February+2012


 * Welcome** to the first newsletter of 2012 from the Teaching and Learning Coaches. In response to feedback, we have changed the layout to single column to allow easier reading on-screen. We would like to share with you some of the work that the coaches have undertaken and our plans for Term 1.


 * Teaching and Learning Coaches – 2012 Focus Statement**


 * The coaches have summarised our main areas of focus for 2012. We plan to:**
 * Work with staff individually and in small groups on improving their instructional practice.
 * Maintain the approach that coaching sessions are teacher-centred, focusing on their identified professional learning goals. In this way, coaching cycle are individualised professional development programs.
 * Support staff to engage with literacy and numeracy data that enables them to plan more effectively to meet the learning needs of their students.
 * Support staff to engage effectively with the 1:1 notebook program
 * Participate in the school review.

VCE teacher interviews will commence shortly. Centred on aspects of the huge amount of information about assessment results provided to schools by the VCE Data Service and the VCE Analysis service (Carmel Richardson data) the interviews can assist teachers to identify trends, patterns and scores. Conducted with the subject teacher, a member of the Principal Class and a Teaching and Learning Coach the review focuses on subject specific VCE data to pinpoint needs and strengths in teaching and learning strategies.
 * VCE News**

In 2011 coaches worked closely with the VCE Coordinators to provide teachers of VCE with an analysis of the 2010 data. The analysis looked in detail at students’ responses to exam questions in individual subjects and led to a series of Professional Development focused on how we prepare students for exams. In 2012 work will continue interpret the data in light of the Strategic Plan targets of increasing the number of students who achieve a study score of 40+ and increasing the study score mean in all subjects.

The first VCE teacher meeting will be Tuesday 6th March.

It is important to make curriculum decisions based on literacy and numeracy data to ensure our learning activities and assessment tasks are targeting students’ learning needs and effectively challenging all students. Every subject requires a level of reading, writing and maths processing skills. We are all teachers of literacy and numeracy – when we see there are gaps or strengths, this is an opportunity to support students to learn practical application of skills and make connections across subject areas. Understanding students’ numeracy skills gives you an insight into what sort of support students need in your class when using graphs, scale, measurement, statistics, etc. Understanding the reading levels of your students helps you identify what sort of support students need to access information in text books and research materials, and how well they will understand instructions and criteria. Understanding your students’ writing skills helps you identify what sort of support students need to complete classwork and assessment tasks. For some students, low literacy and/or numeracy levels may indicate the number of steps students need to grasp the concepts of your subject area. Understanding students’ literacy and numeracy skills helps you plan differentiated learning activities that will engage all students, write assessment tasks and criteria that are accessible to all students, and give targeted feedback more effectively. On Demand Testing data is available on the SPA program for years 8, 9 and 10. Year 7 English and Maths teachers have been testing year 7s, and their data will be available soon. Coaches are always available to support you to interpret and apply the data. If you are interested in exploring EHS Naplan and On Demand data on SPA (which stands for Student Performance Analyser) go to: [] Username: Elth02 Password: Elth02
 * Why is it important to make curriculum decisions based on data?**

The eLearning Team led by Craig and Marian will meet every fortnight on Wednesday at lunchtime this year, commencing February 22nd. You are very welcome to join the team, or the meetings are open if you wish to come along to discuss an issue.
 * ICT News**

The roll-out of the Notebook computers to students in Years 7 and 8 is progressing, with the uptake level at the start of the year at around 85%. This has resulted in on average four students in each class not having a Notebook. Some of these students are still waiting for theirs, but there has been a delay with delivery, meaning that these Notebooks will arrive mid-March with those of the Year 9 and 10 students. A main focus of PD this year will be the incorporation of ICT into teaching and learning via the Notebooks. We will explore how to best utilise the software available to students via the Internet and the Edustar image on their Notebooks.
 * 1:1 Program:**

ICT is increasingly important in teaching and learning. The Notebook program will bring about big changes in how we do things and in our level of expertise with ICT. To measure these changes and to respond to teachers’ needs and goals more effectively the eLearning team will soon be asking all teaching and non-teaching staff to take the time to once again complete the ePotential survey.
 * ePotential survey**

The ClickView trial in November and December last year was generally seen as successful by teachers, allowing us to easily show videos to classes without having to borrow and return a DVD to the Library. The access to 1340 commercial videos and over 9000 free-to-air videos, plus ease of recording for Library staff, will be factors in the final decision on whether, and to what degree, we go with ClickView at EHS.
 * ClickView**

The eLearning team looked at the Literacy software Read&Write Gold last year and decided it would be very useful tool for all students at EHS. The software has been ordered and will be added to the various computer images when it arrives.
 * Literacy software**

The eLearning team this year will look at the range of eTexts available, in conjunction with the KLAs. Freeing students from carrying heavy textbooks will be one benefit of going to e-texts. Another benefit will be reducing costs to parents, as eTexts can generally be purchased through a site-licence. A third and very exciting benefit will be the range of digital resources built into these eTexts.
 * eTexts**

**Staff Professional Growth**
The TLC team has been working with MCR and NAO on streamlining the P&DC process. A new proforma will be presented to staff in Week 4 Term 1. There will also be some pilot groups running, whose goals will focus on a particular common area. The hope is that this will allow those groups to support each other more effectively. A review of the traditional structure, as well as the pilot groups will take place during 2012.
 * P&DC**

Many Professional Development sessions were offered to staff as a part of the meeting structure last year, and this will continue in 2012. The focus for Term 1 will be on engaging in professional conversations about the data collected during 2011, and how this may inform teaching. Also, there will be a focus on how to utilise and embed ICT in the classroom, particularly in light of the 1:1 program.
 * In-house Professional Development**

The two pie charts below provide different graphical displays of time spent last year by Teaching and Learning Coaches supporting the school and teachers
 * Coaches’ work in 2011**