Head of Junior School
Teaching and learning is our core business. For teachers, the learning journey never ends. We engage in professional development regularly and are always looking to improve out practice by learning from experts in our profession. Over the course of this year our teachers have attended professional development sessions in relation to our newly introduced VCOP (Vocabulary, Connectives, Openers and Punctuation) writing programme, Mental Mathematics, Numero, Making the PYP Happen, Exhibition in the PYP, Assessment in Writing - the list goes on!
Last weekend, our Junior School Teachers attended a two-day workshop on The Role of Mathematics in the PYP. Their workshop was led by an International Baccalaureate Mathematics specialist and was aimed at further enhancing our teachers' expertise in the delivery of Mathematics through guided inquiry.
Teachers explored research and engaged in critical discussion to improve their understanding of how students learn Mathematics. They paid close attention to the use of hands on activities and how manipulative materials benefits boys' development of conceptual understanding. Teachers explored how boys sequentially develop mental computation strategies and discussed how we can better support boys in developing and promoting the efficient use of these essential skills.
We considered the rich detail of the IB Mathematics Scope and Sequence document in terms of how it can support and enhance the content of the Australian Curriculum. The review of these documents assisted us in planning concept-driven mathematical units of inquiry. A key aspect to these unit plans is the provision of a challenging, engaging and differentiated Mathematics programme for all boys.
The workshop concluded with teachers further developing our school approach, which views assessment in terms of 'for learning', 'of learning' and 'as learning'. We explored formative assessment techniques and how we can employ these to track boys' level of understanding as they progress through stages of conceptual development. Providing effective student feedback was discussed in relation to how we can ensure that boys are clear about what they know, and as importantly, how they can improve. We reviewed how we could most effectively use summative assessments (or end of unit assessments), to track student progress and plan for future intervention.
The two days were invaluable to the College as we continue develop the quality of our teaching and learning of mathematical concepts and skills as part of our transdisciplinary programme. I thank the teachers of the Junior School for their commitment to personal and professional improvement and for the desire to ensure we offer the best practice to the boys of Scotch College.
John Stewart
Head of Junior School
