Reaching the end of the year always provides an opportunity to take stock and to reflect on what has been learned, what was achieved and what we should aspire to as we look to the new year. Visible Learning is one area in which our Senior School academic staff are currently undertaking this evaluative work. You may recall, Visible Learning is the encapsulation of thousands of pieces of research into what works best in classrooms. In the Senior School we are reaching the end of our first year of learning, evaluating, honing and embedding practices that are proven to have high impacts in terms of student learning.

At our first evaluation point, at the end of Semester 1, our monitoring told us that:

•         a majority (94%) of students use feedback from their teacher to help them improve their learning.
•         of the various available options, most students would seek out a teacher, or friend, if they encountered a challenge in their learning.
•         a small but not insignificant percentage of students were unable to identify a target they have set themselves, in terms of their learning.

Gathering insights like this is an incredibly powerful way for us to focus our efforts in helping students to maximise their learning. During Term IV teachers across the School have been referring students to the image below as we try to help them develop a framework of options from which to draw from when they encounter a challenge in their learning. In doing so, we want to promote independent learning so that students feel equipped to respond confidently whenever they get stuck – be it in the classroom environment, or when working on tasks outside of the lesson. 

Over the coming weeks, we will be surveying every student, to gain an understanding of what progress has been made during the second half of the year. We will also survey teaching staff, and visit lessons to speak with students. The findings from these activities will provide us with new insights that will shape the Visible Learning work we will undertake in 2023. I look forward to updating you early in the new year.