APA News
IGNITE LEARNING - Learning Dispositions
During the Year 5 Teaching and Learning Meeting this week, the teachers discussed with the leadership team the importance of the St Saviour’s Primary Learning Disposition of Be Determined. It was described as the hardest one for the teachers to teach and for our learners to grasp.
At the beginning of 2021, a parent survey was conducted around the following question: What are the barriers that you see in your child’s learning when they are faced with a challenge at home?
Some of the responses included:
"He gets sidetracked and needs encouragement to continue "
“Lacks confidence to try first before asking for help, feels overwhelmed with new tasks”
“Waiting for adult help and not knowing where else to go for help”
“ becomes overwhelmed when certain things become challenging and finds it difficult to “keep going” when he can’t do something the first time”
As educators and parents it is important for us to reassure our learners that struggle, frustration and confusion are a normal part of the learning journey. In fact, the best learning often occurs when stepping out of our comfort zone. Many people are often hesitant to take this important step due to fear of failure, making mistakes or revealing weakness.
At St Saviour’s Primary, many teachers are using the concept of a Learning Pit to encourage and reassure learners that taking risks, asking questions, and trying new things can help them develop their abilities and deepen their understanding.
Certainly, the St Saviour’s Learning Disposition of ‘Be Determined’ can help learners exit ‘the pit’ and achieve success. I would also argue that our other dispositions (and many more) can also help our learners achieve success in learning and life.
If you can relate to some of the quotes from parents above, why not turn to the St Saviour’s Primary dispositions of Be Determined, Be Adventurous, Be Collaborative, Be Curious, Be a Communicator and Be Creative and help your child (your learner) realise that struggle and confusion is how we learn.
Source: https://www.challenginglearning.com/learning-pit/#introduction
SEMESTER 2 REPORTING
As previously mentioned the Semester Two report cards will be sent home in the last week of school via the Parent Portal in Sentral. The only reports that will be printed will be for students who are leaving the school and not attending another Toowoomba Catholic School and for the Year 6 students.
EALD Comment in the Report Card
If your child has an EALD comment on their report card, here is a brief description as to why.
EALD stands for English and Additional Language or Dialect.
EALD learners generally speak languages other than Standard Australian English (SAE) as their first language or they speak another language within their household. They are able to bring rich and diverse languages and cultural knowledge to the classroom to share with their peers. EALD learners may require additional time and support to assist them with their classroom learning and access to the curriculum.
At St Saviour’s this support is either within the classroom setting or in small or individual groups. The content of the support, for the most part, is the same as the classroom teacher is teaching however, the EALD learner may need some assistance with time needed to complete the task, pre-teaching of vocabulary or subject matter or comprehension of skills.
The Bandscale levels provide a map of the EALD learners progress in learning within the school environment. They enable the classroom teachers to assess appropriate language and if learning support is necessary to assist EALD learners to access the curriculum.