Purpose:

To develop a high quality and consistent approach to the delivery of teaching practice and learning experiences across all levels and classrooms.

Overview:

LPS provides all students with a planned and structured curriculum to equip them with the knowledge, skills and attributes needed to complete their schooling and to make a successful transition to secondary school.

Students at LPS will have multiple and varied opportunities to demonstrate learning and achievement. Teachers use assessment tasks that cover multiple curriculum levels to ensure that evidence of learning and growth is captured for every student.

Teachers use a combination of formative assessment for learning (to focus feedback and guide future learning) and summative assessment of learning (to determine what the student has learned at the end of a sequence of learning), alongside student self-assessment and reflection.

Assessment is used in an ongoing way, to guide future lessons and learning, as well as to keep students and parents informed of student progress.

Teachers will assess the achievements of students with disabilities and impairments in the context of the Victorian Curriculum and the ‘Towards Foundation Level Victorian Curriculum’ where applicable.

The English language proficiency of English as Additional Language EAL students will be assessed using the Victorian Curriculum F-10 EAL.

Reporting:

LPS reports student progress to parents in line with the Department’s Reporting Student Achievement and Progress Foundation to 10 policy. In addition, LPS ensures that there is continuous sharing of assessment information formally and informally with parents/carers throughout the term, including through twice-annual formal reporting.

The report will be in a written format easy for parents/carers to understand and will be accessible in digital form with the option to translate text from English to another language, to cater to our school community. 

LPS will report directly against the Victorian Curriculum F-10 Version 2.0 achievement standards or, if reporting on students for whom English is an additional language, the Victorian Curriculum F-10 EAL achievement standards.

Opportunities will be provided for parents/carers to discuss the school report with teachers and/or school leaders. 

Parent-teacher interviews, conducted twice-yearly, enable the opportunity to discuss the students’ progress and how they can continue to be supported at home. Interpreting services will be made available where required. 

Program Guidelines:

Laburnum Primary School utilises the Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) framework to ensure every student within our school maximises their wellbeing and learning potential. This framework incorporates both the Response to Intervention and School Wide Positive Behaviour Support frameworks to cater for the whole child. It provides universal, targeted and tertiary interventions and supports academically and behaviourally.

In teaching the Victorian Curriculum, the LPS whole school instructional approach is implemented using a Gradual Release of Responsibility model, whereby:

• explicit teaching and modelling by the teacher initiates a learning sequence of ‘I do’,
• followed by joint responsibility between teachers and students in ‘we do’ and,
• finalised with independent practice and application by the learner in ‘you do’.

Whole class, succinct mini lessons establish the purpose of a lesson, applying DET High Impact Teaching Strategies (HITS) of goal setting in learning intentions and success criteria. Explicit instruction and worked examples support students’ skill acquisition. Each lesson is generally followed by small group or independent work, encompassing HITS of differentiated teaching, collaborative learning and multiple exposures. A whole class reflection, share or recap of particular concepts or strategies follows.

LPS is a Professional Learning Community (PLC) school, one that prioritises intense and ongoing staff professional development to maximise the ‘ability to recognise, describe, evaluate and support high quality teaching that is focused on ensuring the successful learning of every child’ (DET, 2019). This program ensures a consistent and rigorous teaching and assessment cycle is maintained across all year levels of the school and that staff work collaboratively in teams to gather, analyse and determine next steps to improve student outcomes. This explicit process addresses and maintains a shared teacher understanding of what high quality teaching is in all curriculum learning areas. This is also supported by the participation and guidance of our Leading Teachers and Learning Specialists throughout these cycles.

Teaching and learning is based on DET’s Practice Principles for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. In particular, these include:

• having high expectations for all students to achieve;
• providing a supportive and productive learning environment that promotes inclusion and collaboration;
• giving students voice and agency in their learning, collaboratively planning in teams for a differentiated and challenging curriculum for all students;
• rigorous assessment practices including student feedback;
• developing deep learning challenges including opportunities to apply new knowledge by developing critical, creative and higher order thinking skills; and
• using evidenced based strategies to drive improvement, such as, assessment, moderation and analysis of student data.

The inquiry scope and sequence developed by the school outlines the integrated units from Foundation to Year 6. Learning is organised and based on a two-year cyclical model reflecting Victorian Curriculum level requirements. It was developed to ensure all Victorian Curriculum areas are included, ensuring that there is coverage of History, Geography, Science, Economics, Digital Technology, Design and Technology.

The Victorian Curriculum Capabilities (Critical and Creative Thinking, Ethical, Intercultural and Personal and Social) are embedded throughout LPS learning experiences to support student development in key skills and understandings within each capability.

Students are engaged at their level of need, or Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and supported throughout the learning process. To cater for individual student learning needs, the curriculum is differentiated so that teachers can scaffold, stimulate and challenge students at a point of need, maximising their learning.

Student agency and voice is promoted school wide so as to promote students’ responsibility for and agency in their learning. All students are provided with opportunities to be involved in and drive their learning and school experience, including individual learning goals. Students are also able to provide feedback to teachers via the Attitude to School survey in Years 4-6. These survey results also directly inform the school’s Annual Implementation Plan and School Strategic Plan.

Program Implementation: 

The three weekly PLC inquiry cycle will rotate through Reading, Writing/Spelling and Mathematics. This process will follow the same format for each of the learning areas, including the following steps:

• Evaluate and Diagnose
• Prioritise and Set Goals
• Develop and Plan
• Implement and Monitor

The whole school inquiry scope and sequence is be implemented through a two-year cyclical model, reflected in the school's organisation into:

• Prep
• Junior School (Years 1 & 2)
• Middle School (Years 3 & 4)
• Senior School (Years 5 & 6)

Sub-schools will regularly review and analyse content, resources and teaching techniques before, during and after each inquiry.

The Capabilities curriculum will be strongly embedded throughout all learning areas and levels, ensuring that students are continually developing knowledge, understandings and skills in Critical and Creative Thinking, Ethical, Intercultural and Personal and Social capabilities.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and Digital Technologies are utilised to enhance learning opportunities and to develop digital literacy. Online resources to support this development, such as eSmart, are implemented across the school cohort.

Student achievement data, such as NAPLAN, Victorian Curriculum teacher judgements and learning area specific assessments, are stored using our Sentral platform to track student progress across years of schooling and ensure that relevant and current information is accessible to all teaching staff and school leaders.

Ethical and Intercultural Capabilities will be reported on once a semester in accordance with the inquiry scope and sequence and reporting schedule. Critical and Creative Thinking and Personal and Social Capabilities will be reported on each semester of every year.

The Students Attitude to School survey (Years 4 - 6) is conducted every year. This survey provides an opportunity for students to voice their opinions and findings are utilised to inform the following Annual Implementation Plan (AIP).

Students complete a PIVOT Survey each semester. Discussions about the data post survey

• Make students feel heard and valued
• Allows teachers to gain a deeper understanding about why students responded in the ways that they did
• Assists teachers to understand what meaningful change in the classroom may look like for students.

All teachers will be supported to enhance their skills through personal and professional learning, focussing on the AIP and School Strategic Plan (SSP).

Evaluation:

This policy will be reviewed every 4 years in accordance with the school policy schedule or as required.