Author: lenoxhill

Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn (CECG) Senior Officer, Teaching and Learning Literacy Jessica Colleu Terradas has published her report ‘To identify effective language and literacy screening and intervention practices for at-risk students’, through the Churchill Fellowship.

Developing the research paper involved observing global best practice in literacy instruction, including attending the Reading League Annual conference in Syracuse (New York) and the International Dyslexia Association Annual Conference in San Antonio (Texas).

The Churchill Fellowship enabled Jessica to explore language and literacy screening procedures and identify effective instructional practices. Her aim is to continue to promote effective classroom instruction, improve early identification of children with reading difficulties, and to provide advice about effective targeted intervention to help all readers reach their full potential.

The report referenced CECG’s Catalyst Program and how our teachers and Principals have reported students who experience explicit teaching practices achieve greater learning gains.
Jessica decided to apply for a Churchill Fellowship in the hope it would help her lead the change she wants to see – where no child leaves school unable to read. Her aim is to disrupt the trajectory of at-risk adolescents ending in the juvenile justice system and to substantially reduce the number of students entering secondary school with low literacy.

Jessica’s goal with the Fellowship was to research and identify effective language and literacy screening and classroom reading intervention practices from schools around the world, for at-risk students so that these can be disseminated to teachers in primary and secondary schools and those in teacher training.

Finally, Jessica hopes that her report and findings will be used to make recommendations with the potential to shape the future of schooling in Australia, leading to more equitable outcomes for all.

Read the research report

Jessica Colleu Terradas. Photo credit the Churchill Fellows Association of WA

Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn (CECG) has been recognised at a national level for its bold vision and achievements in reimagining their teaching and learning approach at a meeting of State and Federal Education Ministers. It has also been profiled by the media on a national scale which draws attention to challenges within the education system and the solution that CECG has been implementing over the past four years to transform lives through learning.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said the initiative was aimed at making teachers feel more confident when they start the job.

“A lot of teachers tell me they did not feel like they were prepared for the classroom when they finished university,” he said.

Ross Fox, Director of CECG, echoed the Minister, recognising that early career teachers were too often not equipped with the knowledge and skills they needed to be successful in the classroom.

“We realised that to achieve the learning and teaching that we wanted at Catholic Education Archdiocese of Canberra Goulburn, we had to start with the theory that our educators needed to know to be able to effectively teach students,” Ross said.

“We believe that the teacher is the most important learner in our system and the education of the teacher is essential to the quality of learning that we can provide. If we support the teacher as the most important learner, they will take care of the students,” he said.

Read Ross Fox’s opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Read the ABC feature story – Universities given two years to overhaul teaching degrees after education ministers’ meeting.

CECG Director Ross Fox with students from St Mary Mackillop

CECG initiated Catalyst over two years ago, to ensure all teachers could confidently deliver evidence-based, high impact teaching practice in their classrooms through specifically designed professional learning opportunities.

“There is an international movement that recognises that too often teachers didn’t know what they needed to know about how brains learn.”

“Catalyst draws on thousands of years of knowledge and history and giving teachers the tangible skills to apply it in classrooms in a contemporary and exciting way, is where we are going to make a big difference across Canberra Goulburn and hopefully across Australia.”

Catalyst aligns to the recommended reforms by focusing on High Impact Teaching Practice (HITP), including

• A shared understanding on how students learn – Cognitive Load Theory
• Evidence-based teaching practice such as –
  • Breaking down what students need to learn and then demonstrating each step so that students understand what is expected of them – Explicit Instruction, Sequencing Concepts and Modelling (Rosenshine)
  • Assessing where students are in their learning and providing them with timely feedback to correct misunderstandings and build their knowledge – Check for Understanding, Daily Review (Rosenshine) and TAPPLE (DataWORKS)
  • Establishing safe, supportive, and engaging classroom environments, through Engagement Norms and explicitly teaching acceptable classroom behaviour

Read the national Teacher Education Expert Panel’s discussion paper released in March 2023 to learn more about the reforms recommended to teacher training to ensure graduates are adequately prepared for the workforce.

Catalyst has been featured in a three-part series on the popular Knowledge for Teachers podcast, hosted by Brendan Lee.

Brendan, an experienced school teacher who has developed a passion for the Science of Learning, shares his insights in his weekly podcasts. This podcast series on Catalyst provided insight into the practical elements of implementing an evidence-based teaching approach and how to embed the Science of Reading and Learning into any classroom.

Ross Fox, Director of the Catholic Education Archdiocese of Canberra Goulburn (CECG) was the first guest in the series. He spoke about the vision behind Catalyst and his personal Science of Learning journey, including the process that he and the CECG team have gone through to implement Catalyst across the 56 schools in the system.

Listen to Ross Fox’s episode

Patrick Ellis, Education Lead for Catalyst was interviewed for the second episode in the series which focused on the implementation process, the challenges they faced, and what they learned.

Listen to Patrick Ellis’s episode

In the third and final podcast, Brendan spoke to Johanna Wain (Principal), Jennifer Smith (Coordinator) and Rebecca Brady (Teacher) from St Bernard’s Primary School where Catalyst has been implemented throughout the school.

The podcast with St Bernard’s staff focused on how and why they started their Catalyst journey, navigated challenges along the way and key elements for any teacher or school who are looking at implementing a Science of Learning and Reading informed approach.

Listen to the St Bernard’s Bateman’s Bay episode

Make sure you also check out the Catalyst podcast, Teacher Insights here.

Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn (CECG) continues to make great strides in achieving the Catalyst vision and in recognising that the teacher is the most important learner. It has committed significant resources and expertise to produce an unprecedented suite of materials for teachers to leverage every day, to optimise their impact and save them time in class preparation.

By the end of 2023, teachers working in Kindergarten to Year 6 will be able to access a complete year’s worth of Mathematics curriculum resources. With 950 high quality teaching resources developed to date, in partnership with Shaping Minds and Ochre Education, a further 1,300 resources will be delivered by December.

CECG Director Ross Fox said developing these high quality, low variance resources and sharing them throughout every school in the Archdiocese would boost teacher efficiency and support.

“We’ve worked with partners to construct a curriculum that we are proud of, having both quality and quantity of resources, that are directly applicable to all K-6 Mathematics, for a full year of learning.”

“By provisioning these resources, teachers in our schools will spend less time planning and finding materials with more time doing what they do best – teaching children,” he said.

“This will also help us to ensure every student in every classroom is afforded excellent learning opportunities,” Ross said.

These materials are being incorporated as part of teacher professional learning through High Impact Teaching Practice to ensure staff are confident in implementing them in the classroom.

Usage and feedback of the resources have been overwhelmingly positive. Data to date has shown the resources, which are available through the Catalyst Resources Centre (staff only), have been accessed over 75,000 times. Equating to over 5,000 views per week, and over 1,000 per school day.

“I’m so impressed with the new resources and can’t thank you enough for making these for us. It will greatly reduce the amount of work we have to do in our spare time,” said Priscilla Caragh, Year 6 Teacher at Holy Family Primary School, Gowrie.

“It has significantly reduced teacher workload and is very affirming knowing that all staff are using quality EDI and Review lessons across our school and the system,” said Jessie White, Classroom Teacher at St Mary’s Primary School Moruya.

The suite’s 40-week plan includes

• Scope and Sequence documents that plot Australian Curriculum / NSW Syllabus Outcomes into a lesson-by-lesson schedule that reflects spaced and interleaved practice
• Curriculum Maps that show the topics for the year, suggested sequence for each topic and explicit guidance on how to implement each lesson in the sequence
• Lesson resources for every lesson including Daily Review slides, Explicit Lesson slides, Independent Worksheets and Re-Teach materials
• Assessment samples

Catholic Education Archdiocese of Canberra & Goulburn (CECG) were invited to speak at the Sharing Best Practice event held at Corrimal High School, Illawarra on 29 April, highlighting the impact of an evidence-based approach.

Patrick Ellis, Education Lead, was joined by Principal Luke Donnelly, and Year 3/4 Teacher Andrea McQuirk to speak to the impact of Catalysts’ approach to teaching and learning for system, school and classroom improvement.

Patrick provided a summary of evidence-based change at the system level, followed by Luke who discussed change at the school level, and lastly, Teacher Andrea provided an overview of implementation outcomes at the classroom level. Each reflected on their experiences in the Catalyst journey so far, and outlined their own next steps.

Year 3/4 Teacher Andrea McQuirk

Luke said “the educators in the room were impressed by Andrea’s passion for achieving outcomes for her students and her knowledge of high impact teaching practices. Well done Andrea, we are so lucky to have you at our school!”

One attendee said “what a fabulous day we had at SBP Illawarra yesterday! The vibe and chatter was incredible and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. Thank you to everyone who gave up their Saturday to present and attend.”

CECG were joined by presenters, including Dr Deslea Konza (Associate Professor Language and Literacy at Edith Cowan University), Professor Stephen Dinham OAM PhD (Emeritus Professor in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne), Brendan Lee (NSW Primary School Assistant Principal), Jo-Anne Dooner and Justin Caban (Training 24/7), Danielle Colenbrander and Veronica Alexander (SPELD NSW), and Anna Desjardins (MultiLit).

“We are delighted to have been asked to speak at this terrific event and network with likeminded educators. Thank you to Luke and Andrea for joining me and talking candidly about their experiences and sharing their learning. I look forward to future Sharing Best Practice events,” Patrick said.

Over 300 educators from across Australia gathered in Hobart to learn from leading researchers and experts in the Science of Learning at the inaugural Teaching Matters Summit, hosted by Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn (CECG) and Catholic Education Tasmania.

CECG Director Ross Fox headlined the opening address alongside Dr Gerard Gaskin, Executive Director Catholic Education Tasmania. With a shared belief in the power of the Science of Learning, the importance of high impact teaching practice and a knowledge rich curriculum, each leader articulated their vision, goals and approach to achieving system-wide change, based on the evidence.

Ross Fox shared key beliefs that underpin the Catalyst teaching and learning approach, which is now widely adopted across the Archdiocese. He presented the ‘8 Big Ideas’ of the Science of Learning, informed by research, evidence and insights from global experts in education, including the work of ED Hirsch Jr, Barak Rosenshine, Dylan Wiliam and Emeritus Professor John Sweller.

1. School is where we learn biologically secondary information​
2. Learning is a change in long-term memory​
3. Teaching is a profession that should be informed by the evidence​
4. Knowledge matters, it’s what we think with
5. The most efficient way to teach knowledge is to teach explicitly
6. High quality whole class instruction will help​ all students learn
7. Reading is essential for students to acquire knowledge​
8. Curriculum should be ambitious, coherent, sequential and cumulative​

Dr Gerard Gaskin shared how curriculum and education practices have influenced student outcomes over time, and what he believes works best in practice – Explicit Instruction.

Ross Fox and Dr Gerard Gaskin were interviewed by ABC Hobart during the summit, highlighting recent research on effective teaching approaches. Read the transcript from their interview.

The Summit brought together teachers and leaders from every state who had the opportunity to hear from some of the nation’s most significant Science of Learning advocates, including

Professor Pamela Snow, Professor for the School of Education at La Trobe University
Dr Lorraine Hammond AM, Associate Professor School of Education, Edith Cowan University
The Hon. Jeremy Rockliff, Premier of Tasmania
Dr Jenny Donovan, CEO, Australian Education Research Organisation
Noel Pearson, Founder of Good to Great Schools Australia and Cape York Partnership

As one of the delegates commented,

“I loved the passion that each speaker brought and the emphasis on evidence underpinned by effective and efficient teaching. I value the notion that to educate our teachers is to educate our learners better, enhancing not only educational outcomes but also social/emotional wellbeing.”

Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn’s Director, Ross Fox, was recently interviewed by Kim Napier for ABC Hobart, alongside Executive Director of Catholic Education Tasmania, Dr Gerard Gaskin.

Discussing the Teaching Matters Science of Learning National Summit held across 2-4 April, Ross highlighted recent research on effective teaching approaches. Further elaborating on the importance of understanding the latest insights from Cognitive Science, Ross celebrated teachers’ eagerness to learn and the impact of teachers being the expert learner in the room.

Read the full transcript here.

Ross Fox presenting at the National Science of Learning Summit, Teaching Matters in Hobart

A recent survey of over 1,100 Secondary school students in the Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn Archdiocese, saw over 700 respondents identify they recognised a change in behaviour in the classroom when teachers use High Impact Teaching Practice (HITP).

The unique report, undertaken by HITP in Action provider TeachWell, asked for student feedback and reflection on how the way their teachers taught them has changed since their teachers have participated in the system wide HITP professional learning as part of Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn’s Catalyst program. The report aimed to gain insights into the impact HITP has had in the classroom.

Catalyst, grounded in Science of Learning, has been translated into classroom practice through HITP, with almost 80% of students reporting there was a distinct change in the way their teacher was engaging them in learning, following their participation in the HITP in Action professional learning.

“Class is very engaging, and I feel comfortable contributing to class discussions because of the environment in the classroom and the teaching style of [my teacher],” a Year 12 student responded.

The report also asked the 90 participating teachers to reflect on their learning and how it helped them to change their teaching practice. All teachers confirmed their commitment to consistently incorporate High Impact Teaching Practice in the classroom, as they observed the positive impact it has on students’ behaviour and learning ability. Further, almost all respondents said they would recommend what they have learnt in HITP In Action to their peers.

“Thank you for strengthening our teaching practices. The reason why we teach is to make an impact on student learning and sharing the successes in the classroom,” a HITP in Action participant said.

Learn more about High Impact Teaching Practice.

Catholic Education Archdiocese of Canberra & Goulburn (CECG) were delighted to speak alongside representatives from St Thomas the Apostle, Kambah at the Sharing Best Practice event held in Geelong.

Patrick Ellis, Education Lead, teamed up with Ursula Jamieson, Principal, Monique George, Year 3/4 Teacher, and Lauren Jameson, Kindergarten Teacher from St Thomas the Apostle to discuss Catalysts’ evidence-based approach to teaching and learning for system and school improvement.

Lauren Jameson – Kindergarten Teacher, Ursula Jamieson – Principal and Monique George – Year 3/4 Teacher.

The presentation captured the day’s intention to share best practices in education. Reflecting on their Catalyst journey thus far, Patrick, Ursula, Monique and Lauren outlined the next steps for them in their context.

Patrick provided a summary of evidence-based change at the system level, followed by Ursula who discussed change at the school level, and lastly, Teachers Monique and Lauren who provided an overview of implementation outcomes at the classroom level.

Attendee Lachlan West, Teacher at Good News Lutheran College applauded Patrick and the St Thomas the Apostle representatives for facilitating a “very valuable discussion of Catalyst and best practice.”

CECG were joined by keynote presenters, including Professor Stephen Dinham OAM (Emeritus Professor at University of Melbourne and Author), Lyn Stone (Clinical Director at Lifelong Literacy and Author) and Tanya Serry (Associate Professor at La Trobe Melbourne). Breakout sessions were held with various experts in their field, topics included building a Knowledge Rich Curriculum, early literacy instruction, how cognitive science can assist with teaching and learning, behaviour management, writing instruction and assessment, instructional coaching models and more.

“It was great to discuss evidence-based change at the system, school and classroom level alongside the wonderful Ursula, Lauren and Monique from St Thomas the Apostle, Kambah. I look forward to future Sharing Best Practice events,” Patrick said.

Attendees at the Sharing Best Practice event in Geelong March 2023.