College Leaders 2006

Curriculum

This year, De La Salle students spent approximately 1470 hours involved in school based activities, and if we include homework, this figure goes up by another 300 hours. Based on this, our boys spend a lot of time involved in education. This provides our teachers with the opportunity to initiate, develop and maintain longstanding relationships. In fact, the teacher-student relationship is significant in establishing a well-organized, safe and happy environment in which to learn. At De La Salle, the teacher-student relationship is at the heart of our educational philosophy. We know that all young people need role models, be they male or female. However, it is important that these role models are positive and allow students to develop an identity they are satisfied with, and that allows them to become positive role models for others. De La Salle, like other all-boys schools, helps students develop their masculinity, individuality and identity and we believe we are particularly successful at doing this. The College’s teaching practices and the presence of meaningful relationships between teachers and students underpins our effectiveness. More importantly, we teach the boys not just how to cope with success but with failure as well. Looking back on the year, I am proud of the progress we, as teachers, have made in our ability to adopt new styles of teaching. The introduction of the Victorian Essentials Learning Standards (VELS) during 2006, ushered in a new learning and assessment system across the State and consolidated many of the innovative teaching and learning practices we had been modelling here. De La Salle has, for some time, been using a “learning style” approach, which is more suited to a variety of student learning styles. For example, in Year 7 History, students design and build an ancient city; working collaboratively in small groups to determine which buildings are appropriate and which Gods should represent the temples. Each group then builds and presents its city to the class. In Year 10 Art, a student proudly displays a giant pencil he has designed and built and asks if he can store it till the next day so he can deliver it safely home.

In Year 8 Italian, students visit Lygon Street to explore first hand the culture and ambience of

‘Little Italy.’ Their eyes bulge when they see the array of pastries at Brunetti’s Cakes and their taste buds come to life over a lunch of traditional

Italian pizza at Il Gambero restaurant.

In Year 10 English, students are introduced to their novel by first reading the back cover and drawing a mind map featuring the main characters. They read a short synopsis and expand their map further. Finally, they read the first chapter and again add to their mind map. At the end of the session the boys have a visual diagram outlining the main characters which links to other characters in the book. They can then use this to build on their knowledge and interpretation of the novel. Outside the classroom, De La Salle boys continued to flourish in the arts, drama, music and sport. This year’s Rock Eisteddfod boys came third in the state, combining the skills they developed in the drama and dance sessions. On an academic level, many students participated in national competitions for Mathematics, Science and Languages and as a College we scored well, with many boys receiving recognition in Distinction and Credit categories. During the year, students in Years 5, 7 and 9 took part in the AIMS statewide testing. The results show that our students are above both state and like school standards. As we are continuously looking to ways in which we can improve our teaching practices, the AIMS test results will be analysed along with the student learning surveys to further improve the delivery of curriculum and to raise benchmarks further in 2007. The journey is ongoing and I hope you can share that journey and encourage our boys to achieve their personal best as we prepare them for life in a challenging, unpredictable but exciting world beyond our school gates.

Ms Jo Prestia Curriculum Coordinator