Leadership Team Debrief

Leadership Team Debrief:

On the last day of our placement, we were given the opportunity debrief with the Leadership Team. It was a great opportunity to ask a few final questions and discuss the week. It was also an opportunity to report positive experiences and observations back to the school.

One of the questions we had was around the use of textbooks within the school. In most Mathematics lessons we saw, textbooks were the main teaching tool observed. Each grade had different text books which they worked through. We didn’t observe many hands on opportunities within Maths. Anne explained that they attempted to break away from textbooks but the use of photocopy sheets increased dramatically. They decided to bring them back and looked closely at the type of textbooks used to ensure there was inquiry based activities which were worthwhile and provided valuable teaching opportunities. Anne recognised that this was an area that they may need to reflect upon in the future.

Although I don’t necessarily condone the use of textbooks, I think at times some of our current teaching practises within Mathematics is too hands on and practical and doesn’t give the opportunity for students to read and analyse questions in a variety of different ways. When they then go to complete NAPLAN style questions, many find it hard to relate their practical/hands on knowledge to written questions. Obviously there needs to be a balance and worthwhile connections need to be made.

Another question asked was regarding the support around Beginning Teachers/Provisional teachers. Within St Rita’s their APA (Shane) is a mentor who works with the teacher weekly, to look at their portfolio for registration, assist with planning/programming and any other issues that may arise.

Although we were pretty clear on the areas of focus for 2014 within the school, we asked for clarification about this. The main priority areas include:

- 1:1 notebook program: continuing this with a focus on how to use the technology within the classroom to improve teaching and learning.

- Reading to Learn (Victorian based program) Continuing the PD of this area across the school.

-Visible learning to improve teaching and learning.

All of these were clearly evident as we moved around the school throughout the week, including within the classrooms as well as the Team Meetings.

Another question we raised with the Leadership Team was in regard to how communications from team meetings and general communication occurs. Anne explained that every week Shane sent out a weekly overview of known events. All team meeting minutes were emailed to staff and all other communication was generally via email.

We also enquired about professional development opportunities and staff meeting focuses. We wanted to know how professional development opportunities were offered. There are several modes of delivery. There are opportunities offered by BCE, some which are required and others which the Leadership Team decide on which opportunities are needed to address school needs. Each school is also allocated a dollar amount called ‘School Renewal Funds’. The school converts this to  number of days and looks for opportunities which help achieve school initiatives. One major focus is the Learning To Read program which is PD intensive (8 days per teacher). Staff meetings are sometimes a focus on PD and sometimes on administration matters.