradigm

Presenters: Mrs Stacy King and Mrs Erin Bolger, Mabel Park State High School, QLD

Focus: Years 8 to 12
Specific domain: Mathematics
General capabilities: Implementation, Change management, Numeracy, Literacy, ICT capabilities

RESOURCE: Presentation and Notes: 497KB

Stacey and her team have implemented significant changes in learning culture stemming from a focused commitment to undertake a strong cyclical improvement process to bring about outcomes such as:

Year 12 Maths pass rates of 92% in 2012 up from 70% in 2009
uptake of senior sciences for QCE at 50% in 2013 up from 24% in 2012
school maths achievement - an increase of 12% VHAs in 2012
Year 8 Maths A results – an increase in 2012 of 6% from 2010
NAPLAN gains of 37% achieving above Band 6 in 2012, up from 20% in 2008
Australian Maths Competition success of 68% of participants receiving an award in 2012, up from 22% in 2009

Stacey and Erin will detail teaching innovations to deliver the National Curriculum with excellence, including:

action research
implementing pedagogical frameworks with a peer coaching model
embedding dynamic literacy, numeracy and QCE attainment initiatives
utilising classroom environments to create interactive/digital learning spaces, and
differentiating planning to support a culture of success for every student.

SESSION 4 |Implementing the Australian National Curriculum in Remote Indigenous Schools

Presenter: Sarah Greenhatch, Woorabinda State School, QLD

Presentation: 14KB
MP3: 629KB

Focus: Years 3 to 5
Specific domain: English
General capabilities: Intercultural understanding
Cross curriculum priorities: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures

This presentation will address issues that affect students in the remote Indigenous community of Woorabinda, highlighting Sarah’s three and a half years of experience at Woorabinda State School. Sarah will ‘set the scene’ with a short introduction about Woorabinda and highlight issues that influence students within that community, such as health, social and emotional problems, attendance and behaviour.

The presentation will then focus on how, given all the issues impacting students at Woorabinda, Sarah has been able to create and implement successful learning experiences using innovative techniques such as photography and imbedding Indigenous cultural elements into the Australian Curriculum.

Sarah will encourage attendees to participate in an activity where groups are given a Woorabinda classroom scenario that has been experienced by teachers at Woorabinda and a C2C learning document. Groups will then look at the learning experience and use their own innovation to create a learning experience that will be fulfilling and rewarding to the students in that scenario. Scenarios will vary from a student who has been out of school for five weeks to a class which includes students at various reading levels: eight at national level for Year 4, six reading at a Year 3 level, two reading at a Year 1 level and five reading at a Prep level.

SESSION 4 |Using National Teaching Standards to Drive Curriculum Development

Presenters: Daniel Buttacavoli and Sean Collins, Emmanuel College, VIC

Focus: Years 6 to 9
Specific domain: English

The AITSL National Professional Standards for Teachers provide clear guidelines surrounding high quality teaching.

How can the implementation of the Australian Curriculum provide an opportunity for embedding these standards into everyday practice?

Daniel and Sean’s presentation will review the experience of the Emmanuel College English Faculty in developing a deep understanding of the AITSL Standards and the ways these have been incorporated into its new English syllabus.

Participants will gain a greater understanding of the role the AITSL Standards can play in developing curriculum documentation designed to enhance teacher practice.

Sample middle years English units incorporating elements from the Standards will be discussed and participants will receive tools to audit their own curriculum documentation in light of the Standards.

SESSION 4 |Implementing the Australian Curriculum using Effective and Innovative Early Years Pedagogy

Presenter: Mrs Anne Pearson, Mango Hill State School, Qld

Focus: Lower Primary, Foundation
General capabilities: Planning, Critical and creative thinking

Anne will explain how she has been experimenting with the implementation of the Australian Curriculum in Prep in a Queensland Primary School.

Anne has been focusing on making connections between using best practice in pedagogy and the new content from the Australian Curriculum.

She is aiming to maintain Queensland’s early years philosophy and continue to use an innovative early years pedagogy to the meet new standards expected by the Australian Curriculum.

Having dedicated the last two years to identifying ways to reflect on her learning journey, this presentation is an opportunity to share well-researched, hands-on, innovative practice in a Queensland primary school.

Through an interactive presentation Anne will share how she is balancing explicit teaching of the content of the Australian Curriculum as well as providing opportunities to enhance the children’s interests and desire to learn through a child-centred inquiry based approach. It will be a reflective presentation examining the implementation in 2011-12 and the changes Anne plans to make through 2013 and the future.

SESSION 5: 1.00pm - 2.30pm

SESSION 5 |Developing Professional Practice through Triads

Presenter: Alana Hawthorne-Smith, Thomastown Meadows Primary School, VIC

Focus: Whole school
General capabilities: Building teacher capacity

How do you embed excellent quality teacher practice in your school?

Thomastown Meadows Primary School has implemented the Northern Metropolitan Region’s initiatives which include the e5 teaching model and Curiosity and Powerful Learning strategies. Alana will explain how the school has focussed on what is excellent teacher practice and how this improves teaching, learning and teacher’s use of data, as well as teachers’ conversations around the ‘10 Theories of Action’ at a whole school level and for the individual teachers.

In Alana’s presentation you will explore what is a ‘triad’ and how this structure and process has evolved over the last five years at Thomastown Meadows Primary School.

The school has established protocols with their teachers in order to build trust. This process allows teachers to observe each other in the classroom and later have valuable conversations around professional practice, giving each other non-judgemental feedback.

Teachers are given time to reflect and locate themselves on the e5 continuum and set goals in relation to the 10 Theories of Action. Teachers are also given time to practise the goals they have set and are supported by their Teaching and Learning Coach who models, observes and gives feedback.

Alana will explain how, over time, excellent teacher practice has become embedded in the school. This process and the structures that have been put into place have been a powerful learning experience for all teachers. Footage will be presented of teachers working in classrooms and the valuable conversations that occur as part of their reflection sessions.

SESSION 5 | QAR: The Language of Understanding

Presenters: Angela Brennan, Deputy Principal and Kirsty Edwards, Head of Curriculum, Edge Hill State School, QLD

Focus: Years 3 to 5
General Capabilities:Literacy

At Edge Hill State School the implementation of QAR (Question-Answer Relationships) has evolved from simply being a strategy to improve reading comprehension instruction into a multi-faceted initiative encompassing a number of school, regional and state priorities and driving Edge Hill’s whole school improvement agenda.

Ultimately, the Edge Hill QAR story is an example of the power of a metalanguage shared by the whole school community.

Angela and Kirsty will present the key components that have contributed to the development and enhancement of highly effective teaching practices in literacy across their school’s P-7 context.

All participants will have the opportunity to sample these key components through a variety of practical activities. They will:

learn about the What, When, Why and How of QAR and its essential place in the Australian Curriculum
observe ‘snippets’ of QAR lessons that have been taught using the Edge Hill State School Explicit Teaching Model
review examples of coaching and feedback sessions based on a collaborative approach to improving practice
explore how QAR enhances higher order thinking; and
examine a variety of professional learning tools and resources that support implementation.

SESSION 5 |Implementing the Australian Curriculum using an Instructional Framework

Presenter: Mike O’Connor, Principal, Mabel Park State High School, QLD

Focus: Years 8 to 12
General capabilities:Implementation, Change management

RESOURCE: PDF 131KB

Developing frameworks and professional learning solutions to the challenges of delivering the Australian Curriculum is a strength of the Mabel Park SHS team.

Mike will explain how the school has delivered the new Australian Curriculum in an innovative yet structured fashion.

An existing instructional framework (the 5E model) was used to springboard delivery of new units.

A strong culture of ongoing learning and relearning, working in collaborative teams and sharing excellent practice, has supported a robust school model that has delivered impressive relative gains in Year 8 and 9 testing sets and exit outcomes for senior students.

Significant school climate and culture shifts have been achieved.

The use of data with the purpose of ensuring that student instructional needs must be met guides the development of a professional learning culture and a level of achievement monitoring framework at the school. Principal, Deputy Principal and Head of Department behaviours and strategies that support teachers to focus on their core task (delivery of the Australian Curriculum with excellence) will be detailed and described.

SESSION 5 | A Dramatic Improvement

Presenters: Tracy Cronin, Jim Green and Belinda Berrington, Mount Ommaney Special School and The Song Room, QLD

Focus: Special Education, Whole School
Specific domain: English, Literacy, The Arts

RESOURCE: PDF 348KB

Mount Ommaney Special School’s Song Room drama program engages students with severe and multiple impairments in education through storytelling and dramatic play.

The program is used as a teaching and learning tool, assisting students to engage with the Australian Curriculum in a functional and enjoyable manner.

The award-winning partnership provides a research-based pedagogy for students, many of whom are pre-intentional and early communicative learners.

The Song Room provides an innovative approach to curriculum access and student engagement. Tracy, Jim and Belinda explain how Mount Ommaney are continually developing appropriate Song Room resources that are aligned with C2C units in English.

Students from Prep to Year 12 participate in regular drama sessions that provide innovative opportunities to create and connect with the world around them. The drama sessions are used as a tool to incorporate the goals of each student’s Individual Education Plan, particularly around language and human movement skills.

The Song Room and the school collaborated closely to design a program that would meet the specific physical, intellectual and communication requirements of students. Through a series of teaching artist drama workshops and a teacher mentoring program, the school has achieved positive and measurable results in terms of increasing student engagement, communication, social interaction, creativity and self-expression.

KEYNOTE 3: 2.30pm - 3.30pm

Our National Curriculum: Overview, updates and teacher support

Presenter: Robert Randall, CEO, ACARA