CGS PROFESSIONAL LEARNING FROM ANN HAMER & LUCY GARVEN

CGS Learning: A Whole School Focus

In March of this year, the whole school focused on how we challenge and empower students by differentiating the curriculum and providing formative feedback. Presentations were given by Owen Jones, Phyllis Lynch, Sarah Muller, Hannah Irvine and Emily Dempsey to showcase different ways teachers can engage students in the classroom and challenge them to reach their potential.

Building on this, in May, the whole school were presented with some hands-on workshops which allowed a deeper dive into some critical issues: Indigenous Perspectives with the Year 1 team; Trauma Informed Practice online modules; Positive Behaviour Management workshops with the senior coaching team: Lyndsay Reid, Charlotte Watt, Chris Brain; CGS Connect and Assessment with Russell Waldron; and Staff Well-Being with an external presenter Antoinette Gomez. In addition, we also ran a workshop on teacher accreditation and how we can help staff to navigate the accreditation process.

In July, we had a significant event for staff as we spent a day building knowledge and understanding of important academic issues. The day started with Dr Justin Garrick’s introduction of our strategic plan. For the rest of the day, staff explored the intricacies of Student Agency; Differentiation; English as an Additional Language or Dialect; Health Clinic Presentations; Literacy Intervention with the MultiLit Suite; Mental Health Issues; NCCD and Inclusive Learning, Positive Behaviour; Student Anxiety; Reconciliation Matters; Restrictive Practices; Safety and Inclusion; Self-Regulation and Trauma Responsive Practice Online Modules. From these workshops, the afternoon was devoted to department time in the Senior School and learning area time in the Primary School to see how they can embed practices into their curriculum. This was also a great opportunity to consider the Australian Curriculum version 9 and how changes impact student learning. Staff were challenged to reflect on issues and empowered to design a curriculum to meet our students’ needs.

Making sure students are safe and our school is following best practices, all staff were able to hear from Kate Halloran in September. In our new Snow auditorium, this presentation focused on how teachers must follow safe practices and ensure professional boundaries are in place. Kate Halloran is a specialist child protection practitioner, and her presentation was engaging and thought-provoking.

With the news that the Senior School is moving to MYP, our November CPL focused on MYP Approaches To Learning. The Primary School also used this time to focus on PYP to have a streamlined curriculum from Year 1 to Year 9.

CGS Aspire continues to be a publication highlighting staff’s professional growth. By coordinating our approaches across the whole school, we can ensure a consistency of approach to enable us to unpack the CGS Learning and Teaching Framework and build curious, creative, compassionate, confident citizens of the world.