Dear Parent, Carers, Students, Staff and Friends of the College,

Celebration of Learning

It has been great to see the celebration of the learning occurring across the College this year. Each year group has their different learning focus and experiences and in order to improve our learning it is important to recognise this throughout the year. Recently I have been working with our senior students in PDHPE who collaborate to respond to key HSC practice questions. This teamwork is key to increasing learner confidence and student efficacy. The skills to learn this way doesn’t just occur in Year 11 & 12. This must begin in our 7-10 year groups in order for them to be experts in their study skills in Stage 6. Keep an eye out on our social media for more celebration of learning. Here are a few photos of our Year 12 PDHPE students in action.

Cycle of Learning

For our young men to be successful in their learning and retention of knowledge they need to have the discipline to follow a routine to learning success. This takes great dedication and commitment to their school work but when they learn they feel good about themselves.

This diagram shows three clear phases each of our young men go through to be successful in their subject areas.

The content phase is usually completed in our lessons. This highlights the importance of regular attendance to school as without this phase, our student won’t be able to succeed in Step two.

The consolidation phase is where students will discover whether they have retained the information from the content phase. This is where students write separate study notes and/or flashcards to summarise their understanding. This phase is also important to ask questions of their teacher should they not be able to grasp a topic or skill.

The Practice and Feedback stage is vital in students executing their writing and comprehension skills to apply what they have learnt in the previous two phases. This is where they will receive feedback from their teacher and peers. This is also a phase where parents engage with their son’s learning and ensure they show you the practice responses they have been writing. Without this phase our young men won’t be effectively prepared for any writing assessment tasks as without practice they will not be able to perfect their skills.