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Peer to peer
Dissemination Schools
Flinders View Primary School Torrens Primary School
Port Augusta, SA Canberra, ACT
Finding 6.2: Expertise
Share expertise between schools to grow and enrich professional learning communities.
This significant episode consists of stories and anecdotes from two schools who worked with the Noarlunga Cluster in 2012 as part of the dissemination of Make it Count.
Flinders View PS: Every teacher that visited Noarlunga Downs spoke very highly of the visit and as a result has requested further training and development in the Big Ideas in Number. Staff have also started to use the resources that Noarlunga Downs PS shared with us. It was also evident from our visit that we needed to develop a whole school mathematics agreement and ensure that mathematics was a focus for the school in 2013.
Torrens PS: At Torrens, we have used the Noarlunga lesson sequence to teach most of our number program to our year four students. The year four teachers travelled to Noarlunga Downs Primary School to observe lessons from the sequence being taught and to gain a deeper understanding of the sequence. We have found the Noarlunga lesson sequence very easy to implement and all students have shown pleasing progress.
Our Indigenous students were tested using SENA and PAT Maths testing and showed a lot of progress. The model has been implemented by the year four teachers at Torrens with support from the school and days for planning and assessment.
The teaching sequence itself has been really successful. It has been easy to implement and students have enjoyed their maths learning. All students in year four have shown progress with their number understanding.
When interviewed, students commented that they now enjoy maths more and like they games they play. They also revealed that they are more confident about their mathematical understanding. Student engagement, particularly with students who struggle with maths, has improved significantly.
We have learned how to make maths lessons more interactive and engaging for students. We have also been reminded of the importance of continually monitoring student understanding and that it is acceptable to re-teach a concept the next day if students have not understood it.
The lesson sequence has helped us see a clear sequence of learning to follow. We can see that students need to understand foundational number concepts before they can understand more in depth concepts, and are aware of strategies to achieve this.
Some focus questions to prompt discussions with your colleagues:
- What were the benefits in these schools working with the Noarlunga Cluster?
- Why do you think Indigenous students at Torrens PS responded well to the lesson sequence?
- What other interesting or important aspects are in this Significant Episode?
Want to know more?
- See two other signficant episodes from Gaynor:
- Have a look at her inspiring story Whole of site commitment I written with Cluster Cooridinator Marie Wright.