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.
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.
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.
This must-attend professional learning event provides the opportunity for educators across Australia to learn from internationally recognised education experts and expand their network with collaboration opportunities.
CECG Director Ross Fox will open the Summit alongside Dr Gerard Gaskin, Executive Director of CET. The pair will talk to the importance of evidence-based teaching practice, and what it means to implement this across a school system.
CECG Education Lead, Patrick Ellis, will present a keynote alongside CET’s Project Lead of Insight, Jennifer White, on the collaborative journey the two systems have embarked on to embrace a Science of Learning approach – Catalyst and Insight.
Jessica Colleu Terradas, CECG Senior Officer Teaching and Learning Literacy, will also present on Literacy Intervention.
The high-calibre of guest speakers include
Peps Mccrea, Dean of Learning Design at Ambition Institute and Director of Education at Steplab
Noel Pearson, Founder of Good to Great Schools Australia and Cape York Partnership
Dr Lorraine Hammond, Associate Professor for the School of Education at Edith Cowan University
Professor Pamela Snow, Professor for the School of Education at La Trobe University
Jordan O’Sullivan, Teacher and Director at Shaping Minds Australia
Michael Roberts, Managing Director of Mastery Schools Australia and the Executive Director of COGlearn
Toni Hatten-Roberts, Director and Lead Consultant for COGlearn and the Executive Director of Education and co-founder of Mastery Schools Australia
Reid Smith, Founder and Co-CEO of Ochre, Teacher at Ballarat Clarendon College and Member of the La Trobe University’s Science of Language and Reading (SOLAR) Lab
Dr Nathaniel Swain, Instructional Coach, Researcher, and Senior Lecturer at the La Trobe School of Education
Glenn Fahey, Program Director of Education Policy at the Centre for Independent Studies
Catholic Education Archdiocese of Canberra & Goulburn (CECG) were delighted to speak about Catalyst at the second Science of Teaching & Learning Australia: Leading Change event held in Sydney.
Patrick Ellis, Education Lead, presented on the Catalyst journey from 2021 to now, and the learnings and successes experienced at the level of the system, the school and the classroom.
Patrick presented alongside esteemed teaching and learning experts including, Daisy Christodoulou (Director of No More Marking and Author), Dr. Lorraine Hammond AM (Associate Professor at ECU School of Education), Ray Boyd (Foundation Principal of Dayton Primary School) and Michael Roberts (Executive Director of COGlearn and Co-founder and Managing Director of Mastery Schools Australia).
“It was great to share our Catalyst journey and connect with likeminded people. I look forward to future SoTLA events,” Patrick said.
Patrick Ellis, CECG Education Lead, leading the session on CatalystRay Boyd, Foundation Principal of Dayton Primary School, delivering a session on Leading Against the WindDaisy Christodoulou, Director of Education and Author, presenting on Why Knowledge Matters and How to Make it Stick.
Catholic Education Archdiocese of Canberra & Goulburn (CECG) was delighted to have one of UK’s most sought-after education authors, Daisy Christodoulou, to present on the Principles of Assessment and Comparative Judgement, with more than 75 teachers attending in-person and online.
Daisy Christodoulou is the Director of Education at No More Marking and author of 7 Myths about Education, Making Good Progress and Teachers vs Tech. She is an avid supporter of evidence-based teaching practice and the Science of Learning.
Feedback from participating teachers was positive and affirmed how valuable this session was.
Watch Part 1 – ‘What make an Effective Assessment?’
Over 2,300 educators from across the Archdiocese gathered to hear from 25 national and internationally recognised education leaders at the annual System Day. This year’s event was held at the National Convention Centre in Canberra, and the atmosphere was brimming with excitement as staff connected in person for the first time in several years.
Event Highlights
Archbishop Christopher Prowse addressed the audience with a welcoming presentation reflecting on the theme for 2023, Walking Together, and how it strongly links to the work of Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn (CECG) through Catalyst.
Archbishop Christopher Prowse
Director Ross Fox presented the long-term direction of teaching and learning for CECG. He also announced the direction of Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn’s Strategic Plan – Faith in Learning – a focus on providing both faith and learning opportunities for our students and our staff.
Director Ross Fox addressing attendees
“We have exactly the right teachers, Principals, classroom support and learning assistants to be one of the best education systems in Australia, if not the world. We can do that through a focus on learning and our faith – Faith in Learning,“ Mr Fox said.
“To be the best system, we endeavor to have a common approach across all our schools, grounded in the evidence of the Science of Learning, to ensure we provide the best learning outcomes for students, and a great place to work.”
Good to Great Schools Australia founder Noel Pearson was invited to share his experiences with Explicit Direct Instruction in schools in Cape York. His stories provided key evidence and insights on why this approach is the most effective way of teaching.
Noel Pearson delivering his keynote presentation
“This is the most important thing I have seen in education in the past 20 years. For 30 years I have seen so many children fail to reach their potential. We have a juvenile justice crisis in this country, and it starts with the failure to read.”
Catalyst was recognised by the Federal Government. Senator Anthony Chisholm, Assistant Minister for Education expressed his interest in the impact of Catalyst’s approach to developing teachers to deliver evidence-based teaching practice to improve student learning outcomes.
Educators were given the opportunity to select three breakout sessions from a selection of over 20 topics, to further enrich their Science of Learning knowledge. Session presenters included Dr Lorraine Hammond, Ollie Lovell, Michael Roberts, Toni Hatten-Roberts, Ingrid Sealey, Reid Smith, Dr Tim McDonald, Professor Tom Lowrie and many more.
System Day 2023 presenters
Participants also heard from Ross Fox, Noel Pearson, Professor Pamela Snow, Dr Jennifer Buckingham, Br David Hall and Dr Ben Jensen in a panel discussion, moderated by Australian Education Research Organisation’s CEO Dr Jenny Donovan.
Each panellist provided their unique perspective on the Science of Learning, the evidence and why Catalyst is so important, not just for CECG but for others to learn from.
Media coverage following the event has been widespread including –
Thank you to all those who attended and contributed to making System Day 2023 such a success. Feedback from both staff and presenters in attendance has been uplifting and we look forward to seeing everyone again next year.
Over the past two years, teachers at St Bernard’s Batemans Bay have been transforming their teaching practice.
On a visit to the school, journalist Lucy Carroll from the Sydney Morning Herald, experienced high impact teaching practice and explicit instruction in Rebecca Brady’s kindergarten classroom.
Rebecca said “as a school, we’ve changed our whole approach to teaching. We use a lot of repetition, fast-paced learning and intense explicit instruction; behaviour is improving, and the children are so engaged. It’s been a huge turnaround. Kids don’t have time to disengage.”
More than 90 teachers from Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn, Melbourne, Queensland, Tasmania and South Australia, dedicated three days of their school holidays to participate in a High Impact Teaching Practice Intensive Program, facilitated by Dr Lorraine Hammond AM.
The inaugural professional learning experience was held at St Thomas the Apostle Kambah and aimed to immerse educators into high impact teaching practice, specifically looking further into the Science of Learning research, what that means for classroom practice and the impact it has on student achievement.
The Intensive program aligned to the Catalyst four phased professional learning approach of Theory – Demonstration – Practice – Coaching.
Participating teachers were split into three streams for each of the morning sessions– Kindergarten to Year 2, Year 3-4 and Year 5-6 – to connect with HITP coaches who demonstrated a live lesson with students. Students were recruited to attend via the School Holiday Program run at St Thomas the Apostle.
Following the demonstration, participants were encouraged to lead a section of the lesson to practice delivery, and received instant coaching feedback from the expert coaches. As part of the program, CECG teachers who have been involved previously in HITP professional learning, were selected to support coaching participants, building their instructional leadership and mentoring.
“We are helping our teachers become even better teachers,” one Year 2 student who participated in the demonstrations said.
“The lessons we did were really fun and fast-paced, I enjoy learning most when its quick and engaging,” one Year 5 student said.
The afternoon sessions were dedicated to presentations from Dr Lorraine Hammond, the three expert coaches, and a session from the St Thomas the Apostle team on their journey with HITP and Catalyst.
Feedback from participating teachers has affirmed the value in bringing together educators from various schools with many noting that it has given them a new network of peers to connect with to share challenges and successes.
“The Intensive Program has not only shown me how high impact practice looks in the classroom, I’ve also had a chance to try it out myself on real students and get feedback in real time.”
“It has also been great to meet teachers who value this as much as I do, I look forward to connecting with them as we head back to our schools and continue using this teaching approach,” one participant said.
