Throughout this year teaching staff have implemented an inquiry-based cycle to further understand and meet the needs of their students. They have implemented the model developed by Helen Timperley, a New Zealand based education researcher known for her work in the field of professional learning and development in education.  This model reflects the following cycle:

Helen Timperley states:

‘When teachers are provided with opportunities to use and interpret assessment data in order to become more responsive to their students’ learning needs, the impact is substantive.’

The following examples reflect this model and highlight strategies that have been implemented in the classroom as part of the inquiry project. The discussion and analysis of the desired impact of the strategies is invaluable for both enhancing teacher practices and student outcomes.

Olivia Stott – Year 7 English

My Inquiry Project question is “How can the differentiation strategy of ‘the traffic light system’ support students in understanding in the key themes in a text?” The traffic light system is where students are offered three sets of colour-coded questions (green, yellow, red), ranging in level of challenge. Students then choose which set to respond to. My focus class was Year 7 English, while we studied the novel Runner by Robert Newton. I wanted to closely examine how this approach would support students in their comprehension of the novel, as well as their ability to understand and express analysis of key themes. I also investigated how the strategy allows students to feel a sense of autonomy over their learning; enabling higher achievers to extend themselves while less confident students can choose questions with which they can still experience success.

Annaliese Rogers – Year 11 Physical Education

For my inquiry process I have chosen to explore how the implementation of a strengths-based approach to teaching can increase student learning and engagement within Physical Education, particularly within a VCE setting. The desired impact of this inquiry is to encourage students to move past a deficit perspective of learning, promote the use of personal strengths within classes and provide opportunities where students can highlight the value of collaboration, teamwork, and a sense of relatedness with peers, encouraging increased resilience, engagement and a passion for learning within Physical Education.

Katy Philbin – Year 7 English

As part of my inquiry, I am investigating how targeted grammar activities can improve grammar, in particular sentence structure and comprehension. At the beginning of every English lesson, I display two options of sentences that must be edited by the class, as they are grammatically incorrect. There is a differentiated element to the activity, with one option labelled as ‘success’ and the other ‘challenge’. This caters for those who may have diverse learning needs and allows it to be accessible to all. Students are invested in the activity as examples of their writing are used. I have found they have become aware of not what they write but how they write and are proud of the quality of their class work. The focus on sentence level is intentional, as it is inextricably linked to students’ wider writing, mastering the structure of body paragraphs and extended responses. I anticipate that fostering these skills at a junior year level will not only impact on how students write currently but provide them with skills to use through to VCE and beyond.

Clare Kelly
Assistant Principal: Performance and Development