Ashfield Public School

Every child, every opportunity

Telephone02 9798 4400

Emailashfield-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Learning Interventions

Learning interventions are part of the Ashfield Public School Plan and used as a school-wide approach to address identified learning gaps in Literacy and Numeracy. At our school, a learning intervention is when a teacher works with four to six students together in a group, each day at a set time (for about 30 minutes), to teach a particular skill or concept.

For a learning intervention to successfully impact on student outcomes, there needs to be:

A positive student-teacher relationship 

Students participating in learning interventions can often feel vulnerable and unable to achieve success due the challenges and previous experiences as underperforming learners. Students selected for a learning intervention might feel overwhelmed, embarrassed, or not bright enough to make progress. A small group setting provides the opportunity for the teacher to build outstanding relationships and provide daily motivational feedback with a focus on building the self-esteem and confidence of each student. A learning intervention might be taught by a class teacher, a Student Learning Support Officer (SLSO), a pre-service teacher, a speech therapist or a volunteer tutor.

Repetition of skills and concepts

A learning intervention is a sequence of intensive lessons which enable the systematic repetition of skills and concepts, with daily explicit instruction, examples, and practice until the learning goal is achieved. A learning intervention provides the opportunity to fill in the learning gaps that can be overlooked as teachers move through busy curriculums with large class sizes. A learning intervention is a way to address the issue of students falling behind.

Effective use of data

Student assessment data is used to organise the groups for each learning intervention. The data identifies which students have not achieved a particular skill or concept and is used to show student growth and success. The use of data means that the same students will not be continually in a daily learning intervention. While providing intensive instruction for lower attaining students or those who are falling behind, learning interventions can also be used to support proficient or high performing students.

Learning space

A learning intervention should be conducted in a separate classroom or working area to facilitate student teacher interaction and provide the space to sustain concentration.

An effective school must give a very high priority to understanding and addressing the learning needs of all students. Teaching throughout the school must incorporate differentiated strategies so that all students across the full range of abilities make expected or higher than expect growth. School-wide programs and approaches must address learning gaps in student achievement and progress.

Learning interventions create the opportunity to respond to learning needs in a way that supports achievement at, and enjoyment of, school. At Ashfield Public School, learning interventions are one way that we create the conditions for success for all students, inclusive of ability.

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