It must be the unwavering belief of every school and every teacher that every student - regardless of ability, circumstance, and capacity – can make academic and social growth when given the opportunity to learn through powerful teaching.
To have such high expectations, a school must:
Improve the powerful teaching practices of every teacher, in every classroom.
This is about improving evidence-based teaching practices, as measured by improved student results. It is about teachers using professional knowledge and research to respond to the needs
of their students and make learning effective and engaging.
At Ashfield Public School, improving powerful teaching practices involves continuous professional learning whereby teachers analyse and evaluate their teaching to identify the high impact practices that work best to accelerate student growth. Working with instructional leaders, teachers meet regularly to discuss changes in curriculum, refine teaching strategies that are responsive to student need, and critically question the success of their programs.
Use robust systems to track the learning progress of every student.
This is about using consistent school-wide assessment tools in literacy and numeracy to understand student progress and identify gaps. It is about teachers understanding where the student is now and where the student needs to go next in their literacy and numeracy development.
At Ashfield Public School tracking progress involves using a whole school assessment schedule which guides the collection of data in writing, reading and mathematics. Teachers teach lessons and then use prescribed assessment tools to measure the achievement of students and their rate of progress.
The data collected by teachers facilitates conversations with parents about expected growth and areas for focus. This data also informs curriculum planning including the flexible grouping of students for differentiated instruction, as needed.
Remove the barriers faced by students face in their efforts to succeed.
This is about understanding the causes of achievement and underachievement. It is about creating the conditions for students to be motivated to engage as independent and self-regulated learners.
At Ashfield Public School removing barriers involves teachers individualising learning and providing more intensive support or extension activities, depending on the need of an individual student. Teachers are also required to have expert content knowledge, provide timely and effective feedback to students, maintain a supportive learning environment with challenging and interesting lessons, and be enthusiastic and personable.
Our school has very high expectations that all students will achieve expected growth. Together we build a school-wide understanding that education must fully develop the talents and capacities of all students. At Ashfield Public School, everyone is responsible and accountable that every child will be an engaged learner who makes appropriate progress and experiences success.
