Lessons from exchange about teaching and learning for ATAR success

SUNATA 26

George Higgins

Secondary Teacher

Lessons from exchange

about teaching and learning for ATAR success

It was the best of education systems, it was the worst of education systems. The current paradigm shift in Queensland education is the most significant in 28 years. To retire a senior curriculum as old as I am means an entire generation of teachers have lost their professional experience teaching senior curriculums only acquired through tenure. Preparing and upskilling for the new ATAR system have become the most meaningful professional development experiences Queensland teachers can complete. Moreover, those with experience teaching and learning interstate where the ATAR system is well established are a valued resource in this new educational landscape to provide precious insight into pedagogical practice, approach to curriculum and pastoral responsibilities. As such, the chance to immerse myself in a school culture similar to St Margaret’s interstate where the ATAR system is in full swing was an enticing opportunity.

St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls

I applied for the St Margaret’s interstate teaching exchange and received a placement to St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls in the picturesque Perth suburb of Mosman Park. Founded over 100 years ago in the Anglican tradition, St Hilda’s has come to define a strong education for girls in Western Australia. With over 1200 students including 150 boarders, St Hilda’s boasts one of the most enviable academic records in the state with a rich extracurricular and sporting program too. With this in mind, I was energised by the opportunity to surround myself with inspiring educators who embrace the ethos of St Hilda’s to prepare each student to be 'future-ready' in an ever-changing world. I arrived at St Hilda’s on a quiet Sunday and had a chance to explore the surrounds of Mosman Park with Kathryn Paul, Dean of Staff. A short walk from Cottesloe Beach, the school sits on the western side of the city between the Swan River and the vast Indian Ocean. The campus consists of timeless sandstone structures set among modern buildings to physically embody the ethos of St Hilda’s; a rich tradition of educating young women while preparing them to be ready for the future. The school leadership and amazing staff at St Hilda’s welcomed me warmly as I settled into the week. I am very fortunate for the conversations and time spent with the teachers, support staff and educational leaders of the school who offered up their time to have a chat over a coffee or discuss my professional growth and ambitions. Additionally, the hospitality and accommodation provided by Kathryn and her staff was amazing the entire week. Each meal I ate in the boarding house and managed to speak with many students and staff from across Western Australia and the globe. It was during these times that the parallels between St Hilda’s and St Margaret’s were most apparent as I found myself in somewhat familiar company on the other side of Australia.

Teaching and learning at St Hilda’s

The coveted reputation of St Hilda’s academic program began to shine as I immersed myself in the teaching and learning program of the school. Each lesson had classroom activities and exercises focused on developing their students into diligent, curious and forward-thinking individuals. I am grateful for the opportunity to see some amazing educators in action, committed to the continual improvement of their craft. Of all the experiences on exchange, it was the ATAR Maths and Physics lessons I attended that left the most enduring imprint. Seeing ATAR lessons in action while at St Hilda’s broadened my understanding of how great a shift in pedagogical practice is needed to deliver successful lessons back in Queensland. The two key themes across all faculties were consistency and accountability. Consistent delivery of the syllabus objectives across every class and accountability that all content is covered by the teachers and students. I have detailed below the key practices I discovered while observing the senior subjects at St Hilda’s, as well as those I have implemented in my own pedagogy as a result.

Booklets

Every senior science and mathematics subject used a booklet or OneNote as the guiding document for their students. They are the axis mundi for teachers and students in preparation for the external exams. Every objective of every topic, every learning intention and activity, every practical and video are available to students whenever they need it. It should be noted, however, that great resources can enhance great teaching, but can’t make poor teaching better. The teacher is still required to deliver the quality content and thus professional development doesn’t end with a great resource like a booklet.

Retrieval practices

Constant retrieval practices are incredibly important to the development of memory and recall. Some ATAR subjects require students to recall content learnt a year ago for their external exams. Consequently, regular formative assessment that not only cover recent content but lessons from earlier in the course too is a necessity for the development of a robust knowledge of the content.

Practice exam questions

Regular exposure to past exam questions one or two at a time while putting students under time pressure is an excellent pedagogical tool. Just like the way we used to prepare students for the QCS test, a simple starter at the beginning of the lesson is to give students a question from a past paper and time them. In addition, getting them to mark their response afterwards provides an excellent insight for students about mark schemes and how questions are constructed.

Tracking progress

Accountability and consistency reign supreme, so tracking student progress and syllabus objectives as content is covered has become a

necessity of teaching in an ATAR system. A simple approach I have adopted is to use Microsoft Excel to build tracking spreadsheets. By tracking how well my students do for individual questions on formative quizzes that are based on certain syllabus objectives, I can hand them a spreadsheet at the end of Unit 4 showing them the trends in their learning and progress over the course. It also indicates the content they need to revisit to plug any gaps in their understanding.

• Tutorials

At St Hilda’s, once a week for an hour or so after school, teachers from across all subjects offer up their time to come together in a large classroom (or classrooms) to help students with their learning.

This school-wide coming together allows students to get help with all their subjects at the same time. This approach to supporting students through their senior years goes a long way towards success in their final exams but also towards the development of a strong culture of academic diligence and excellence. Consequently, offering tutorials or drop in times is a strong recommendation for staff to introduce for their students to succeed in an ATAR system.

Other teaching and learning observations

During my week at St Hilda’s, I also observed some other differences in teaching and learning that I thought would be worth mentioning. • Teachers do not teach across curriculums (i.e. maths teachers could not teach science, English teachers could not teach humanities

etc). This allows teachers to specialise in certain subject areas but limits their teaching practice and professional development. Year 12 students have access to a common room where they can spend their time between lessons and during breaks socialising or catching up on some study away from the rest of the school. This provides seniors with a space to call their own in the heart of the campus which I was assured becomes a hive of activity come the external assessments. Junior mathematics classes are streamed with top enrichment classes taking on a more challenging set of topics not in the regular curriculum advised for that age level. Students in these classes also participate in extra-curricular subject competitions like the Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC). Science classes rotate between teachers as they progress throughout the year. For example, a physics teacher will teach the same physics topic to all classes in Year 10. This allows students to have an experienced and specialised teacher for that topic who can explore concepts to greater depths than another teacher whose speciality isn’t that topic could. Students like it because they know they have a specialty teacher and teachers enjoy it because it is their subject area. There is a wide variety of senior subjects on offer. Sciences such as Psychology and Human Biology (different from regular Biology) were very interesting subjects I attended and popular with the students. I particularly enjoyed the practical I observed in Psychology about the development of the brain. In other faculties, subjects like Business

Management and Enterprise, Media

Production and Analysis, Philosophy and Ethics, and Politics and Law offer students the chance to excel in niche subjects catered more to their interests; a luxury afforded to schools in a well-established

ATAR system. • The use of Microsoft Teams sitting above other Office programs such as OneNote to organise classes and content was an excellent use of this resource. Storing files digitally on

Teams allows students to access files and video content that cannot be stored on OneNote. • The school is not one-to-one with technology, so students do not have access to devices or laptops during their lessons unless they are given to them by the teacher from a class set.

I observed that students were more engaged with their lessons without the distraction of a device, however, teaching certain concepts and techniques was a limitation.

Reflections

Having only been teaching a few years, my week at St Hilda’s offered a valuable insight into different ways of approaching education. It was particularly significant to observe a school with a rich history and culture similar to our own not only succeed in an ATAR system but thrive in it. At the end of my week I felt reenergised about the challenges ahead regarding the development of a strong ATAR program at St Margaret’s, and also very grateful for the opportunity to immerse myself in a school like St Hilda’s and meet some amazing educators. Heading into the exchange, my focus was on curriculum, but I highly recommend the interstate exchanges offered by St Margaret’s to anyone wishing to gain experience at some amazing schools across Australia. I would like to thank the St Margaret’s Senior Leadership Team for supporting me during this experience and all the amazing staff at St Hilda’s for accommodating me. SUNATA 27