Getting Prepared

Towards the end of 2020 our Catholic Schools Education Officer encouraged each grade team to take a sample of writing from every child and mark it according to the Learning Progressions, specifically 'Constructing Texts.' The aim of this was two-fold: to upskill and familiarize staff with the progressions and to establish a 'starting point' for writing data across the entire school. Teams agreed after this engaging in this process the need to continue exploring/using the Learning Progressions for writing to inform their current learning and teaching cycles and pedagogy.









The start of 2021 saw the need for us to continue to prepare for whatever this 'learning collaborative journey' was going to be. Firstly, we had to vote on a Collaborative Team to lead us through the learning. The Principal, AP Learning & Teaching, Leader of Pedagogy were automatically on the team but a representative from each of the stages of the school were needed. Those chosen were thought to have strong interpersonal skills, were respected and respectful, considered to be highly credible practitioners themselves with the ability to challenge the status quo and demonstrated innovative pedagogy in their own practice. Staff voted. We also brainstormed possible ways we would clear our agenda to ensure that at least 60% of our learning time will be the work of the collaborative. 

Through consultation with the Catholic Schools Office we were instructed that we needed to complete a whole school write (using the same marking criteria such as what is used by NAPLAN) earlier in the year. Our Learning Collaborative team needed these work samples to take with them to their first coaching session with Lyn. 
In addition to our PM Benchmarking process (our standardized reading test) we needed to also become familiar with Probe2, an additional standardized reading test for students who had reached the maximum PM level. Staff engaged in the learning that covered how to administer the Probe and how to interpret/utilize the insights gained in future teaching practice. Throughout Term 1 and 2 of 2021 staff put this learning into practice.

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