Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn’s approach to teaching and learning has been featured in the Canberra Times, highlighting a positive impact on student learning and engagement in the classroom as key benefits.
Canberra Times journalist Sarah Lansdown was invited to visit St Thomas Aquinas Primary School, West Belconnen to view the Catalyst teaching and learning approach in the classroom. She also interviewed CECG Director, Ross Fox, and Catalyst presenter Dr Lorraine Hammond to better understand the research that informed the approach.
View the article online at the Canberra Times (Subscription only)
St Thomas Aquinas Primary School year three students participate in a daily review with teacher Ella Barry. Picture: James Croucher
Catalyst continues to gain national interest, featuring in a national education event focused on building knowledge and practice in implementing and sustaining Science of Learning informed change in schools. The Science of Learning Leadership Accelerator (SOLLA) event was hosted by Primary Focus, the Crowther Centre and Knowledge Society and facilitated by Ollie Lovell. It brought together enthusiastic teachers, leaders and system representatives from across the country, with leading education experts including Pro. Pamela Snow, Dr. Jenny Donovan, Dr. Lorraine Hammond and Toni Hatten-Roberts.
Ross Fox, Director of Catholic Education Canberra and Goulburn presented a keynote on the system change of 56 schools to a Science of Learning backed teaching approach, through Catalyst. Watch the full presentation below.
Reflecting on the Catalyst journey so far, Mr Fox spoke to the challenges of managing pedagogical change at scale, and the successes the system has achieved in 18 months.
“This event allowed us to showcase the terrific work happening at each of our schools to ensure every child has access to a quality education,” he said.
“It is great to see the interest in Science of Learning based teaching and learning in schools across Australia, and I hope our story can assist schools to implement their own evidence-based approaches.”
Mr Fox warned that educators are defining the teaching profession in a totally unsustainable way, comparing it to the vastly different medical profession.
“We’re saying, here’s your classroom after four years of education at a university where they’ve probably taught you critical and comparative approaches, not the reading science and the learning science – choose your own curriculum.”
“And then you’ve got an eight year trained doctor, who when you go in to see them, they have a scripted diagnosis path facilitated by interaction with a computer. When they find out you’ve got something that needs antibiotics, they don’t whip out the back and say, ‘oh, just get some and I’ll just mix up some antibiotics for you’. There’s a whole industry that validates the efficacy of the treatment,” Mr Fox said.
So, what can we as educators learn from this? Watch part 3 below to learn more.
To this end, Mr Fox said that it was important to understand that the teacher, not the student, is the most important learner in our learning system – because when we know better, we do better.
“In our context, we did a lot of research and reflection on what it meant to deliver exceptional learning experiences. It all boiled down to excellence in curriculum (What we teach), pedagogy (How we teach it) and assessment (How we know the student has learnt it).”
Another key point in Mr Fox’s presentation was that explicit teaching played a core role in student learning.
“At the core of what I think we should be trying to do as educators is teach the most efficient way possible. Because every minute that the student hasn’t learnt something, they have missed an opportunity to learn the next thing and I believe very strongly that means we’ve always got to ask what is the role of explicit teaching in this pedagogy or direct instruction, i.e. teaching first.” he said.
Thoughout the event, SOLLA participants engaged in presentations, discussions, and targeted workshops on evidence-based models for change in both Primary and Secondary contexts. Every participant will be supported to develop their own action plan to implement in their school.
For more information on the Catalyst program, visit the About page or reach out to a member of the team.
Watch the full presentation below –
Part 1 – Introduction and context (6min)
An introduction to the Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn context, and the journey to understanding and shaping the learning approach for the system.
Catalyst has earned national interest and recognition, with Catholic Education Tasmania (CET) visiting schools in the Archdiocese to learn more about the program and find out how it has been implemented at-scale across a system of 56 schools.
CET has drawn parallels between the Catalyst program and their strategic priorities for 2022. Executive Director, Dr Gerard Gaskin, and Director of Teaching and Learning, Anita Cunningham, visited four schools in Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn (CECG) Archdiocese to learn more about Catalyst. They were hosted by CECG’s Education Lead, Patrick Ellis and Catalyst Program Manager, Michele Bezuidenhout, along with Leaders at each of the schools.
This trip showcased the Catalyst journey at Merci College, St Thomas Aquinas West Belconnen, Holy Spirit Primary School Nicholls and St Thomas More’s Campbell.
Each visit involved lesson observations where High Impact Teaching Practice was demonstrated and discussions with Leaders about their Catalyst journey; their challenges, successes and how change is managed to support continuous improvement.
The schools visited shared key insights on their Catalyst journey based on their unique contexts, providing a holistic and authentic view of how evidence-based teaching could be embedded in a schools’ teaching and learning program within a complex system.
“The school visits were amazing. I can’t wait to take my learning back with me to the CET team to discuss,” Anita said.
Patrick Ellis said he was proud to showcase the progress CECG had made in just over a year, but acknowledged this is a journey and there was still work to be done.
“Catalyst is alive and well across the system, and I’m thrilled to share our journey with other school systems who are thinking about implementing an evidence-based teaching approach,” he said.
For more information on Catalyst visit the about page.
Visit to Merici College
L-R: Anna Masters – Principal, Anita Cunningham – Director Teaching and Learning Catholic Education Tasmania, Renee Taylor – Assistant Principal, Patrick Ellis – Education Lead CECG
Visit to St Thomas Aquinas Primary School, West Belconnen
L-R: Michael Roberts – Director COGLearn (HITP Coach), Anita Cunningham – Director Teaching and Learning Catholic Education Tasmania, Gerard Gaskin – Director of Catholic Education Tasmania, Leah Taylor – Principal, Patrick Ellis – Education Lead CECG
Visit to St Thomas More’s Primary School, Campbell
L-R: Anita Cunningham – Director Teaching and Learning Catholic Education Tasmania, Luke Donnelly – Principal, Gerard Gaskin – Director of Catholic Education Tasmania, Patrick Ellis – Education Lead CECG, Michael Roberts – Director COGLearn (HITP Coach), Michele Bezuidenhout – Program Manager CECG
The start of Term 2 for 2022 saw many schools in the Archdiocese participate in Catalyst professional learning.
The largest professional learning event was HITP In Action Day 2 with Dr Lorraine Hammond, which was held at the Rex Hotel and had over 250 attendees from 7 different schools. Participating schools included
St Anthony’s, Wanniassa
Holy Family, Gowrie
St Clare of Assisi, Conder
St Mary’s, Moruya
St Bede’s, Braidwood
Mother Teresa, Harrison
St Francis of Assisi, Calwell
Feedback from the day found that over 80% of participants felt the session provided clear and actionable strategies that they could use in their classrooms.
Holy Spirit, Nicholls also welcomed Dr Lorraine Hammond to facilitate Let’s Decode training, which provides impactful teaching practice to build the reading ability of our youngest learners.
Many other schools chose to select from the numerous online learning materials available in the Catalyst Resource Hub. Merici College completed the newly released HITP Theory & Practice 3 – Reading Instruction and one of the 8 available Catalyst Online Units.
To learn the various professional learning sessions that your school will be involved in, speak with your Principal.
On Friday, 6 May, office staff were invited to attend the quarterly Mass & Meeting session, during which staff are updated on key projects and undertake professional development sessions. About 70 staff participated in the Catalyst workshop on the day.
Presented by the Teaching & Learning team, the workshop aimed to address three learning intentions:
Staff understood what Catalyst is
Staff can see the impact Catalyst is having in schools
Staff understand how Catalyst relates to their role
The Catalyst workshop drew on several of the High Impact Teaching Practices that teachers are implementing in their classroom. These high impact practices included a ‘Daily Review’ style recap to gauge the level of knowledge in the room, along with phased, deliberate points for ‘Check for Understanding’ and ‘think time / pair share’.
Many staff were amazed at the impact that Catalyst has had in schools and commitment to this teaching approach across the Canberra and Goulburn Archdiocese.
Feedback following the workshop was positive, with many staff commenting that they enjoyed the level of interactive elements that made up the workshop including the relation to their role.
For more information on Catalyst, please get in touch with the team.
The Catalyst team were delighted to host a workshop on Catholic Leaders’ Day for all Principals across the Archdiocese to discuss progress and share key learnings from 2021, and the direction the program will take in 2022. Catholic Leaders’ Day occurs twice a year, bringing together every Principal from every school to share their experiences and build common knowledge.
Catholic Education Canberra & Goulburn (CECG) director Ross Fox commenced the day with an enlightening keynote presentation on the Five-Year Strategic Plan, followed by time for Principals to consider the plan’s objectives and how it may impact their schools.
Principals then chose to attend three sessions on a variety of topics that impact their school and the system. The Catalyst session was attended by almost every Principal, cementing its importance in our school’s agenda and the focus we have as a system on teaching and learning as our core purpose.
The Catalyst workshop provided Principals with the opportunity to reflect on the year, celebrate success, share learnings from their school’s journey of both positive impact and areas of challenge. Principals reviewed feedback from teachers who had participated in the program in 2021 and discussed ways to build momentum and address challenges.
CECG Education Lead, Patrick Ellis said the Principal’s role leading Catalyst is critical.
“They are our biggest advocates. They will help us as we move from learning about the Science of Learning, to implementing it in each and every one of our classrooms.”
St Bernard’s Bateman Bay Primary School Principal Johanna Wain said Catalyst provided her with the knowledge and resources she needs to lead teaching and learning at her school.
“My knowledge in the Science of Learning has grown since we embarked on the Catalyst journey, and I can see the benefits that the research is talking about, in my school.”
Conversations and feedback from Principals provided on Catholic Leaders’ Day help us to meet the needs of our schools to enable exceptional learning experiences for both students in the classroom, and teachers in their professional learning.
To learn more about your schools Catalyst journey, speak with your Principal or contact the Catalyst team.
The Principals will be sharing how they are leading the High Impact Teaching Practice professional learning at their school, along with sharing their progress, wins and challenges.
The Catalyst Leadership sessions will be broadcast on Tuesday 17 May, Wednesday 18 May and Thursday 19 May, each session featuring different Principals. All sessions will be held from 3.30pm-4.15pm
All staff are encouraged to join the CECG Webinar Week team (staff access only) before the end of this term, to access information, schedules and presentations for this free professional learning event.
Webinar Week is a free professional learning event for all teachers, leaders, and non-teaching staff to learn more about CECG’s projects and share experiences and knowledge throughout our expansive network. Webinar presenters may be from schools, the office or both, and are an easy way to share the expertise and experience in our system. Presentations on offer during Webinar Week will be varied, interactive and live to maximise the opportunity for collaboration between presenter and participants.
Can’t make it to the live sessions? Recordings will be made available in the Webinar Week Team.
Whilst the start of the 2022 school year may have been a little different this year, teachers and leaders from across the Archdiocese were still committed to continuing their professional learning through Catalyst with all system staff engaging in some form of Catalyst professional learning.
Majority of teachers and leaders participated in HITP Theory and Practice 2 – Daily Review via MS Teams
Education Lead, Patrick Ellis said schools had become incredibly adaptive to the remote learning environment, having experienced online learning with their students, and using it for their own learning.
“Having not only the flexibility to engage in learning from a laptop or a tablet, but also the commitment to continue our Catalyst journey is a credit to each and every one of our teachers across the system,” Patrick said.
Catalyst System Day for 2022 did not proceed as planned, however all learning content has been, or will be made available online for all teachers and leaders to participate in when the time is right for their school.
The Teaching & Learning team will be working closely with Principals and School Leaders to support them effectively plan and implement their Catalyst professional learning throughout 2022.
To learn more about your school’s Catalyst journey please speak with your Principal.
A significant number of teachers and leaders participated in HITP in Action with Dr Lorraine Hammond via MS TeamsThe Spelling Mastery session with Toni Hatten-Roberts saw multiple schools, leaders and teachers engaged
Microsoft Education has featured Catholic Education on their blog, focusing on our evidence-based approach to teaching and learning, and how we have leveraged Microsoft tools to enable the Catalyst program.
After a terrific response in 2021, all 56 schools across the Archdiocese will mark the start of the 2022 school year by coming together to build knowledge and share experiences.
The TQI / NESA accredited day will focus on what we have achieved as a school and as a system in 2021, and dig deeper into the foundational research that underpins Catalyst.
The day’s format will encompass a system wide session together in the morning followed by school-specific professional learning, focused on High Impact Teaching Practice. Sessions will include live streamed and pre-recorded speakers, and interactive activities.
Staff will hear from CE Director Ross Fox, Archbishop Christopher Prowse, and Dr Jenny Donovan, CEO of the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO).
To find out more information about your school’s Catalyst System Day please reach out to your Principal.
Teachers participating in Catalyst System Day 2021 activities
