This week I have been enjoying looking ahead to 2021. On Monday I was joined by a number of staff as we addressed Year 6 children and families who will be joining our TIGS Senior School community at the start of next year. There are many ways that the experience of school changes when a student moves to Year 7 and our Information Evening aims to provide information and reassurance as we take an important opportunity to introduce our teachers, faculties, facilities and curriculum to existing TIGS families who are ‘coming up the hill’ from the Junior School as well as to many new families who will be joining our TIGS community for the first time in 2021.
Our Year 7 to Year 10 curriculum is undergoing some exciting changes in light of our decision to move away from the International Baccalaureate. Over recent months all members of teaching staff have been involved in designing engaging learning experiences that are tightly focused on student progress and engagement. With several years’ experience as an IB school, our teachers have a wealth of experience in designing engaging project and inquiry-based learning opportunities honed within the parameters of the MYP framework. Our work this term is focused on retaining this knowledge and professional learning whilst evaluating, updating and rewriting our programmes to ensure that every lesson has clear learning outcomes at its heart, that it engages students and stimulates their curiosity, and provides the necessary support and challenge to help every student to make good progress, lesson by lesson and term by term.
Assessment is one particularly important aspect of good learning and teaching and this term we have been carefully considering the role of assessment in our 2021 curriculum. Strong assessment practice is about so much more than numbers and grades and we are committed to ensuring that we minimise the extent to which this important data can serve to distract students from their ongoing learning. To this end, we have been reviewing the way in which we can best use assessments to provide even better feedback to students that equips them with the specific information they need to evaluate their strengths and areas for development as they reflect on their own learning. This is one of the ways we want our new curriculum to assist students in becoming reflective and adaptable independent learners.
I hope to share more about our 2021 curriculum before the end of Term IV.
Sporting Success
Last week Year 8 student Mia trialled at the AICES Water Polo selection trials for the U17 Girls Water Polo team. Out of 25 girls that trialled (many of whom were older than her), Mia was one of six girls selected to progress to the CIS Water Polo trials next year.
Year 7 student William recently travelled to Adelaide to represent TIGS at the South Australian All School Athletics Championships. He competed in the 13yrs Boys Discus, Shot Put and Hammer Throw and finished 2nd in all three events. William also achieved a Personal Best in each event.
