Matthew Flinders Anglican College is ensuring its staff are supported to grow professionally and be inspired, mentored and challenged by leading consultants, thought leaders and researchers from across Australia.
College Principal Michelle Carroll said the growth and development of staff across the Primary and Secondary Schools is an essential component of the Flinders Future 2023-2027, the College’s guiding blueprint for its future.
“Our Flinders Future identifies exciting opportunities for our community of students, staff and families to embrace new possibilities, adapt and realign when needed, and build a culture of continuous improvement,” Michelle said.
“In 2024, our staff will learn from a range of ‘experts in residence’ who are visiting the College.
“In the Primary School, the teaching team is thrilled to have two of Australia’s leading consultants in residence: Nicole Dyson, CEO of Future Anything and Jocelyn Seamer, an expert in the Science of Reading.”
Primary School Professional Learning in 2024
In Term 1, Nicole Dyson will be the Primary School's ‘Entrepreneur in Residence’ to further develop the team’s expertise in teaching design thinking from Prep to Year 6, which also supports students’ strong social and emotional development.
Nicole also worked intensively with Primary teachers in 2023 to strengthen their skills in delivering the Flinders i-Impact and I-care curriculum programs where students embrace human-centred design thinking.
Students learn to become problem solvers, problem seekers and develop an enterprising spirit, along with deep knowledge of science, humanities and technology.
In Term 1 and Term 3, Jocelyn Seamer will guide the team through the ‘Science of Reading’ as an Expert in Residence.
The Science of Reading reveals the latest and most conclusive, empirically supported research, based on the Science of Learning, on how to teach students to read from Prep to Year 6, and its practical implications for classroom learning.
New Science of Reading research reveals:
- how we learn to read
- what skills are involved
- how they work together, and
- which parts of the brain are responsible for reading development.
The Flinders Head of Primary, Mrs Trudi Edwards said the Primary School was committed to being at the forefront of education research.
“The latest Grattan Institute Report, The Reading Guarantee: How to Give Every Child the Best Chance of Success, validates the all-important work we have undertaken in the Primary School as essential in supporting students’ literacy success,” Trudi said.
“Over three days last week, our Primary teaching team observed Jocelyn Seamer in action as she modelled powerful reading lessons, undertook lesson observations of our teaching staff and engaged in coaching conversations to provide feedback and enhance our teachers’ expertise in teaching reading,” she said.
“By implementing these evidence-informed approaches, Flinders Primary is further empowering students to become proficient readers and writers, laying the foundation for their academic success and lifelong learning.”
Mrs Narelle Goan, the Head of Professional Practice and Curriculum in the Flinders Primary School, says that being a proficient reader positively influences a student’s entire education.
“We are grateful to have Jocelyn breathing life into the latest research on the Science of Reading to ensure we are giving our young learners the best start on their reading journey,” Narelle said.
“The aim is for each child to read proficiently and be engaged in their literacy development.
“We are seeing our students' results reflect our investment in the Science of Learning and the Science of Reading with our Year 5 students achieving the highest results on the Sunshine Coast in the 2023 NAPLAN tests.”
Mrs Edwards explains, “The Primary and Secondary teams have worked with education leaders, including Jared Cooney Horvath - one of the best neuroscientists in the business - on the Science of Learning to understand how the brain learns and how to apply this research to classroom teaching.
“As a result, our staff have a deep understanding of how children learn, and continue to implement and refine these strategies and protocols to support engaged learning and achievement for our students.”
To learn more about the Primary School at Matthew Flinders Anglican College, visit here.
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