On Monday October 10 2024, Channel 7 visited THPS to learn more about our teaching and learning model and La Trobe University’s Momentum Schools Project. For the past three years, we have shifted the way we teach in classrooms to an explicit approach, grounded in the science of learning. We now have a greater understanding of how we learn best, which means we can teach more effectively. The way we teach is now influenced by making sure we consider the load on children’s working memory and ensuring they are focused to move their new skill or knowledge from their working memory into their long-term memory. We consider the end goal of what we want children to learn, break it down into small steps and then introduce the information sequentially, making sure children have learnt the previous step before moving on.
As part of the Victorian Government’s mandate, all schools must move towards an explicit teaching approach (as well as 30 minutes a day of phonics) within three years. We will be a host school for La Trobe University’s Momentum Schools Project, supporting schools across the state in adopting this new explicit approach. Thank you to our School Council President Kai Robotham as well as Year 1 leader Reannan Rossi and the children of 1RR for showing our Channel 7 Reporter Jackie Quist their amazing phonological knowledge and skills.