Differentiation: creating high impact for all learners

From Pre-Prep to Year 12, teachers use differentiated teaching as a strategy to ensure all students experience challenge, success and improved learning.

The primary Core Plus Cluster program is a manifestation of this commitment to differentiation and comprises two components: the Core program, taught to students in their particular year level, and the Cluster program, where students learn within vertical groups based on like abilities and needs. These flexible groupings are clustered in Prep to Year 2, Years 3 and 4, and Years 5 and 6.

While all students have the same learning goal, the teaching process is differentiated according to their unique abilities.

St Margaret’s is committed to the professional development of its staff, and primary staff recently engaged with world renowned expert Bronwyn McLeod to further develop their skills in curriculum differentiation.

Head of Primary Angela Drysdale said Bronwyn’s expertise and guidance is empowering primary staff with the latest research and theories to inform their pedagogical practice.

‘Staff are reviewing and revising the curriculum models that support best practice in differentiation and are currently redeveloping the curriculum to ensure we reach everyone in class,’ Angela said.

Critically, differentiation benefits a wide range of students, from those with learning challenges to those who are considered high ability, and knowing where students sit is fundamental to its success.

Last year, the primary school introduced the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT), which measures students’ cognitive development across three batteries associated with academic learning: verbal, quantitative, and non-verbal reasoning skills.

According to Assistant Head of Primary –Curriculum Kate Frewin, it is this analysis that allows teachers to dig deeper into each student’s abilities to improve their learning.

‘Assessments like CogAT allow us to gain a richer insight into a student’s academic performance by comparing their ability and achievement. Sometimes there is a dichotomy between a student’s ability results, or what they are capable of, and where they are achieving, so teachers can explore factors contributing to why this is the case and then plan to ensure that every student is reaching their full potential,’ Kate said.

The ongoing professional learning in curriculum differentiation coupled with data analysis is facilitating a much richer, personalised approach to evidence-based teaching and learning in the primary school, which Angela says is ensuring we can ‘reach and teach all learners’, in particular those who are high potential and gifted.

In the secondary school, similar work is being undertaken to further develop the focus on differentiation for gifted and talented students. While differentiation has always been a part of the pillars of the St Margaret’s Quality Teaching and Learning Framework, and academically gifted students have been given extension opportunities through avenues such as the Flyers Program, a more structured approach is being developed to firstly identify gifted, talented and high achievers and then provide more regular and enriched extension opportunities across all curriculum and co-curricular areas. Spearheading the program is English teacher and Masters student in Gifted Education Kate Wiedemann.

Kate says the first key step is to fine tune the identification of gifted and talented students, which may not be immediately obvious through academic performance.

‘Gifted girls, in particular, can be perfectionists, which sometimes translates into not trying if they are not going be 100 per cent correct, or they may mask their abilities for social reasons,’ Kate says.

‘Our aim is to identify those with ability and potentiality faster and then develop a personal plan to activate and nurture those students to transform their passions and potential into talent.’

Last year laid the groundwork in scoping, auditing and researching ways to implement and monitor such a program, including staff professional development and the process of identification, and preplanning to trial several strategies in 2023. Such strategies include telescoping advanced Maths (Year 9) content to Year 8 class clusters as indicated academically, clustering students according to ability in Years 7 - 9 Maths and English classes, and differentiating content within the curriculum: for example, in English, providing differentiated novels and depth and complexity opportunities according to ability.

Outside of the curriculum, the school continues to provide opportunities for students to extend themselves through external activities and competitions such as the Maths Team Challenge, Ethics Olympiads, Churchie Literature Challenge and the like.

‘The development of a gifted and talented program is a natural extension of the work St Margaret’s has always pursued –providing a personalised approach to each child’s learning,’ Kate said.

‘As lifelong learners ourselves, we are continually researching ways to advance our pedagogy in this space, and formalising and embedding a more strategic approach to gifted and talented learners will ensure we are best placed to provide them with all the tools they need to truly flourish.’