1. How long have you worked at St Hilda’s School and what inspired you to become a teacher?
This is my second year at St Hilda’s. I completed a degree in Chiropractic Science when I left high school. I remember sitting down with my dad the day after I graduated and told him that I didn’t want to be a chiropractor. He was so understanding and gave me the advice to pursue something that I loved. I grew up loving every single day at school and that is why I decided to complete my studies in education. The people that have played a significant role in my life are also teachers. I am still connected to my Year 2 teacher and my high school HPE teacher. They allowed me to take risks in a safe environment, insisted on pushing me out of my comfort zone (even though I resisted) and believed in my ability as a student and athlete. They also provided me with immense support and care when my parents divorced. By becoming a teacher, I hoped that I could somehow pay this forward.
2. What do you love most about your job?
Where to begin? There is so much to love about being a teacher! I don’t take for granted how much time I get to spend with so many amazing students and it is a privilege to walk alongside them on their journey through school. It’s an honour to watch a child grow from their Prep years right through to Year 12 and know that you had an impact on their life and learning. The creative aspect of being a teacher is something that I also love about my job, whether it be getting creative with classroom design, lesson planning or thinking of engaging activities for the students. Helping students achieve their individual goals is so rewarding as is seeing their expressions of awe when you teach them something interesting and new. When learning about Australian coins, I love showing my students a video of the lyre bird imitating the sounds of other native animals and machinery. It amazes them every time and I get a real buzz out of their reactions, seeing their expressions of amazement and hearing all the questions that they have.
3. As Leader of Learning and Teaching, tell us about your involvement in implementing the revised Australian Curriculum at St Hilda’s School this year?
My primary responsibility this year is to oversee the implementation of the revised Australian Curriculum to ensure that it aligns with the School’s vision and educational objectives. I work closely with all teaching staff to map out curriculum standards across all year levels and subjects in the Junior School. I meet regularly with our teaching staff and facilitate professional development to introduce them to the changes in the curriculum. Working collaboratively on updating and reviewing our whole school planning documents to reflect the most recent revisions is a significant part of my role. To support our teachers in delivering the revised curriculum, I have cooperated with them to identify and provide appropriate resources and materials. This includes sourcing textbooks, digital resources and creating subject specific materials to enhance the learning experience of our students. As a Junior School, our aim has been to ensure a smooth and successful transition to the revised Australian Curriculum, whilst also fostering a positive and rigorous learning environment.Top of Form
4. What are your hobbies and interests outside of teaching?
Outside of teaching, you can usually find me reading a book with my dog, Mochi, curled up on my lap. I am a member of several environmental conservation organisations and feel strongly about saving our native endangered species. The Home of the Arts is one of my favourite places to see a film with my husband and catch up with friends. I also enjoy cooking healthy food and keeping active and my favourite activities are yoga, Pilates and walking.
5. What is your favourite aspect of working at St Hilda’s School? Is there a moment that stands out as particularly memorable?
I couldn’t name one single aspect as my favourite or a singular moment that has been especially memorable. I feel incredibly fortunate to be part of such a special community. The students, staff and families here all work together to create an environment that I feel is very unique. In my current role, I am working closely with all teachers and teacher aides. I learn from each of them everyday and feel grateful to be part of such a passionate team that have the students’ best interests behind every decision they make. Working with our students brings me such joy and I do look forward to witnessing their growth when they present at our end of semester assemblies.
6. For those that are not familiar with the Learning and Teaching space, what are your priorities and goals for the year? Explain the importance of interconnectivity between departments for optimised learning.
Last year saw the development of our Learning and Teaching Framework, St Hilda’s Learning. The Framework provides a pedagogical foundation for teachers to design high quality instruction. It is designed for students to be equipped with the shared language and strategies for learning to learn. The Framework is informed by the taxonomy of learning by Robert Marzano and John Kendall (2007) which considers the cognitive, metacognitive and relational (self-regulatory) systems. Contextualising the pedagogical approach with our students at the centre, we found a close link between the elements Marzano’s taxonomy and Professor Guy Claxton’s Building Learning Power (2011) model. We believe that each of our students should have the opportunity to grow their learning capacity and see learning as a progress. Our teaching strategies are informed John Hattie’s Visible Learning approach (Hattie and Yates, 2013), Barak Rosenshine’s instructional principles, and Dylan Wiliam’s formative assessment stance.
Putting our framework into practice, our intention is to develop a cohesive approach across all classrooms, so that we can share with greater clarity what learning and teaching look like in our school. Our teachers, as expert practitioners are working towards designing learning through a cyclic process that involves:
- Clear learning intentions;
- Achievable success criteria for every student;
- Effective feedback between students and teachers; and
- Safe and optimal classroom climate.
Our students are encouraged to articulate innovative thinking, develop their capacity to be resourceful, and engage productively in collegial dialogue and relationships with peers, teachers, and wider school community. We recognise that success is defined by both, academic strengths and learning dispositions (Claxton, 2007). These require our students to engage in learning with an adaptable mindset in order to make informed and effective adjustments when faced with any uncertainties (Martin, Nejad, Colmar & Liem, 2013). With current research demonstrating the link between adaptability and collegiality (Holliman, Waldeck, Jay, Murphy, Atkinson, Collie & Martin, 2021), our learning and teaching framework ensures effective wellbeing outcomes for our students. In living our School’s motto Non Nobis Solum, our students are growing as intellectually humble young women who are resilient and equipped to serve and shape the world.
This year, we are particularly focusing on becoming familiar with our language of learning and considering the impact our teaching strategies are having on student learning.
This article was produced from St Hilda's Spirit Magazine 2023.
