Selecting curriculum is mostly taken care of as we have a national curriculum to implement (not all countries have this). However, we do a lot of work in the background to ensure the sequence and delivery of that curriculum is carefully thought through and implemented using the best practices. It comes to us as a set of standards with many teaching suggestions; we then turn those standards into unit plans, lessons and assessments.

Creating conditions for learning is a larger aspect of the classroom than most people might realise. This means ensuring students feel a sense of belonging and feel safe learning, which includes making mistakes, failing, being vulnerable and seeking help. Creating the right classroom climate is something we are very proud of as a school – our teachers have student well-being at the heart of all that they do and work hard to create positive classroom cultures.

Conditions for learning also involves establishing consistent routines so that students have predictability about what to expect day-to-day and can work through classroom tasks with automaticity, creating a smooth flow within the room. It even matters how the room is decorated; displays should be minimally stimulating to avoid distraction (only displaying what is required to assist learning and including a lot of student work), and students should be seated in a manner that is most conducive to learning. This usually means forward facing rows.

The majority of our teaching is explicit and even when students are working independently, in order for them to avoid distraction and to ensure we can secure attention, we seat them so that they are not facing other students or having to turn significantly to see the teacher teach. If students are distracted and/or talking to other students during the direct instruction phase or during independent practice of a skill, they are less likely to engage in the deep thinking required. This is in line with the research that shows that we are not actually good at multitasking. Whilst we may think we can talk and ‘do’, we will actually be doing one thing better than the other (and in students’ cases, this is usually talking). Think about when you are driving with the music blaring or deep in conversation; when you are in an unknown area and you need to concentrate more closely on the traffic and directions, you will usually turn the music down or pause the conversation – that’s because it is distracting your ability to concentrate. This is no different to students trying to concentrate in the classroom, especially the younger students. This is why you will notice our classrooms across the school are set out in rows rather than group formation. Again, it is what the evidence suggests is most conducive to learning. When students need to discuss a topic or rehearse some part of the learning, they ‘turn and talk’ with an elbow buddy or two as appropriate. When they need to collaborate on a group task, desks are quickly turned into groups of four or they may stay that way for a period of time as required. So, even the way we seat our students is based on evidence to give students the best chances at success.

Next newsletter, we can look at more securing attention strategies as well as the importance of considering working memory.

For further information on ‘Environment’ or to follow the evidence, check out the following websites:

AERO (Australian Education Research Organisation)

The psychology behind a great seating plan (Inner Drive)

Now, let’s take a look at what the Year 3s students have been up to as well as an update on Term 1 Music goings on.

Year 3

Time flies when you’re having fun! Year 3 have had a busy first term adapting to new routines, classrooms and immersing in the curriculum.

The year 3 teachers and students love a story, and in English we been enjoying reading and examining a number of narratives. Comprehending these stories students have been developing an understanding of the narrative structure and how language features and images can add meaning. We had a lot of fun reviewing stories and expressing our opinions about our favourite texts with others. Year 3 were informed and inspired at an incursion with a published author which further developed skills in creating texts for purpose.

Is it living or non-living? This is the question we have been asking in Science in order to group things by their observable features. What better way to put this into practice than to venture outside where the grounds of Windsor SS offer an abundance of both living and non-living things to observe. 3D were lucky enough to catch Mr Logan preparing some off-cuts from the cyclone for replanting. This caused a rich discussion about what an off-cut would need to start the living process.