It was with great pride that we launched our new Illawarra Grammar School Learning Framework at our Parent Information Evening on Monday. Thank you to the parents who attended.

If you were unable to attend, the presentation was filmed and can be accessed here.

Our ‘Illawarra Grammar Junior School Framework’  has been carefully crafted to respond to the needs of our students, reflecting a progressive teaching practice, within our unique school context and community.

Our framework recognises that learning is complex, more complex than we realise and this is why it is crucial that we ensure that all students can access what they need in a way that helps them to make sense and make deep connections.

Professor Daniel Willingham, an educator in neuroscience and cognitive psychology, has dedicated significant time to discover how the brain works and what teachers need to do in their classrooms to help the learning ‘stick’, i.e. moving that knowledge into the long term memory.  He states that:

‘​​Understanding how thinking happens will help you understand what makes thinking hard. That, in turn, will help you understand how to make thinking easier for your students, and therefore help them enjoy school more’.

In essence, learning is ‘a change in long term memory…The aim of all instruction is to alter long-term memory.  If nothing has changed in long-term memory, nothing has been learned’.

Our new framework is driven by a deep understanding of the learning process and ensures that our students receive well considered practice and the conditions for successful learning.

WORKSHOPS

Following the presentations regarding our new framework, parents participated in a variety of workshops to help them support their child at home. The workshops provided age-specific guidance on literacy, numeracy, academic care and student wellbeing. The slides for these workshops are now available on OLLE in the Parent Lounge.

Reports

We have been hard at work preparing student reports and these will be made available next week. Reports will be emailed to parents on Tuesday.

Holidays

I wish every family an enjoyable and safe holiday. As a reminder, students will return to School for Term III on Tuesday 23 July.