Teaching & Learning

The Assistant Principal will support the leadership team in ensuring consistent and effective implementation of the Annual Implementation Plan, specifically related to our Wellbeing goal. This role includes overseeing educational programs and initiatives involving our Learning Specialists, therapists and Wellbeing Team, to support students’ health and wellbeing schoolwide.

Please contact Assistant Principal, Stephanie Torchia

Email: stephanie.disalvo@education.vic.gov.au

The Assistant Principal will support the leadership team in ensuring consistent and effective implementation of the Annual Implementation Plan, specifically related to our Learning goal. This role includes overseeing educational programs and initiatives involving PLCs; Curriculum Teams; Secondary Curriculum Pathways and e-Learning.

The Assistant Principal will support the leadership team in ensuring consistent and effective implementation of the Victorian Curriculum and rigorous assessment and reporting processes.

Please contact Assistant Principal, Daniel Moloney

Email: Daniel.Moloney@education.vic.gov.au

The school curriculum is a statement of the purpose of schooling. It defines what it is that all students have the opportunity to learn as a result of their schooling, set out as a series of learning progressions. Enabling students’ progress along this learning continuum is the fundamental role of JSA teachers and schools.

The curriculum is the common set of knowledge and skills that are required by all students for life-long learning, social development and active and informed citizenship.

The curriculum:

• Reflects current educational reform at an international, national and state level, and is informed by the principles and practices of inclusive education.
• Supports inclusive education and the rights of every student to participate in, or have access to, the full range of programs and services offered by the education system on the same basis as their non-disabled peers.
• Provides an inclusive curriculum so teachers can equip all students with the knowledge, skills and behaviours to help them succeed in a world that is increasingly complex, rapidly changing and rich in information and communications technology.

JSA uses a range of standard curriculum options to develop and provide education programs that are meaningful for all students including:

• Victorian Curriculum F-10 including Rights Resilience and Respectful Relationships
• Advance program
• Senior secondary programs Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL), Certificate of Individual Achievement and Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Schools.
• Hands-On Learning Build and Café Programs

Student learning is produced, shaped and affected by four connected components. Each of these components plays a separate and distinct role in the process of student learning and each is interconnected with all of the others.

• The first is the curriculum that defines what it is that students should learn, and the associated progression or continuum of learning.
• The second is pedagogy that describes how students will be taught and supported to learn.
• The third is assessment that identifies how well a student has learnt specified content.
• The fourth is reporting that explains to the student and the parent where a student is on a learning continuum at the end of a specified period of schooling, and where this places them in relation to their own learning goals.

The Victorian Curriculum F-10 provides the framework for curriculum development for Foundation – Year 10. It is structured as a learning continuum that enables teachers to identify the student’s current levels of achievement and then deliver teaching and learning programs that support progression of learning. The curriculum integrates the ‘Towards Foundation Level Victorian Curriculum’ directly into the curriculum and is referred to as ‘Levels A to D’.

The Victorian Curriculum F–10 includes eight learning areas and four capabilities. The curriculum achievement standards are provided in 11 levels for English and Mathematics and in five or six bands for all the other learning areas and capabilities. Achievement standards are provided in four levels (Levels A to D) for students with additional learning needs or a disability.

The Victorian Curriculum F-10 incorporates the Australian Curriculum and reflects Victorian standards and priorities.

In 2021, a new model for JSA’s Year 7-12 Secondary Pathways was developed to provide our broader community of the purpose and direction of our secondary curriculum deliverable to our students. A copy of the JSA Year 7-12 Pathways document is attached in the appendices to this policy, for your reference.

Each pathway is intended to suit our students’ range of skills and abilities, skilling and preparing them for their desired post school option upon graduation, as follows:

The principles of Advance include ‘community, communication and management’. Year 9 and 10 students will develop planning and communication skills in a community project environment where their views are heard and valued. Through the Advance Curriculum, students, JSA and community organisations will develop networks of relationships while achieving shared goals. The program encourages our local community to support and recognise our students’ participation and positive role in society.

The Advance curriculum provides a chance for our students to do something worthwhile in their community based on their choice. Students will apply their skills in undertaking the Hands-On Learning Build and Café programs, on a semester-by-semester basis.

Students who are involved in the CIA curriculum will receive written reports issued to parents/carers in July and December to show student progress and achievement in the following areas:

• Literacy – Writing, Reading, Oral/Augmentative Communication
• Numeracy
• Personal Development
• Pathways Specific Skills – Working with others, Work habits, Communication, Travel Education

At the completion of Year 12 students will receive a school based certificate.

VPC is a ‘hands-on’ option for students in Years 10, 11 and 12. It is a recognised senior secondary qualification that focuses on ‘hands-on learning’ curriculum. VPC’s flexibility enables students to design a study program that suits their interests and learning needs. There are four compulsory strands in VPC:

• Literacy Skills
• Numeracy Skills
• Work Related Skills
• Personal Development Skills.

A certificate and Statement of Results will be issued to students who successfully complete their VPC by the end of Year 12.

VET (Vocational Education and Training) Delivered in Schools provides JSA secondary students to gain practical skills in a specific industry while undertaking the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) or Certificate of Individual Achievement. Programs are typically completed over one or two years and provide students with a qualification or partial completion of a nationally recognised certificate.

Students who take part in a JSA VET program will:

• gain industry experience and employability skills
• create a pathway to further study (certificate, diploma qualifications) at TAFE
• gain opportunities to develop relationships with industry employers
• enhance their knowledge of employer and workplace expectations
• develop the capacity for teamwork and leadership.

VET delivered in schools at JSA offers the following programs:

• Certificate II Hospitality
• Certificate II Outdoor Recreation
• Certificate II Horticulture
• Trade Taster Apprenticeship (Building, Plumbing and Automotive)
• School Based Apprentice & Training (Warehousing)

JSA teachers plan for and implement the curriculum to meet the learning needs and goals of all students; this is achieved through developing appropriate teaching and learning programs. The curriculum offers flexibility for teachers to tailor their teaching in ways that provide rigorous, relevant and engaging learning and assessment opportunities for students covering multiple levels.

According to Marzano (2003), by providing ‘a guaranteed and viable curriculum’ we can achieve the strongest impact on student learning across our school. A 5-step JSA Instructional Model was established for our teachers to ‘systematically structure’ their lessons and for our students to recognise and follow across each area in their learning, as follows:

At JSA, teachers are provided with a Teaching and Learning Program template to formulate their teaching for the day, factoring in differentiated practice involving split groupings, level of prompting and target language required and adult supports for a supportive learning environment.

In following this Instructional Model, teachers also consider different ways students might approach learning, their different abilities and strengths, or their different perspectives on themselves as learners when developing learning and teaching experiences. Teachers plan for a variety of ways that ideas can be represented and the need to approach and demonstrate learning using different media and representational modes. Teachers will use diverse approaches to allow students to experience diverse ways of learning and knowing, and targeted support for individuals, based on teacher monitoring.

JSA teachers will:

• Vary the structure and delivery mode across a range of teaching sessions
• Provide for a range of learning styles or modalities within teaching sessions and from one teaching session to another in terms of both teacher input and student learning experiences
• Help students to understand their own specific learning needs and provide choice to cater for the range of those needs
• Set a variety of types of tasks during each unit and using a range of resources eg. print, visual, aural, experiential
• Provide variations in tasks to allow student choice on style of presentation or type of approach
• Ensure each task has an open ended aspect that allows students to work at different levels and paces
• Arrange for time in each teaching session to give individual support to students in need of particular attention
• Provide opportunities to use a range of multimodal communication systems.