Director of Studies report – April 24

Learning together – remotely

The core focus over the first two weeks has been to connect with the boys and set our remote learning class expectations for the rest of the term. This has invloved a great deal of learning for both teachers and students. With every lesson presented remotely, we have all had to adapt to a new way of working together often using new technology which of course involves mistakes, trial and error. Patience, persistence and practice has brought us a long way, but the highlight has been the participation of the boys. They show how to do things, share their screens and their stories. Although we are doing this remotely, we are reconnecting as a class.

In preparing for this term teachers have allowed for a degree of flexibility so that we can adjust our courses as our understanding of what works best in a remote learning environment evolves. Over the last two weeks we have attended regular virtual Open Forums where we discuss our successes and challenges in order to adapt our practices. We have come to a shared understanding of some key concepts in remote learning.

Remote Learning: key concepts

We are offering our students two modes of remote learning – synchronous and asynchronous.

Synchronous learning

We provide synchronous learning through chat and videoconferencing during our timetabled classes. This kind of learning tool is real-time. We create a virtual classroom that allows students to ask, and teachers to answer questions instantly, through instant messaging, calls and video which is why it is called synchronous. Students can easily interact with fellow students and their teachers during the timetabled session through MS Teams.

Asynchronous learning

We provide asynchronous learning for students who can’t attend our timetabled classes due to internet access issues. We also want to provide students some agency and reduce the need for them to sit in front of the screen for the duration of every timetabled session. All subjects have set weekly Class Tasks for students to have the ability to access and satisfy these requirements within a flexible time frame.

Teachers are available to provide support for students for the duration of every timetabled class. Students do not necessarily need to be online in MS Teams for the duration of every timetabled class but it is important to have a check in at the start of every lesson.

Linking synchronous and asynchronous

Direct instruction with class discussion is synchronous learning but when we record this aspect of our lessons in MS Teams, we allow students who can’t access the session to still have the opportunity to learn our content at another time. By setting questions after the lesson in the chat, students who missed the live session are still able to participate in the discussion.

Providing remote learning experiences is both rewarding and challenging. We are still developing our approach and over the next few weeks we will continue to adjust our Weekly Tasks to better suit our classes. The responses from the parent and student surveys will also inform our decisions.

Thank you to those who have responded. If you haven’t yet done so, please let us know how you and your son are finding remote learning through this survey.

Mid-Semester reports
Mid-Semester reports provide an overview of a student’s classroom work habits and academic progress for the term. Some students find studying more challenging than others and this may be seen in their academic performance results. However, the classroom work habits reflect a student’s effort and attitude towards his studies. This is an area in which all students can excel. The following will provide further insight into the effort and class behaviour ratings students have received.

Effort

Rating	Student characteristics associated with the rating
Excellent	The student always: ·      Completed set tasks within allocated time ·      Participated fully in class activities ·      Asked questions which showed a very high level of understanding and/or knowledge of class content ·      Worked according to teacher expectations ·      Completed/submitted work of the highest standard for their ability level ·      Brought all required materials/resources to class ·      Maintained a highly organised approach to his studies ·      Arrived to class on time
Very Good	Typically, the student made a conscientious effort to: ·      Complete set tasks within allocated time ·      Participate fully in class activities ·      Ask questions which showed a very good level of understanding and/or knowledge of class content ·      Work according to teacher expectations ·      Complete/submit work of a very good standard for their ability level ·      Bring all required materials/resources to class ·      Maintain a well organised approach to his studies ·      Arrive to class on time
Good	For the most part, the student made a conscientious effort to: ·      Complete set tasks within allocated time ·      Participate fully in class activities ·      Ask questions which showed a good level of understanding and/or knowledge of class content ·      Work according to teacher expectations ·      Complete/submit work of a good standard for their ability level ·      Bring all required materials/resources to class ·      Maintain a well organised approach to his studies ·      Arrive to class on time
Acceptable	The student met the minimum requirements by usually: ·      Completing set tasks within allocated time ·      Participating in class activities ·      Asking questions which showed the expected level of understanding and/or knowledge of class content ·      Working according to teacher expectation ·      Completing/submitting work of a standard appropriate to their ability level ·      Bringing the required materials/resources to class ·      Maintaining an organised approach to his studies ·      Arriving to class on time
Needs Attention	The student only sometimes: ·      Completed set tasks within allocated time ·      Participated in class activities ·      Asked questions which showed an expected level of understanding and/or knowledge of class content ·      Worked according to teacher expectation ·      Completed/submitted work of a standard appropriate to their ability level ·      Brought the required materials/resources to class ·      Maintained an organised approach to his studies ·      Arrived to class on time

Note: This is not an exhaustive list and the student will not necessarily have displayed all of the characteristics associated with the rating received in the report. The characteristics noted above assisted teachers in making an on-balance judgement regarding Effort. Other observations may have been made and used by a teacher in reaching the final rating.

Class Behaviour

Rating	Student characteristics associated with the rating
Excellent	The student always: ·      Showed respect for school property/environment and that of other students ·      Worked independently, not distracting other students ·      Co-operated fully with staff and other students ·      Attended fully to teacher instructions ·      Followed the accepted class rules ·      Showed consideration for and/or was supportive of other students’ learning ·      Remained ‘on-task’ throughout all classes ·      Responded to the opinion of others in a respectful way
Very Good	Typically, the student made a conscientious effort to: ·      Show respect for school property/environment and that of other students ·      Work independently, not distracting other students ·      Co-operate fully with staff and other students ·      Attend fully to teacher instructions ·      Follow the accepted class rules ·      Show consideration for and/or be supportive of other students’ learning ·      Remain ‘on-task’ throughout all classes ·      Respond to the opinion of others in a respectful way
Good	For the most part, the student made a conscientious effort to: ·      Show respect for school property/environment and that of other students ·      Work independently, not distracting other students ·      Co-operate fully with staff and other students ·      Attend fully to teacher instructions ·      Follow the accepted class rules ·      Show consideration for and/or be supportive of other students’ learning ·      Remain ‘on-task’ throughout all classes ·      Respond to the opinion of others in a respectful way
Acceptable	The student met the minimum requirements by usually: ·      Showing respect for school property/environment and that of other students ·      Working independently, not distracting other students ·      Co-operating with staff and other students ·      Attending to teacher instructions ·      Following the accepted class rules ·      Showing consideration for and/or being supportive of other students’ learning ·      Remaining ‘on-task’ ·      Responding to the opinion of others in a respectful way
Needs Attention	The student regularly: ·      Showed a lack of respect for school property/environment and that of other students ·      Distracted other students ·      Referred to, or made use of, ‘non-class’ items (e.g. mobile phone, music/video players) ·      Had a negative effect on classroom teaching and the learning of other students ·      Talked over the teacher ·      Behaved in a manner that was disruptive or not supportive of other students’ learning ·      Failed to attend to teacher instructions ·      Was ‘off-task’ ·      Failed to follow the accepted class rules ·      Mocked the opinion of others

 

Note: This is not an exhaustive list and the student will not necessarily have displayed all of the characteristics associated with the rating received in the report. The characteristics noted above assisted teachers in making an on-balance judgement regarding Behaviour. Other observations may have been made and used by a teacher in reaching the final rating.

The 2020 Mid-Semester reports for all Years 7-12 students will be available via PAM from 4:00pm on Monday, April 27. PAM also provides access to the Student Assessment area which allows parents and guardians to view and download Mid-Semester and End of Semester reports for this and previous years.

Having already conducted P/S/T interviews this semester, parents who would like to follow-up on issues or concerns arising from this report are encouraged to email or phone the relevant subject teacher(s), your son’s Pastoral Care Teacher, the relevant Year Level Co-ordinator or the Director of School.