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All case studies in Student Learning

There are 362 case studies in Student Learning:

Note: all documents are in MS Word. Case studies organised alphabetically by school

Leading Pedagogical Practice at Aberfieldie Primary (Teacher Professional Leave)

Aberfeldie Primary School (01 September 2005)
Marlene Suter's aim is to expand awareness and use of the Thinking Strategies/Skills in Teaching and Learning, develop her own skills as a leader of Pedagogy in the school to promote professional knowledge and dialogue and encourage a team approach to implementing creative pedagogical practice in the school.

Listening With Our Eyes - Integrating Reggio Emilia Philosphy (Teacher Professional Leave)

Albanvale Primary School (01 August 2006)
The Team have been investigating the inspiring pedagogy of the Reggio Emilia philosophy in order to further enhance student learning through oral language and classroom programs.

Engaging Middle Years Students with Robotics (Teacher Professional Leave)

Albert Street PS, Boolarra PS, Maffra PS, Yinnar PS, Churchill PS (07 December 2005)
Jenny Dowsett, Kathryn Murphy, Elizabeth Spunner, Gay Higgins and Jeff Curwood attended a Robotics PD delivered by Michael Walker from Orbost Secondary College. When they applied the program they saw improvements not only in their students' science and technology skills, but also in their problem-solving skills, self-esteem, confidence with oral presentations and willingness to take risks.

Energy Breakthrough (Exemplary)

Alpine Cluster: Myrtleford Schools; Bright, Wandiligong and Harrietville schools (14 February 2007)
The Cluster have promoted the inclusion of math, science and technology in a multi-domain unit that emphasises the development of team work, leadership and personal responsibility. This was designed around the RACV challenges set for Maryborough. The Program culminated in a celebration of student work within the local community with the winning entries competing at Maryborough. It is a collaborative project that requires students to act on their learning.

Innovative integrated units (Teacher Professional Leave)

Altona Primary School (03 October 2005)
Margo Walsh and Jenny O'Connor wanted to find a more efficient way of teaching/learning that would ensure student engagement, provide for more meaningful teaching and overcome the problem of trying to 'cover' everything.

Teaching for Asian Awareness at Year 8 (Teacher Professional Leave)

Altona Secondary College (24 July 2006)
The aim of Michelle's project was to design curriculum and teaching materials that would result in a broadening of their awareness and knowledge of the Asian region at Year 8 level, with a particular focus on India.

Reflective Practices to Enhance Student Learning (Teacher Professional Leave)

Appin Park Primary School (21 December 2005)
Robyn, Leonie and Laurie used reflected practices for student teaching. A greater range of reflection tools are now being implemented by students in the classrooms, eg. Learning Journals, Wondering Walls, etc. With structured activities they found children are more focused and have a clearer understanding of the learning goals.

Engaging animation helps literacy (Exemplary)

Ascot Vale Primary School (10 November 2004)
Teachers at Ascot Vale Primary School are using animation to teach their digital-savvy students literacy. The school developed a 'Learning Vision' that prioritised the key skills children need to navigate change and diversity in the world.

Brain Gym (Teacher Professional Leave)

Ascot Vale Special School (01 September 2005)
Linda Beilby and Christine Monahan used Brain Gym to help students with disabilities to increase their attention span and improve thinking and learning skills.

'I CAN' Program - Engaging Year 9 students: A VELS Implementation Model (Teacher Professional Leave)

Ashwood College (14 August 2006)
The typical disengagement of students at Year 9 prompted the team at Ashwood College to rethink the way they delivered the curriculum. They identified student motivation, resiliency and initiative as targets to be improved. With the implementation of VELS priorities and through the development of the 'I CAN' program they hope to improve the engagement, self-efficacy and life long learning of students.

Students at Risk: Identifying and monitoring gifted students and students with learning disabilities (Teacher Professional Leave)

Auburn Primary School and Ashburton Primary School (20 November 2006)
The Team researched and examined best practice in school-wide models of identification and assessment of 'at risk' students and reviewed exemplary school models in the use of ICT for the ongoing monitoring of these students.

Preparing Early For Success (Teacher Professional Leave)

Bacchus Marsh Primary School (26 October 2005)
The Team from Bacchus Marsh Primary School focused on programs to address the identified strong predictors of learning difficulties, ie. Having a limited vocabulary or mental bank of word knowledge; having behavioural adjustment problems such as attention deficits and poorly controlled behaviour; poor phonological skills and coming from a family with socio-economic disadvantages.

Taking the Challenge (Promising)

Bairnsdale Secondary College (08 November 2005)
Year 7/8 male students who have had numerous suspensions are involved in a kayaking activity on a weekly basis for six weeks. This is followed by group discussion sessions around the activity to process key learnings and how they could apply it to general school experiences.

Changing Lanes - VCAL (Exemplary)

Bairnsdale Secondary College (27 February 2006)
Changing Lanes is successfully re-engaging young people who have long-term histories of alienation from school or other forms of education and training. The initiative represents a significant watershed in their lives.

Koorie Literacy Research Project (Teacher Professional Leave)

Bairnsdale West Primary School (01 September 2005)
A team of teachers from Bairnsdale West Primary School identified that some Koori students were more successful than others. To find out why, they delved further into pedagogy and looked at strong relationship building, teacher expectation and the development of links to Koori culture.

Bilingual/Bicultural Deaf Education (Teacher Professional Leave)

Bairnsdale West Primary School (01 September 2005)
A team of teachers from Bairnsdale West Primary School found there were limited programs and resources to support Deaf students. Their goal is to enhance their own skills and add to the field of Deaf Education in the areas of design, management and evaluation of Bilingual/Bicultural educational programs.

Developing Partnership to Enhance Learning: Lets Keep Learning (Teacher Professional Leave)

Ballam Park Primary School (03 November 2006)
Pamela, Susan, Christine and Kylie wanted to raise student-learning outcomes in literacy and numeracy in line with Like Schools or Beyond. They observed improved spelling and handwriting skills throughout the school; children have increased confidence during speaking and listening activities and the Team have improved student transfer of information from the spoken to the written form.

Developing a teaching and learning framework (Exemplary)

Ballarat Secondary College (10 November 2004)
Teachers and students at Ballarat Secondary College changed the culture of the school by developing a new teaching and learning framework. Teachers formed a cross-campus Teaching and Learning Team and talked to students about their experience of learning. They worked out what needed to change and developed a structure to work together.

Recognising and responding to diverse student needs (Teacher Professional Leave)

Ballarat Specialist School (29 November 2005)
Eleanor Ryan researched the strategies used by two schools in another State system (Northern Territory), which were employed to maintain connectedness in students at risk of non-attendance ie. ill or recuperating from major operations, etc.

Between the Lines: developing thinking skills for problem solving (Promising)

Balwyn High School (10 November 2004)
Staff at Balwyn High School have developed a computer program to track and assess students thinking skills. Students are presented with specific problem-solving tasks and their progress monitored. The program shows the thinking skills students are using and developing and these are then explicitly developed in the teaching program.

New Apprenticeships: diversity in care for young people (Exemplary)

Banyule Nillimbuk (LLEN) (17 December 2004)
To improve students interest in education, a large group of schools set up a Schools Based New Apprenticeship (SBNA) program. Students spent 15 hours a week in work placement and training sessions in conjunction with VCAL or VCE. Many disenchanted students chose to return to school.

The Shed Program (Promising)

Baringa Special School (21 December 2005)
The Shed program aims to promote student engagement particularly of at risk teenage boys with mild intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviours. Rosie Romano is aiming to maintain and increase school participation and retention rates in this cohort of students

A Case for Creative Arts Therapies in Schools (Teacher Professional Leave)

Baxter Primary School (02 November 2006)
How can you use Creative Arts Therapies in schools to enhance a student's emotional, cognitive and personal development? Kim Cooke used Gardner's multiple intelligences and the VELS personal and social learning strand to develop an approach at Baxter Primary School.

ICT making a Spash at Bayswater Primary School (Teacher Professional Leave)

Bayswater Primary School (12 January 2007)
With a focus on the Middle Years (Grade 5-6) the team worked to evaluate, reflect and improve on the ICT skills and applications of students and their teachers. Students needed to identify their current proficiencies and the teachers were asked to implement an integrated ICT program into the classroom in order to engage all students and improve ICT knowledge.

Improved Post Compulsory Options (Teacher Professional Leave)

Bayswater Secondary College (20 November 2006)
Options for post compulsory students are almost limitless. How do we ensure that young people are aware of the possibilities and the realities to ensure that they make to best decision at the time? How do we provide access to the programs?

Authentic Assessment in Numeracy (Promising)

Beaconsfield Primary School (17 November 2004)
Teachers at Beaconsfield Primary use an 'at a glance' grid to plan, monitor and record key learnings during numeracy lessons. Students work individually or in small groups and assessment is based on conversation and observation rather than relying on tests. Teachers use their observations to plan future numeracy activities.

Becoming a Specialist Educator in sound and video production (Teacher Professional Leave)

Beaumaris North Primary School (02 November 2006)
Cameron Cook's project involved the acquisition of knowledge and skills in video and sound production. There had been very limited use of the resources available in the school and through this project it is possible to maximise the use of this technology, thereby enhancing the skills and engagement of students in their learning. Professional development will be provided to other teachers in the school and cluster so that widespread use of the technology is incorporates into teachers' practice.

Structuring Learning Environments for Engagement (Teacher Professional Leave)

Beaumaris Primary School and Hampton Primary School (03 November 2006)
Michael Dixon and Richard Barren focused on the creation of learning environment/structures which sustain and increase the engagement of all students in their learning. The identification of agreed values and understandings around pedagogy is also an essential component of their project. Information obtained from Cluster, and other schools will be considered and adapted to both their school settings in the quest for continuous school improvement.

Enhancing Student Learning through Improving Positive Relationships (Teacher Professional Leave)

Beechworth Secondary College (21 December 2005)
The Team at Beechworth Secondary College wanted to improve the skills and level of responsibility of teachers to manage their own classroom discipline. They did this by conducting a student Satisfaction Survey, receiving research data by La Trobe University into Factors effecting engagement and learning and a Ramon Lewis PD presentation.

Integrating Thinking Skills (Exemplary)

Belgrave South Primary School (02 February 2006)
Belgrave South Primary School asked the question: Will the integration and teaching of thinking skills, strategies and tools into work units enhance student engagement and promote teacher confidence in reassessing teaching practice?

Learning for Life - Bamboo Room (Teacher Professional Leave)

Belle Vue Park Primary School (10 April 2006)
Jenelle James established a Learning Centre where children from P-4 could improve their speaking and listening skills by participating in a variety of activities where language is encouraged and modelled by teachers, aids, peers and older students. Many new forms of learning have been adopted and adapted during this period.

"PoLT - Please Offer Lots of Traintracks" - A Cluster Approach (Exemplary)

Belmont Highton Cluster (19 June 2007)
Wanting to facilitate consistent, ongoing improvement in teaching approaches, strategies and thus student learning outcomes, the Cluster Educator, Steve Solomonson, has worked with Principals and School Leaders in seven schools to implement PoLT.

Assessment for Mathematics Learning: Year 6-7 Transition (Promising)

Benalla Innovations and Excellence Cluster (14 February 2007)
Year 7 Benalla College mathematics teachers wanted to gain information on the mathematics achievement of incoming Year 7 students. In particular, they wanted to: gain assessment information prior to mathematics instruction; identify high achieving students in mathematics, and identify low achieving students in mathematics. It was decided to assess all Year 6 students in mathematics at the end of the school year. This was so the Year 7 teachers would know their students' understandings and needs in mathematics at the start of the school year.

Developing a Thinking Curriculum for Middle Years Students (Teacher Professional Leave)

Benalla Schools Cluster (26 October 2005)
The Benalla Schools Cluster wanted to improve student engagement and thinking skills to develop more independent learners. The aim was to develop the teacher's understanding of what a thinking curriculum is. A second aim was to further develop professional relationships between teachers in the Cluster.

If you do what you've always done . (Exemplary)

Bendigo Violet Street Primary School (10 November 2004)
Bendigo Violet Street Primary set up a boys only grade for boys who were disengaged and frequently involved in behavioural problems. Parents supported the approach and the class was organised around short activities that were chosen to match the boy's interest.

Transition in the Bentleigh Schools' Cluster (Teacher Professional Leave)

Bentleigh Secondary College (03 November 2006)
Jennifer Date and Kirstin Conway focused on improving student learning outcomes in their Cluster schools, research and program development is occurring in the areas of effective primary-secondary transition programs, pedagogy, curriculum alignment/integration/innovation, student wellbeing and relationship building, particularly in the middle years. Teacher shadowing and mentoring are vital components of the TPL project.

Library Links Project (Exemplary)

Berwick Cluster - Berwick Secondary College (16 March 2006)
Berwick Cluster wanted to improve the teaching of English in the Middle Years by encouraging the integration of ICT, incorporation of formative assessment as well as developing links between teachers and between the English KLA and library. The ultimate aim is to improve student attitudes and learning outcomes through the development of information literacy.

Encouraging innovative design and creating local links for the benefit of senior Design and Technology students (Teacher Professional Leave)

Berwick Secondary College (15 December 2006)
Robyn is concerned that some male students who have selected Design and Technology at Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) level tend not to complete all of the outcomes of the course with the same degree of enthusiasm.

Pedagogical change in the ICT-rich LOTE classroom (Teacher Professional Leave)

Berwick Secondary College and LOTE Centre of Excellence (09 November 2005)
Inga Cairns and Claire Feely researched the use of ICT and its impact on pedagogy in LOTE classrooms. Both visited a number of Language Colleges in the United Kingdom. Their main area of interest was how technology and 'Best Practice' from the practitioners themselves. Both saw how students enjoyed using the software, how it engaged them, particularly boys. It was made clear by teachers that technology should be seen as one of a number of tools which foster independent learning for students.

Assessing children's understandings of fractions (Teacher Professional Leave)

Bethal Primary School (03 October 2005)
Anne Mitchell was interested in finding types of tasks that would enable the teacher to assess what conceptual understanding of fractions students had, and from there develop some classroom tasks that would develop that understanding.

Assessing reading difficulties in the Middle Years with Dr John Munro (Teacher Professional Leave)

Bethal Primary School (07 December 2005)
Sema Selamet addressed the specific literacy area of reading. The course focused on diagnosing/assessing reading difficulties faced by students using a variety of tests which focused on diagnosing exact reading problems - from decoding phonemes to under-standing word parts. The second part of the course focused on teaching these students (as well as the whole class) some practical strategies to improve their reading comprehension.

Integrated Inquiry Based Learning and VELS with a focus on Thinking (Teacher Professional Leave)

Big Hill Primary School (18 January 2007)
The Team applied an Essential Learnings Framework through an Integrated Curriculum to improve student knowledge and understandings, skills and social competencies.

Interdisciplinary Learning Utilising ICT (Teacher Professional Leave)

Billanook Primary School (12 January 2007)
The Team identified a need for teachers to enhance and improve their ICT skills. Both used the school ICT network as a tool to improve student engagement and learning outcomes. They developed a sequenced planner to enable a consistent approach to embed ICT into the curriculum.

Establishing a positive learning community characterised by student engagement and connectedness (Teacher Professional Leave)

Billanook Primary School (21 December 2005)
Angie O'Hare, Glenda Harris, Jennifer Mockett and Meaghan Banfield wanted to improve the engagement of students and their connectedness to school. They did this through values training via implementation of TRIBES and through teaching and learning via implementation of multiple intelligences and the thinking curriculum.

Boys Education (Teacher Professional Leave)

Birmingham Primary School (20 March 2006)
Alex Macdonald has developed a program that focuses on improved strategies for boys. This has led to a book with all the information gathered from conferences and visits placed on the level meetings agenda to ensure that boys are focussed and catered for in the daily teaching practice. The school has established a men's group. This began as a teaching process for the fathers so they would become involved with their sons reading.

Integration of Information Communication Technology (ICT) into classroom practice (Teacher Professional Leave)

Bittern Primary School (02 November 2006)
Helen Morris focussed on how schools have incorporated ICT into their curriculum to improve student skills and competencies using technology. Helen has begun the process of establishing student e-portfolios to increase the involvement of students in assessment of their learning. The Intel © Teach to the Future has assisted Helen to incorporate ICT into Integrated units.

Reading For Meaning (Teacher Professional Leave)

Black Hill Primary School (26 October 2005)
Julie Bradby chose literacy and in particular, reading as a focus for improvement because although her students were 'good' readers, their understanding of what they were reading was lacking. Julie, together with teacher graduates, developed a program called Reading For Meaning. Results so far have been promising.

Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum (Teacher Professional Leave)

Black Hill Primary School and Bungaree Primary School (26 October 2005)
Sherrill McKinnon, Rhonda Stephens and Chris Rossiter investigated pedagogy for teaching junior children in a developmentally appropriate manner. This consisted of visits to schools embracing a variety of philosophies including Steiner, Reggio Emilia and Play Based Curriculum. As their knowledge increased they have put many of the strategies into place and evaluated the effects on their students.

Making more of ICT (Teacher Professional Leave)

Boronia West Primary School (12 January 2007)
Use of computer technologies at Boronia West Primary School varies from classroom to classroom. To explore availability of resources and ICT usage of teachers Dale McInerney and Gemma Mascitti collected a range of information from colleagues and the wider school community in order to incorporate more relevant and engaging programs that would motivate and challenge both students and teachers to develop a strategy that would make better use of available programs and software within the school.

Planning for Integrated Inquiry (Exemplary)

Box Hill North Primary School (02 February 2006)
This Project was an inquiry for teachers and students about planning and implementing authentic integrated inquiry units of work.

Mentoring Program (Exemplary)

Box Hill Senior Secondary College (12 December 2005)
The Mentoring Program at Box Hill Senior Secondary College differs in structure from the basic pastoral care model used in many schools. There is a focus on school, rather than welfare issues. The aim of the Program is for young people to take responsibility for their own learning, through an consultative, intensive mentoring system, which relies on easily accessible information, through an electronic system.

Improved student engagement using a Laptop Program (Teacher Professional Leave)

Box Hill Senior Secondary College (12 January 2007)
The Team worked together to implement a 1:1 Laptop Program across the Middle Years in conjunction with VELS in order to develop students' engagement and capacities in innovative, engaging ways to improve learning and teaching and prepare students for the 21st century.

'Teachers Investigate Unequal Literacy Outcomes: Cross-generational Perspectives' (Teacher Professional Leave)

Brauer College (29 November 2005)
This research project was facilitated by Professor Barbara Comber (University of SA and Professor Barbara Kamler, Deakin University) through funding by the Australian Research Council Discovery Grants. The aim of the project was to recruit early career teachers to work in a reciprocal relationship with a late career teacher to investigate the literacy practices of 'at risks' students. Using a single case study, Bev worked alongside her mentor, Ivan Boyer to investigate the use of visual literacy to reposition a reluctant Year 8 high school reader named DJ.

How do you know your students are thinking? (Teacher Professional Leave)

Braybrook Primary School (20 November 2006)
Working with students from Grade 3-6, Gabrielle McSweeney used three tasks to assess Student Thinking and after analysis of the results set up student profiles as an ongoing assessment record.

Metacognition - Teaching to think about thinking (Teacher Professional Leave)

Brentwood Secondary College (21 December 2005)
Judie Mitchell, Katharine Seyler and David Newcombe used their TPL to help students develop an awareness of their thinking styles. Students often see subjects as discrete areas of study. The Team wanted to make students realise that the thinking skills they apply in one subject can be transferred to other subject areas. There are many "Thinking" models around but the Team based their work on the Hermann Brain Dominance Index.

Teaching Maths at Year 7 and 8 for the Non Maths - Trained Teacher (Teacher Professional Leave)

Bright P-12 College (17 October 2006)
Bright P-12 College has a shortage of maths - trained teachers and recently relied on using teachers from other method areas. To assist in preparing these teachers, the College has trialled the use of the ICE-EM textbook. The ICE-EM project is a national curriculum, well sequenced and aims to raise the level of mathematical understanding of students to a national standard. It also aims to provide strong and structured support for teachers without a mathematical background.

Learning Design for the Year 9 Discovery Centre (Teacher Professional Leave)

Brighton Secondary College (05 December 2006)
Andrew Hill, Richard Minack, Brenda Welsh and Jane Whitman focused on the question: How can we best meet the specific learning needs of our Year 9 students? The Team gathered relevant information through correspondence with schools, on-site school visits and a literature review. This information has already influenced the Year 9 program in a number of ways and is also being considered in their Year 9 program for 2006, when it is expected that the new Year 9 Discovery Centre will commence use.

Better Teaching, Better Learning (Teacher Professional Leave)

Broadmeadows Cluster (29 May 2006)
The focus is on learning - the development of curriculum practices relating to what students learn, how teaching facilitates learning and how all assessment tasks should contribute to learning.

The impact Habits of Mind has on student learning (Teacher Professional Leave)

Broadmeadows Primary School (16 June 2006)
Debra Hosking wanted to investigate the use of Habits of Mind to further enhance the learning of students at Broadmeadows Primary School. Debra wanted to find the most effective way of introducing the Habits to the school community.

Rich and Authentic Mathematical Taks in the Middle Years Classroom (Promising)

Brunswick Cluster: Schools for Innovation and Excellence (21 December 2005)
Eight Cluster schools are participating in the Scaffolding Maths in the Middle Years research project and are working with RMIT Research Team and Associate Professor, Di Siemon. Their aiming to: improve student achievement in Maths particularly in lower achieving students; and to develop eight levels of lessons focussing on Multiplicative Thinking.

'Lost in transition' Moving senior students with disabilities towards increased opportunities and independence (Teacher Professional Leave)

Brunswick Special Developmental School (17 October 2006)
Teachers from an inner city Special Developmental School used their Professional Development Leave to look at ways of restructuring their curriculum in line with VELS. They developed units of work that integrated the VELS strands into a comprehensive and coordinated curriculum for the transition group of senior students.

Useful ways to teach interdisciplinary learning with information and communications technology (Teacher Professional Leave)

Bulleen Heights School (12 January 2007)
The Professional Leave Team endeavoured to link characteristics of the effective schools models - Focus on Teaching and Learning and Learning Communities. The decision to use the Interdisciplinary Learning Strand of the curriculum to achieve the project outcomes was directed by the opportunities offered to improve "thinking and learning" and by investigating a deeper understanding of how teachers and students can create successful outcomes as their knowledge, skills and behaviours are developed across the discipline boundaries.

Integrated Inquiry Based Learning (Teacher Professional Leave)

Burwood East Primary School (21 December 2005)
The Team from Burwood East Primary School want to change the school's Integrated Curriculum, both program and process in line with recommendations from the School's Charter.

French-English Bilingual Program: immersing children in language (Exemplary)

Camberwell Primary School (10 November 2004)
Camberwell Primary School decided to teach French by immersing children in the language through different educational experiences. Two classrooms were paired up and English and French speaking teachers worked together to deliver half their teaching in their respective language areas. Students' ability in French has exceeded expectations.

Empowering Students to Continue Succeeding in their Journey beyond the Primary Years (Teacher Professional Leave)

Cambridge Primary School (01 September 2005)
A team of teachers from Cambridge Primary School are developing a plan for pedagogical approach that provides children with continuity, direction and support enabling them to progress steadily and confidently in Year 7.

To play or not to play, that is the question! (Teacher Professional Leave)

Cambridge Primary School (01 August 2006)
Whilst visiting several schools and play programs across Melbourne, Jenny Costello needed to discover what made an exceptional Play program. The answers that she found are now being incorporated into the programs at Cambridge Primary School and are supporting the language needs of the children.

Our curriculum journey of incorporating the VELS and innovative exemplary pedagogical practices into curriculum documents (Teacher Professional Leave)

Camelot Rise Primary School (20 November 2006)
Sharon Reiss and Kerry Elliott investigated Flagship Strategy One (Student Learning) and how it enhanced student learning at Camelot Rise Primary School. A primary focus on the Standards enabled staff to create whole school curriculum documents that incorporated existing exemplary practise and programs.

Student Led Conferencing/Portfolios (Promising)

Camelot Rise Primary School (21 December 2005)
The Team wanted to highlight the importance of student reflection and the significance of the relationship between teacher, parents and students. Portfolios were introduced to capture each child's strengths and areas for improvement. These contained a range of work that created a snapshot of each student's level of competence. Work samples were collected from all different areas but in particular from Literacy, Numeracy and Integrated Studies.

Integrated Curriculum, Social Competencies and the Thinking Curriculum (Teacher Professional Leave)

Camp Hill Primary School (29 May 2006)
How the Essential Learning Framework provides schools with a shared scaffold in which to develop integrated curriculum which builds social competence.

Transdisciplinary Unit Development (Teacher Professional Leave)

Caroline Springs College (24 July 2006)
The Team are developing transdisciplinary units for Years 7 and 8 that follow directly on from integrated units currently being delivered in Years 5 and 6 and leading to the development of units at Year 9. The focus is on staff cohesion in planning and implementation of units of work, student engagement and consistency in teacher expectations and delivery across classes and KLA's.

Transdisciplinary Unit Development (Promising)

Caroline Springs College (08 November 2005)
Caroline Springs College are developing transdisciplinary units for Years 7 and 8 that follow directly on from integrated units currently being delivered in Years 5 and 6 and leading to the development of units at Year 9. The focus is on staff cohesion in planning and implementation of units of work, student engagement and consistency in teacher expectations and delivery across classes and KLA's.

Connect - an innovative concept for integrated curriculum delivery in the Middle Years of Schooling (Teacher Professional Leave)

Carrum Downs Secondary College (15 December 2006)
Connect is a student centered approach; it will improve all learning outcomes. It will meet the varied and diverse needs and interests of individual students, building on knowledge and transforming the current practice and the future practice of teachers.

Boys' Education (Teacher Professional Leave)

Carwatha College P-12 (02 November 2006)
Lachlan Noble's project concerned analyzing what the school system is doing to engage boys. This has involved visiting schools from all sectors, and meeting with researchers to discuss the programs that are in place. School and Department of Education and Training data reveal a real problem with boys' connectedness to school. Lachlan discovered that this is not a neglected issue. The diversity of strategies that have been implemented are diverse, and their results, while difficult to measure are very encouraging.

Finding ways to enable a move towards 'One to One' access in ICT (Teacher Professional Leave)

Carwatha College P-12 (02 November 2006)
Mif Grubb wanted to see if the use of Personal Digital Assistants would help both schools and students improve the amount of access time to digital resources - that is move towards one to one access in ICT and to enable the creation and use of ICT rich applications.

Optimising Student Learning in Secondary Maths Classes (Teacher Professional Leave)

Casterton Secondary College (05 October 2005)
Our cluster wanted to determine its areas of teaching strength and weaknesses, to introduce new teaching and learning strategies at each year level and to update our maths resource bank.

Using the VELS as a framework to develop whole-school, integrated inquiry-based curriculum units (Teacher Professional Leave)

Castlemaine North Primary School (01 August 2006)
The Team's aim was to improve the school's teaching and learning strategies to support a diverse range of learning styles that engaged students and enriched the curriculum. The Team needed to determine the best way to implement VELS into the curriculum.

ClickView: ICT for the technology shy (Teacher Professional Leave)

Castlemaine Secondary College (29 May 2006)
Improving the application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), with the specific goals of improving educational the outcomes for students and the methodology of the teachers was central to this Teacher Professional Leave.

Sustainability in Schools Program (Other)

CERES Environment Park (18 January 2007)
The ultimate aim of Education for Sustainability (EFS) is to give students 'ecoliteracy' and help future generations become citizens who are environmentally, socially and economically responsible.

Authentic and dynamic early years numeracy classroom (Exemplary)

Chandler Primary School (09 June 2005)
To improve the way maths was taught at their school, teachers at Chandler Primary worked in professional learning teams to develop their ability to select and teach math materials. The school adopted a 'maths is fun' approach and used simple materials in a varied ways.

Peer Coaching - the next tier at Cheltenham Primary School (Teacher Professional Leave)

Cheltenham Primary School (15 December 2006)
Teacher pedagogy is one Cheltenham Primary School's Charter Priorities. Peer coaching is a most effective means to bring about a change in the pedagogical practices of teachers and ultimately the engagement of students in their learning.

From Hands Up to Hands On - Creating a Year 9 Learning Project (Teacher Professional Leave)

Cheltenham Secondary College (15 December 2006)
How do you move from "Hands Up to Hands On" in Year 9? The Team went in search of schools with engaging Year 9 Programs. The result being C Cubed (C3) - a Year 9 Learning Project that involves a Challenge, Community Service and the City Experience.

Expanding Pathway Provision for Students (Teacher Professional Leave)

Cheltenham Secondary College (03 November 2006)
Paul Charles used his TPL to research the programs available to Later Years (Year 10-12) students. Currently, students at the College mainly study VCE units. There has been a low take up of other pathways and courses because of the curriculum and timetable structure. The intention is to structure the timetable to enable many Year 10 students to study Units 1 and 2, and to research other pathways, and thereby increase retention and engagement of students in education and training within and beyond the College.

From Hands up to Hands on - getting students involved in their learning (Teacher Professional Leave)

Cheltenham Secondary College (15 December 2006)
The development of engaging, "hands on" learning experiences for students in the Middle Years. These interdisciplinary units will be designed using Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS). The College curriculum will also be audited to determine alignment with VELS.

Animals lead the way to social competencies (Promising)

Churchill Primary School (17 November 2004)
In a program designed for at-risk students, Churchill Primary has a team of Junior Zoologists taking care of animals at school. Designed to improve social competencies, the program gives students responsibility for daily care of animals. They also research the animals and participate in an extension program with other schools.

The Chicken Shack (Promising)

Clayton West Primary School (20 October 2006)
Colin Price aimed to build links with the broader community and develop a project that would engage students with solving a real life practical problem, working across curriculum areas and through collaborative learning.

Transition/Bridging Curriculum programs for ESL students with disrupted schooling backgrounds (Teacher Professional Leave)

Cleeland Secondary College (03 November 2006)
Robyn Kamer, Graham Ferres and Marg Szabo focused on the development of curriculum programs for new arrival students, especially those with disrupted language learning. The programs at other schools will be investigated and professional development on effective pedagogy will be examined and appropriate strategies developed. Thinking tool and ESL across the curriculum principles will be incorporated into teaching and learning practice.

Mobile Robotics Station (Promising)

Cobaw Cluster (11 January 2007)
Cobaw Cluster are providing hands on experiences using computers and lego robots. Children are working cooperatively in pairs to program robots to complete tasks ranging from easy to difficult.

Solar Cars - A VELS/Transition Project (Promising)

Cobaw Cluster: Kyneton SC; MalmsburyPS; Redesdale Mia Mia PS; Langley PS; Kyneton PS; Tylden PS; Woodend PS; Newham PS; Lancefield PS (14 February 2007)
The Solar Car Project aims to: improve the learning of science and technology particularly in the VELS domain of Design, Creativity and Technology; engage students in learning. Engage boys in learning; build relationships between Cluster schools; and ease students' transition into secondary college.

Expand your horizons: targeting at risk Year 5 students (Exemplary)

Cobram Primary School (10 November 2004)
Cobram Primary School selected 12 at risk Year 5 students for Expand Your Horizons, a program designed to build interpersonal skills, provide mentoring and role models, and explore different options for employment and further education. Students involved in the program became more confident and articulate and their relationships with teachers improved.

The Rainbow Program for children of refugee families (Promising)

Cobram Primary School (10 November 2004)
Cobram Primary has a large number of students from non-English speaking backgrounds, including 57 who are the children of recent Iraqi refugees. They worked with the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture to set up the Rainbow Program for Children of Refugee Families. Ten students were initially selected for the program, which focused on self-confidence and engagement and included activities such as telling life stories. The students involved reported increased self-confidence and developed good relationships with their peers.

Quality Learning Australia - School improvement (Teacher Professional Leave)

Coburn Primary School (01 August 2006)
The Team undertook the Quality Learning Australia Program after a Diagnostic Review revealed there was a need to improve numeracy and literacy achievements, staff organisational health and students' connectedness to school. The results further indicated a need to improve the effectiveness of our school programs in engaging students. While participating in the Program the Professional Learning Team in the P-2 area have implemented some of the Quality Tools into their classrooms with noticeable impact.

Study of Numeracy and Literacy teaching in a remote aboritinal community (Teacher Professional Leave)

Cockatoo Primary School (24 July 2006)
The Team wanted to improve student learning outcomes by targeting improvement in numeracy and literacy levels, specifically for students who have previously had low performance.

Follow-up of Primary Newly Arrived Students who had exited the Program to a mainstream school two or more years earlier (Teacher Professional Leave)

Collingwood English Language School (20 March 2006)
Anne Joiner and Juliette Haggett focused their TPL on the transition process of Newly Arrived students who had exited from the New Arrival program two or more years prior to the commencement of the project. The Project aimed to gain information about learning needs and achievements; CSF levels attained in mainstream schools; literacy needs; welfare needs; absenteeism rates and student self esteem and confidence.

Student led interviews for assessment (Exemplary)

Copperfield College Kings Park Campus (10 November 2004)
Staff at Copperfield College addressed weaknesses in assessment and reporting by introducing student-led presentations. Students were able to present and reflect on their learning for a real purpose and to a real audience. Although time consuming, commitment by teachers, students and parents made the process a success.

Pedagogy: Researching Teaching and Learning in Years 3 and 4 (Teacher Professional Leave)

Coral Park Primary School (02 November 2006)
Ruth Biddle wants to improve the teaching and learning in Years 3 and 4. Ruth visited other 'like' schools to investigate their Years 3 and 4 programs, including curriculum planning and implementation, catering for student needs, assessment strategies, use of learning technologies and teaching resources and materials.

Embracing Change - Incorporating VELS into the Year 3/4 Curriculum (Teacher Professional Leave)

Coral Park Primary School (15 December 2006)
Working as a team, middle school teachers, Anita Broomhall, Ann-Marie Horsley, Ilona Bennett, Ruth Biddle and Lesley Campbell set out to discover how the Victorian Essential Learning Standards would impact the year 3/4 curriculum at their school.

Innovations and Excellence Middle Years Resarch - Teaching and Learning in Mathematics (Exemplary)

Coral Park Primary School (04 March 2007)
How mathematics became more meaningful, diverse, fun and interactive within our five senior classes.

My Mentor & 1 (Exemplary)

Corio Shores Cluster/Corio South Primary School (12 June 2007)
My Mentor & I program involves older students working one on one with the same student for one hour per week. Students are matched with students of similar interests to work on self esteem, confidence, literacy and numeracy.

Developing a Student Code of Conduct and Values (Teacher Professional Leave)

Craigieburn South Primary School (26 October 2005)
Liz Andrews developed and implemented a student code of conduct including behaviour expectations and values based on the students ideas and language. Since the implementation there have been an increase in the student's awareness of school behaviour expectations and values.

Working Together - Teaching Year 10 English (Promising)

Cranbourne Secondary College (21 December 2005)
Kelly Meikle made the decision at the start of the year to use her Year 10 English class as a trial group to try a new way of teaching according to a holistic philosophy that values learning, values the whole student, is based on mutual respect, is in a safe environment, is embedded in every lesson and shares intellectual control between student and teacher. Students are aware that high quality work is expected of them and that teacher and student want the same outcome from the English unit.

Applied Relational Learning - Tell someone who cares - How improved relationships impact on students connectedness and their learning (Teacher Professional Leave)

Croydon Hills Primary School (20 November 2006)
The Team wanted to see if improving relationships between members of the school community would enhance student learning. They developed a play-based program, authentic maths tasks and multi-age groups which focused on values and relational learning.

Foundation Studies Program (Promising)

Croydon Secondary College (11 January 2006)
Foundation Studies Program is a new program incoporating: Interpersonal Learning, Thinking, Personal Learning, Communication, and ICT domains in conjunction with digital portfolios and a student led conference.

Assisting Students who have Reading Difficulties in the Middle Years (Teacher Professional Leave)

Dallas Primary School (01 September 2005)
Renee Short's focus was on middle years literacy. Renee used John Munro's teaching approaches based on suggestions that in order for readers to be successful at reading they must be working at the following levels: word level; sentence level; conceptual level, topic level and dispositional level.

School-based action research for engagement in the middle years (Promising)

Dandenong Ranges Innovation and Excellence network (10 November 2004)
The network's vision for innovative reform is that three well functioning clusters will continue to work together as network to develop reflective enquiry-based teaching practice, and stronger links between schools, students, teachers, parents and the community. An embedded practice of action research among teachers will lead to improved student engagement.

School-based action research for lifelong learning (Exemplary)

Dandenong Ranges Schools Network (02 February 2006)
Three Clusters work together as a network to develop reflective enquiry-based teaching practice, and stronger links between schools, students, teachers, parents and the Community.

Engaging Reluctant Writers in the Environment (Teacher Professional Leave)

Dawes Road Primary School (25 January 2006)
Jacqui Pettigrove and Vicki Phillips wanted to improve the engagement in writing of students with high oral/low writing skills and low oral/low writing skills. They did this by teaching in a way that facilitates purposeful writing, with explicit teaching at point of need, where children are engaged in inquiry learning.

Kids At Play: playing your way to better social skills (Exemplary)

Debney Meadows Primary School (10 November 2004)
Working from research showing that children learn through play at a very early age, Debney Meadows Primary School created the Kids At Play Room. Young students use the room for regular sessions where they can actively explore, investigate and enjoy themselves in a safe and imaginative play world.

KAP (Kids At Play)- Improving children's social skills through constructive play (Exemplary)

Debney Meadows Primary School (08 November 2005)
The current Kids at Play program is a very direct response to the needs of our young children. It attempts to re create some of those missed experiences and helps the children to further develop to a more sophisticated level.

The City Project - Moving In (Exemplary)

Deer Park Secondary College (10 November 2004)
Deer Park Secondary College addressed disengagement in Year 9 students by setting up the City Project, which focused on the history, people and places of the City of Melbourne. The school took a team approach to curriculum development and worked in professional learning teams.

Cluster Student Leadership Teams (Teacher Professional Leave)

Deer Park/Albanvale Cluster (24 July 2006)
Athena focussed the TPL on Student Leadership. Each year different teachers have had the responsibility of overseeing the management and leadership of the Program. Teams of students have had the responsibility of training the trainer, so that Grade 6 students take their skills into secondary school and Grade 5 students maintain their responsibility for the primary setting.

'Dare to Excel Beyond the Classroom'- Supporting Transition (Exemplary)

Deer Park/Albanvale Middle Years Cluster (08 November 2005)
In partnership with the Brimbank Youth Services YMCA, the Deer Park/Albanvale Cluster identified a need for children to raise their expectations about their future vocational pathways. Data, in relation to employment and pathways for students in the post compulsory years, was analysed in conjunction with the Brimbank/Melton Local Learning Employment Network.

New Beginnings: A happy 'New Beginning' creates life-long learners (Teacher Professional Leave)

Derinya Primary School (19 December 2006)
The 'New Beginnings' team investigated the current best practise and existing transition and buddy programs. They recognised that a structured program which would equip prospective buddies with the skills and strategies they required needed to be established.

Interdependent Learning for Year 7 Teams (Teacher Professional Leave)

Diamond Valley College (29 November 2005)
Jenny Gersh and Pamela Densley focused their TPL on developing a classroom system at Year 7 with processes that would support interdependent learning and the related pedagogies. The main focus was student learning.

VET in schools - training for the automotive industry (Exemplary)

Doveton Secondary College (10 November 2004)
Doveton Secondary College hosts an Automative Skills Centre that offers training to a large group of local secondary colleges. The school delivers the VET Certificate II to students enrolled in VCE or VCAL. Students receive apprenticeship training and specialised training from LINK Employment and Training.

Colour and Movement: A 'Whole School' visual approach to Numeracy and Number Sense from Prep to Year 8 (Exemplary)

Drouin Cluster of Innovation and Excellence (27 February 2006)
The Program addresses numeracy from Prep level to increase children's number sense and confidence with number. It is rich in visual representations, student involvement with 'creating meaning' involving numbers, and creating/sharing through ICT. From tens frames at Prep, the Program uses arrays to improve students' understanding and enjoyment of basic number facts, fractions and early algebra (to Year 8).

Creating Mathematical Thinkers (Teacher Professional Leave)

Eaglehawk North Primary School (20 March 2006)
The Team focused on improving Classroom Teaching and Learning with emphasis on Numeracy. The aim was to: investigate how thinking skills can improve understanding in mathematics; study excellent teachers of mathematics who use high level thinking skills and study excellent teaching and learning practices that improve student learning.

The literary arts: inspiring Year 9 and 10 boys (Promising)

Eaglehawk Secondary College (10 November 2004)
Eaglehawk Secondary College set up an all-boys group to encourage Year 9 and 10 boys to participate in the literary arts. The boys worked well across a range of activities that included poetry and prose writing, video making, and acting.

United: a multicultural awareness/anti-racism project (Promising)

Eaglehawk Secondary College (10 November 2004)
'People are different and so is religion. It's better to know than to be uncomfortable.' This partnership between Eaglehawk Secondary and the Western Young People's Independent network addressed racism and cultural differences by giving students an opportunity to meet young people from different cultures.

'Eco - Ed': A Down to Earth Outdoor Education Program for Students in Years 5-8 (Teacher Professional Leave)

Eastbourne Primary School (02 November 2006)
Julie Christie used the Eco-Ed program to give students the opportunity to learn about the world in which they live, by fostering a sense of 'cultural literacy' whilst engaged in meaningful and challenging activities in 'outdoor' settings. Julie aimed for her students to develop an appreciation of the diverse local environment and an understanding that we are part of the eco-system, dependent on the natural world like any other living species. The Eco- Ed program address' some of the ecological issues which are relevant to long term sustainability.

A study of Building Background Knowledge in learning areas (Teacher Professional Leave)

Echuca College (09 June 2006)
At Echuca Secondary College, wanted to improve literacy in all students with the objective of improving results at VCE. Paul felt that students needed to build their background knowledge in learning areas so full potential and achievement could be realised.

SWIRL (Story Writing In Remote Locations) 2004 (Teacher Professional Leave)

Echuca Secondary College (29 May 2006)
The SWIRL Program has operated since 1995. In 2004 Ralph worked with 35 students from various Universities who were mostly undertaking teacher training courses. For one month these students worked in 13 schools in remote indigenous communities in Northern Territory delivering a Literacy program through story writing and use of technology. Ralph's role was to be in charge of half of those students, who were placed in communities within 450km of Alice Springs.

The Yarra Project -The cultural and scientific significance of the Yarra River to the people of Victoria. (Teacher Professional Leave)

Eltham East Primary School (21 November 2005)
Kathryn Patford and Gayle Skinner wanted to bring true hands on valid science and technology into the primary school along a Middle Years model. They wanted their children to see their place within their own society and know that they can make a positive change in the environment.

Using Educational Management Systems to Enhance Teaching and Learning in the Classroom (Teacher Professional Leave)

Eltham North Primary School (01 September 2005)
Chris Tatnall developed a FileMaker Pro database to store additional information about each student. The database included intervention and support as well as reports by visiting professionals (psychologists, speech and sight assessments). Chris wanted to improve the ability to track students from one year to the next and provide teachers with valuable background information on each student.

Reading intervention programs for at risk students (Exemplary)

Eltham North Primary School (10 November 2004)
Eltham North Primary took an early intervention approach to prevent children developing reading problems. Staff received professional development and a number of support programs for at risk children were trialled and established. Student achievement results have now improved and students, staff and teachers are all enthusiastic about the program.

Integrated Claymation (Promising)

Eltham Primary School (07 December 2005)
While students have good basic ICT skills and a fascination with technology, ICT was a non integrated component of the school curriculum with a narrow focus. To address this, a unit of work was created that incorporated and exploration of simple animation.

Student Leadership (Promising)

Elwood 'Village of Learning' Cluster (15 January 2007)
Leadership 4 ALL! student leadership conference. For students to practice leadership through action. The Project facilitated collaboration between primary and secondary teachers, teamed with community partners to address students' authentic learning opportunties to improve features of the local physical and social environment.

Class Meetings and the Positive Discipline Approach to Classroom Management (Exemplary)

Emerald Primary School (08 February 2006)
Through the implementation of the Positive Discipline Approach to Classroom Management and class meetings the Team are teaching children about mutual respect, cooperation, acceptance of differences, win/win solutions and responsibility. Through this approach they practise pro social skills, communication skills and problem solving skills. This approach develops a positive, caring classroom environment where children work together to help one another.

You Can Do It (Exemplary)

Emerald Secondary College (02 February 2006)
The need to improve students' social competencies was realised by a small group of teachers (I&E Working Group) who sought out PD with the You Can Do It program. These teachers initially trialled the Program in their own classes, and based on that success introduced it to our Year 7-8 classes and the Year 9 Health education curriculum in 2004.

Issues of Transition: Factors affecting the transition of high-achieving students from a semi-rural secondary school setting to Tertiary study (Teacher Professional Leave)

Emerald Secondary College (21 December 2005)
Krisha Clarke wanted to know more about the role that the school, and school location, play in student transition from secondary to Tertiary education.

Independent Living Skills for Students with Disabilities (Teacher Professional Leave)

Emerald Secondary College (21 December 2005)
Leonie Jones and Julie Cross-Gunn wanted to further develop their current Living Skills program. Both had the opportunity to visit a range of school settings and liaise with colleagues and research the latest educational initiatives. Leonie and Julie have introduced new components to their Living Skills program and have developed a Horticulture course that assists students with physical and social skills development.

Social Stories: using stories to teach social behaviour (Exemplary)

Eppalock Primary School (10 November 2004)
"Some days I have a great time at school." Eppalock Primary introduced Social Stories to help students with disabilities who found social situations stressful. Stories are written or told to share social information that the young person may lack in difficult situations. Students enjoy the Stories and their social behaviour has improved.

Podcasting Living Histories (Teacher Professional Leave)

Epsom Primary School (17 October 2006)
Damien Jenkyn and Jenny Ashby worked on a unit that involved the students in interviewing past teachers, parents and students about their memories of their time at Epsom Primary School. The interviews were published as podcasts and a supporting profile page was published as a webpage. The project created an authentic task for Epsom's 125th anniversary in October 2006.

Classroom Climate is not just Air Conditioning (Teacher Professional Leave)

Essendon Keilor College (Niddrie Campus) (01 August 2006)
Transforming Learning (UK) provides on-line surveys, which give staff an opportunity to find out about their classroom climate from the student perspective. The process encourages teachers to design action plans, which directly relate to the improvement of learning outcomes for students.

'Island Survival' - A Multi-Faceted Unit of Work (Teacher Professional Leave)

Essex Heights Primary (Mt Waverley Cluster) (08 February 2006)
The Team investigated current curriculum models then designed a multi-faceted curriculum model including a unit framework of curriculum content, learning skills/strategies, student behaviours and effective communication.

Project Title: Connecting Students in Rural and Urban Environments via an Integrated 0 Differentiated Curriculum (Teacher Professional Leave)

Eumemmerring College (15 December 2006)
This research project was based on an inquiry-learning model. It was collaborative in its nature and involved both students and teachers in early and middle years. Students and teachers from urban and rural settings were linked via a common project: "The Weather Watchers".

Bicycles for East Timor (Promising)

Euroa Secondary College (10 November 2004)
Students are repairing reclaimed or donated bikes for underprivileged communities. Students source the bikes, work in the workshop to assess and repair them and then deliver them. The project improved engagement and students were able to develop leadership skills and a good knowledge of the wider community.

Innovative Curriculum Design aligned with VELS to Increase Student Engagement (Teacher Professional Leave)

Fairhills Primary School (20 November 2006)
The Middle Years classroom offers definite challenges but also provides an opportunity for flexible and innovative curriculum to address the trend of waning student engagement in school and the correlated drop in academic achievement. Cory Pearce from Fairhills Primary School set out to investigate the design and implementation of these programs that meet these criteria.

Communication Technology to Support Negotiated Learning (Teacher Professional Leave)

Findon Primary School (01 September 2005)
Cathryn Dunlop and Kaye Williamson sought to investigate possibilities for extending aspects of the Reggio Emilia approach beyond the Early Years and gained insights into ways this can be achieved.

Purposeful teaching and student attainment - 'We cannot work to create a future which we do not first imagine' (Teacher Professional Leave)

Fitzroy High School (17 October 2006)
Fitzroy High School aims to personalise each student's learning. This means knowing students as learners, shaping the learning experience to the individual and both supporting and extending student learning in all areas.

Flight Path Cluster - Student Publishing Day (Promising)

Flight Path Cluster - Gladstone Park SC, Gladstone Park PS, Gladstone Views PS, Greenvale PS, Westmeadows PS (07 December 2005)
The Flight Path Cluster is raising awareness of Thinking tools and strategies by having students themselves, using ICT, produce materials to be displayed and used within Cluster classrooms.

Student Mentoring: Sport Leadership (Promising)

Flora Hill Cluster (04 March 2007)
The Cluster wanted to provide Grade 5 and 6 boys with the opportunity to work with positive role models (Year 10 PE Mentors) to develop Leadership Skills and Sports Coaching confidence. The intention was to equip the mentees with the knowledge, skills and confidence to plan and implement sporting activities for other primary students back at their own schools. The added bonus of the program was the Transition benefit of increased familiarity and engagement with Secondary College facilities, staff and students.

Student Success 2007 Working Party (Teacher Professional Leave)

Flora Hill Secondary College (09 June 2006)
The Team focussed on research and analysis of a best practice pedagogy and delivery model to support the integrated implementation of VELS. Three key characteristics of effective schools supported by this proposal are: Focus on teaching and learning; stimulating and secure learning environment; and learning communities.

"The Cool Kids Gardening Club" - program to engage children who find school challenging socially or academically (Teacher Professional Leave)

Footscray North Primary School (21 November 2005)
Mary Dowling focused her TPL on The Gardening Club program. The Program aims to engage children in a 'hands on' practical program to motivate, stimulate and encourage their learning. It is to be used as a vehicle for learning across the curriculum, as well as developing positive social and interpersonal skills, build self-esteem and self-confidence, and develop a sense of responsibility and creativity.

Making movies: multiliteracies across the curriculum (Promising)

Footscray West Primary School (10 November 2004)
"This movie is the best thing I've ever done!" With the help of the Re@act Film Festival students at Footscray Primary produced two short films that were screened at the Festival. Students were highly motivated and enthusiastic about the project, which accessed all curriculum areas and also addressed engagement and literacy.

Sands throughthe Hour Glass, So Are The Habits Of Their Minds (Teacher Professional Leave)

Fulong Main Cluster (St Albans Meadows PS, Albion North PS, St Albans South PS, St Albans Heights PS, St Albans SC (01 August 2006)
The Furlong Main Cluster's challenge was to support Middle Years teachers in sharing ideas and developing an understanding of the Habits of Mind. Their goal was to give students tools and thinking strategies enabling them to be effective problem solvers.

Student Centred Learning Pedagogy (Teacher Professional Leave)

Galvin Park Secondary College (01 September 2005)
Daniela Angelico and Leanne Gagatsis focused on student centred learning and the pedagogy required to operate successfully in an open space environment. This extended into the use of Individual Learning Plans incorporating digital portfolios, and the benefits of an integrated curriculum approach.

From Library to Learning Centre (Teacher Professional Leave)

Galvin Park Secondary College (01 September 2005)
Currently pedagogy, learning research and curriculum reforms (Blueprint) provide the literature and standards to link learning and school libraries. Alison Armstrong wanted to develop specific strategies that teacher-librarians and schools can implement to improve student learning.

Developing of Thinking Skills in Number (Teacher Professional Leave)

George Street Primary School (26 October 2005)
Gail Holmes investigated the way in which primary aged children develop their thinking skills in Number. Gail discovered research has shown that the most effective way for students to learn number facts is to organise the facts into "clusters" based on a thinking strategy for all facts in that cluster. She focused on her own 3-4 class.

The Amazing Race VCAL Style (Exemplary)

Gisborne Secondary College (16 March 2006)
The race involved students in groups of two leaving from nearby Sunbury making their own way into the Melbourne CBD. Each group was given $40 each. Students had to complete 12 checkpoints somewhere in the CBD. At each checkpoint they were required to gather evidence . The finishing line was atop the Rialto Towers Observation Deck.

A web-based reporting program (Promising)

Gladstone Park Secondary College (17 November 2004)
Gladstone Park Secondary College introduced STAR, a web-based reporting tool that allows teachers to produce short progress reports to assist with parent/teacher interviews. Several teachers are using STAR to encourage students to monitor their own progress and student 'self-reports' are being trialled.

School Culture, Student/Staff Wellbeing/Engagement (Teacher Professional Leave)

Glen Devon Primary School (24 July 2006)
Mary O'Brien focussed on social-personal learning; Student Engagement - through environmental "hands on" programs or activities; social skills developed through the TRIBES program.

Thinking for the future (Teacher Professional Leave)

Glen Huntly Primary School (15 December 2006)
Exploring and implementing Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS) and Principles of Learning and Teaching (PoLT) strategies to improve student learning outcomes. Developing the 'Thinking Curriculum' using a range of inquiry learning planning models and a range of thinking tools.

Child centred assessment and reporting strategies (Exemplary)

Glen Katherine Primary School (10 November 2004)
When a parent survey showed that assessment and reporting techniques were not well-received by parents, Glen Katherine Primary comprehensively revised their strategies to make them more child-centred. Students now write their own goals, complete common assessment tasks, reflect on learning and participate in three way conferences.

Leadership and Professional Learning (Teacher Professional Leave)

Glen Orden Primary School (01 September 2005)
Marjorie Slater had two goals: to improve staff and student learning outcomes in the school and to improve her teaching practice. She gained both, by seeing the value of her instinctive learning/teaching as the reading of professional papers validated much of what she was already doing in the classroom.

How best to implement the Victorian Essential Learnings framework through an integrated curriculum to improve student knowledge, skills and social competencies (Teacher Professional Leave)

Golden Square Secondary College (09 June 2006)
The Team worked on How the Essential Learning Framework provided schools in Tasmania with a shared scaffold in which to develop integrated curriculum building on improved social competence, deeper levels of thinking and understanding. From this, the Team hoped to better understand how implementing the new VELS could achieve similar improved teacher/learning outcomes in our College.

Beyond the square - The MIDAS Project (Meeting, Involving, Doing at Square) (Teacher Professional Leave)

Golden Square Secondary College (29 May 2006)
The Team wanted to establish stronger links with the immediate and broader school community in order to increase student engagement, implement the VELS and incorporate authentic learning in the curriculum. The College is introducing a new model of curriculum the TPL focused on a way of delivering transdisciplinary learning with community links.

Life-Long Numeracy skills (Teacher Professional Leave)

Gowrie Street Primary School (17 October 2006)
Students in Years 3 -6 have been challenged to develop more efficient computational skills and strategies. The Gowrie Street Primary School Teacher Professional Leave team aims to research, to explore and to share 'best practice' with all staff to improve student outcomes in this area.

Implementing Victorian Essential Learning Standards (Exemplary)

Gresswell Cluster (Kingsbury Primary, Macleod P-12 College, Rosanna Golf Links Primary and Rosanna Primary) (10 November 2004)
The Gresswell Cluster is using it's website to model a strategy to implement the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS). The model demonstrates how VELS can be used with existing programs and provides a process to audit and review a school's curriculum for developing new units of work.

The Brain Workshop: Learning with the Brain in Mind (Promising)

Grimshaw Excellence and Innovations Cluster (21 December 2005)
Building on prior cluster practices we are involving all cluster students, together with a significant number of staff and parents in better understanding how learning takes place and the vital part the brain plays in the learning journey. We are then able to reflect on and develop our classroom practices and pedagogy to reinforce this knowledge.

Battle of the Brains (Exemplary)

Grimshaw Innovations and Excellence Cluster (23 November 2006)
The aim of the Grimshaw Cluster's Battle of the Brains Program was to continue to encourage the Middle Years students in our Cluster to think creatively. We also continued to strengthen the link between cluster schools and help to make the transition from Primary to Secondary more comfortable.

Enhancing Individuals Naturally Developing Independence (Year 3/4) Learning and Engagement (Teacher Professional Leave)

Hallam Valley Primary School (15 December 2006)
The Hallam Valley teaching group sought to address the school's issues by taking account of current government initiatives and understanding the needs of our students at this stage of their development. The focus of the investigation was in the areas of English and Interpersonal Development. The key areas are independence, deep learning and intrinsic motivation.

The Effects of a Direct Instruction Program on Numeracy Outcomes (Promising)

Hamilton Cluster (12 June 2007)
The Cluster wanted to reduce the percentage of students below the national mean so they introduced the Direct Instruction comprehensive Maths program designed around the Australian National Maths Curriculum profile.

The Effects of a Direct Instruction Program on Numeracy Outcomes (Promising)

Hamilton Innovation Excellence Cluster (27 February 2006)
All students in Years 5-8 in the Hamilton Innovation Excellence Cluster are undertaking Elementary Maths Mastery. It is a Direct Instruction comprehensive Maths program designed around the Australian National Maths Curriculum Profile.

An Integrated/Negotiated Curriculum approach to learning (Exemplary)

Hampton Park Primary School (10 April 2006)
The school is implementing an Integrated/Negotiated Curriculum approach to improve student engagement and self esteem, promote thinking skills and improve student learning outcomes.

Let's 'think' about Curriculum (Teacher Professional Leave)

Hastings Primary School (19 December 2006)
To engage student learning the Team endeavoured to enrich the curriculum, personal and interpersonal learning and creating student responsibility for learning. Create an exciting and stimulating learning environment for both students and teachers which would enrich planning, teaching, learning and assessment.

'I've got that Somers Feeling' - Please Explain! (Teacher Professional Leave)

Hastings West-Park Primary School and Somers School Camp (19 December 2006)
Somers School Camp staff wanted students to reflect on their personal growth during their camping experience. The TPL 1 team researched qualitative assessment. Our TPL 2 team embarked on a mission to develop a range of tools that would assess our program, improve our reporting and optimise the children's ability to reflect.

Integrated Project (Exemplary)

Hawthorn Secondary College (09 June 2006)
An Integrated Project was undertaken on the topic of Space. The project was for two weeks in which the students worked only on the project. A different timetable ran for the two weeks. The students had to pre plan, and monitor their progress over the two weeks in the form of personal learning journals and diaries. Each student had a free choice of topic and presentation approach. The project was started by two immersion activities - an excursion to Swinburn Astro Lab and the building and launching of water rockets. All VELs Domains and Dimensions were covered in some way.

Chains: Year 9 and links to the community (Teacher Professional Leave)

Heatherhill Secondary College (19 December 2006)
Lisa Ip contacted local community agencies in order to arrange incursions and excursions for Year 9 students. As part of the Year 9 personal learning journey, the Year 9's were expected to undertake voluntary work experience in the local community.

Letting them in on the secret (Teacher Professional Leave)

Hepburn Primary School, Newlyn Primary School, Mt Blowhard Primary School (29 November 2005)
Jo-Anne Eason, Pam Hall and Karen Moon used their TPL to investigate ways they could support and engage boys in the early years in order for them to become confident, independent writers.

Authentic Inquiry Based Learning (Exemplary)

High Country Cluster (14 February 2007)
The Cluster wanted to improve student engagement by: giving students authentic learning experiences; creating strong links with community; exposing students to enterprise learning; and improving students team work, decision making, meeting deadlines, troubleshooting. The Cluster did this by having students enter into an enterprise arrangement with a local Biodynamic farm to produce 80 laying hens for the farm. These hens would then be put up for sponsorship to create funds for the farm.

Connected to Thinking (Promising)

Highvale Primary School (21 December 2005)
Improve student connectedness to school and teachers. The Team want to: improve student engagement and attitudes to school; to develop a whole school approach to the Thinking Curriculum; development of a scope and sequence for the Thinking Curriculum for Prep to Year 6; and development and employment of problem solving skills, thinking strategies and cooperative skills in mathematics.

Learning and Teaching Model (Promising)

Highvale Secondary College (21 December 2005)
Sharing successful and innovative teaching practices both formally and informally. Focus has been on the development of a Teaching and Learning manual, accompanied with intensive inservicing of all staff across KLAs.

Embedding Essential Learning Experiences in the Classroom (Exemplary)

Highvale-Wheelers Hill Innovations and Excellence Cluster (15 January 2007)
The Cluster wanted to develop the learning capacity of students by embedding essential learning experiences in our classrooms.

Middle Years Literacy Intervention (Teacher Professional Leave)

Hillcrest Secondary College (07 December 2005)
Elizabeth Balfour, Jennifer Meggs and Fay Wise used their TPL to provide high-level literacy support to students identified 'at risk' in Year 7. By identifying these students early in their secondary education and addressing the holes in their literacy development, the Team have greatly improved their abilities to access text in all curriculum areas.

Digital Learning Portfolios (Promising)

Hopkins Cluster (12 June 2007)
The Cluster wanted to explore the potential of Digital Portfolios to capture evidence of student learning. Professional development was run, equipment was purchased and lent out to schools. The Team visited schools outside their Region to view portfolios and had inter cluster school visits and peer tutoring across the cluster.

Koorie culture and heritage at Horsham College (Promising)

Horsham College (10 November 2004)
To address the needs of Koorie students, Horsham College decided to develop a Koorie Inclusive Curriculum. The College introduced a professional development program for teachers and developed a Koorie-focused teachers manual. Staff now have better knowledge of Koorie culture and heritage and have developed strong links with the local Koorie community.

Raising the profile of literacy at Kalianna Special School (Exemplary)

Kalianna Special School (10 November 2004)
Staff at Kalianna Special School decided they needed a more structured and meaningful approach to literacy which would help students express their full potential. A Literacy Coordinator was appointed and a Reading Recover teacher trained. The school purchased new reading material and also explored other tools and technologies.

Negotiated Integrated Units (Exemplary)

Kallista Primary School (02 February 2006)
Kallista Primary School asked the question: Under the Thinking Curriculum, will the student-inspired negotiated units improve student motivation, engagement and deep understanding?

Creating global thinkers - Kambrya College's Global Journey (Exemplary)

Kambrya College (10 November 2004)
Focusing on 'how to learn', Global Journey aims to equip each student for a journey, teaching them how to set goals; meet real world challenges, think critically and function within a community.

Building a Collaborative and Sustainable Learning Community (Teacher Professional Leave)

Karingal Heights Primary School (03 November 2006)
The Team investigated why the school's benchmarks in some areas of literacy were below like schools. The Team discovered that the Preps are entering school with lower levels of oral language development and few pre-reading skills. They have developed and implemented programs to their curriculum, utilizing the expertise of the special needs teacher and speech therapists.

'Tell Us We Care' - Developing Social Competencies (Teacher Professional Leave)

Keilor Down Primary School (01 August 2006)
A diverse Learning Team at Keilor Downs Primary School looked at creative methods of integrating social competencies into the classroom.

Prep students set their own reading and writing goals (Exemplary)

Kennington Primary School (10 November 2004)
Literacy teachers at Kennington Primary School developed a system of picture prompts to help students identify what they did well and what needed improvement. Students had their own self-assessment sheets and as they became more confident and proficient teachers saw them using the picture prompts independently and appropriately.

Kites fly high at Kennington (Exemplary)

Kennington Primary School (10 November 2004)
Kennington Primary developed the Kites program to support at risk literacy students. Kites students work in a small group with a literacy tutor, reading individually or together. They work on letters and words using whiteboards, magnetic letters and reading materials, and focus on story line, high frequency words, letter blends and articulation.

Pedagogy Reform for Reluctant Learners (Teacher Professional Leave)

Kensington Community High School (01 September 2005)
Christine Nash identified that productive strategies for reluctant learners and those with learning difficulties might provide students with greater ownership of their learning and improve positive classroom risk taking in learning.

Introducing the Principles of Reggio Emilia: Changing Pedagogy at Kensington Primary School (Teacher Professional Leave)

Kensington Primary School (01 September 2005)
Robyn Perkins did a lot of research on Reggio Emilia. This involved talking to her mentor, Julie Hertz, reading material written by teachers, visiting schools in Melbourne and attending professional development. Robyn introduced Reggio Emilia to Kensington Primary School to see if literacy levels in the infant school improved.

The development of a negotiated curriculum model (Promising)

Kew Cluster (16 June 2006)
The Cluster is investigating ways of enhancing student engagement through giving students greater input into determining their curriculum and fostering greater ownership of their learning.

Using student portfolios and three way conferences for reporting (Promising)

Kew Primary School (10 November 2004)
Based on research and supported by professional development, Kew Primary School set up Learning Portfolios to improve assessment and reporting practices across the school. Parents are very positive about Learning Portfolios and students were able to use them to discuss samples of their work and take their work home.

Development of VET Teaching Resources in IT and Multimedia (Teacher Professional Leave)

Lakes Entrance Secondary College (01 September 2005)
Boyd McPhee saw that students were struggling to cope with text based courses in VCE, such as IPM. To help the students he developed a structured course outline and a self paced module and set up a new room with IT hardware. From this, the students could take a structured approach the tasks to be completed and progress through the course.

Oral Language Development Through Play (Teacher Professional Leave)

Lalor East Primary School (10 July 2006)
Visiting other primary schools and kindergartens that operate Oral Language Programs based on Educational Play we needed to find out how to establish an Oral Language Centre. What are the optimal conditions that would ensure an improvement in the Oral language of Lalor East Primary School students?

Assessment and reporting: whole school approach (Promising)

Lara Secondary College (10 November 2004)
Recently established Lara Secondary College developed a framework for assessment based on competencies, team work and problem solving. Principle Greg Spurling attributes the program's success to the fact that staff and students have hands-on ownership of the model.

The Breakfast Club - a meeting and learning focus (Promising)

Laverton Secondary College (10 November 2004)
Laverton Secondary set up the Breakfast Club to tackle two issues: lack of connectedness and students coming to school without a healthy breakfast. The Club is a friendly meeting place for students to socialise and learn about healthy eating. Several other local schools also participate, making the program a community venture.

Engaging Young People in the Music Industry (Promising)

Laverton Secondary College (10 November 2004)
Laverton Secondary College targeted at-risk students by designing a specialised program to get into the music industry. The program employed a Case Worker and partnered with a local primary school. The students involved took on extra responsibility for others and worked in teams, giving them the confidence to forward plan.

Lavnet livens up science (Exemplary)

Laverton Secondary College (10 November 2004)
Laverton Secondary College worked with 15 local schools to develop engaging science projects. The program developed innovative and fun science kits and offered the use of their robotics lab to the network of schools. Science teachers were offered professional development and the schools held a Science Expo.

Enlightened LOTE - A study on how to teach LOTE effectively within a limited time allocation (Teacher Professional Leave)

Lloyd Street School (19 December 2006)
With the declining time allocation for Languages Other Than English (LOTE) in primary schools, Pamela Sherriff found it increasingly difficult to teach new vocabulary to students because half of each lesson would be spent on revision of the previous lesson.

Learning from REAL at Castlemaine Secondary (Teacher Professional Leave)

Lynall Hall and Castlemaine Secondary College (01 September 2005)
Steve Carroll examined strategies for re-engagement used in REAL, a successful program tackling student absenteeism. The program has also received recognition for improving literacy within its Year 8-9 cohort. Steve wanted to compare and contrast the approach at Lynall Hall with other programs for 'difficult kids.'

'Think About The Rest' (Promising)

Lyndale Primary School (14 February 2007)
In 2006, Year 5 students at Lyndale Primary School produced a music video that incorporated many issues, areas of the curriculum as well as ICT applications and softwares. The music video 'Think About The Rest' was well received by the wider community and won awards from the ruMAD Foundation and 2006 Kahootz Awards. It was also short-listed as a finalist at The Australian Short Film Festival and shown on Channel 31.

Student Leadership Annual Conference (Promising)

Lyndhurst Cluster (15 January 2007)
The Cluster are developing the leadership skills of selected students in Years 5-8 to model to all students in the cluster of schools.

A program for Pedagogical Change at Year 9 (Teacher Professional Leave)

Lyndhurst Secondary College (03 November 2006)
Nicola Park, Tanya Blanch and Marc Butler used their TPL on The Real Thing. The Real Thing is a subject that has been introduced at Year 9 at Lyndhurst Secondary College to better engage students in their learning. It focuses on providing students with an authentic curriculum based on real life and real student interests. The pedagogical approaches to The Real Thing are based on negotiated curriculum, constructive student-teacher relationships and catering for learning styles, learning preferences and mixed abilities.

Implementing change in the Year 9 program at Maffra Secondary College (Teacher Professional Leave)

Maffra Secondary College (07 December 2005)
Sue Clancy, Loueen Smith, Karen Milner and Caroline Duck decided to improve attendance and learning outcomes of Year 9 Students by totally redeveloping their Year 9 Program.

The Development of inferential reading comprehension in the primary years (Teacher Professional Leave)

Malvern Primary School (02 November 2006)
Judith Carter used her TPL to investigate and develop inferential reading comprehension strategies in the primary years in order to improve student learning outcomes. Assessment of the difficulty of reading materials will be ongoing. The reading materials will include narrative and factual texts.

Programs Promoting a Positive School Community (Teacher Professional Leave)

Mansfield Primary School (17 October 2006)
The Team wanted to improve student engagement and wellbeing. The Team are endeavouring to achieve our project through the implementation of innovative programs and teaching practices that will enhance a collective approach to whole school welfare.

Awesome Middle Years Project Based Pathways to VCAL! (Teacher Professional Leave)

Mansfield Secondary College (17 October 2006)
Mansfield Secondary College has a strong VCAL program. Many students choose this as a second option to VCE. By this stage they have often experienced continual failure and subsequently, lower self-esteem. We needed to develop a program which focuses on the competencies used in VCAL, which could be accessed by ALL students BEFORE they reach Year 11 and 12. This Program was to be project-based and utilise the knowledge and skills of disciplines and be transdiciplinary, that is, solve a real problem, in this case sustainability. We now have a Program called Project 89, facilitated by two teachers and it rocks!!!

Promoting Relational learning through Values Education (Promising)

Maroondah North Cluster (11 April 2006)
The Cluster is keen to demonstrate how teachers can further develop/facilitate improved relationships to promote student learning without implementing a new program. On a more global scale, the Cluster's goal is to create communities rich in 'social capital' where all children have opportunities to achieve success emotionally, academically and socially.

Recognising and extending learning in a music ensemble and organising a new music teacher network. (Teacher Professional Leave)

Matthew Flinders Girls Secondary College (09 January 2006)
Ross Lipson and Richard McLean explored ways to recognise and extend the learning taking place in Sweethearts, a music ensemble that performs in professional contexts, as well as making contacts with other teachers who were developing alternative approaches to student musical performance.

Using Multimedia in Secondary Schools (Teacher Professional Leave)

McGuire College (21 December 2005)
Danny Lythgo and David Muir used their TPL to upgrade their skills in Multimedia. Both have obtained higher skills with Visual Design, Web Design, PhotoShop and Image Manipulation, Director, Dreamweaver and Video Editing.

Rich Task Development (Exemplary)

McKinnon Innovations and Excellence Cluster (16 March 2006)
McKinnon Cluster wanted to improve student engagement in the Middle Years. At the same time the Cluster wanted to give teachers a chance to work in cross-curricular teams using a wider range of teaching approaches with a flow-on effect in their classrooms.

Artists in Schools 2006 - Make us laugh! (Exemplary)

Melbourne Girls' College (11 January 2007)
n 2006 Melbourne Girls' College developed a project entitled 'Make Us Laugh!' Which focused on the artistry and explored the influence of comedy. Artist in residence, Damian Callinan worked with a diverse group of Year 9 students and their World of Ideas (WOI) teachers to create polished, original performances for the inaugural Melbourne Girls' College Community Comedy Festival. The project was born out of a comedy unit the shool undertook in 2005 but felt that the expertise of a professional would steer the project in the required direction. In late September 2005 the school applied for Artists in Schools funding to emply comedian, Damian Callinan.

Emotional Intelligence (Teacher Professional Leave)

Melrose Primary School (07 December 2005)
Jane Scott and Vicki Price focused on teaching emotional intelligence. Both aim to improve students ability to manage their emotions and consequently, empathize with others. Teaching students how to control their behaviour and thinking will enable them to become better learners and citizens, and give them better life opportunities.

Creating Rich Projects to engage students and motivate learning (Teacher Professional Leave)

Melrose Primary School (05 December 2006)
Melrose Primary, like many schools, strives to engage and motivate students in learning that expects them to use higher order thinking and problem solving skills. The Teacher Professional Leave team wrote and trialled high quality rich projects resulting in the development of a process for further planning and sustainability.

Using the thinking curriculum to differentiate the curriculum for the gifted learner (Teacher Professional Leave)

Mentone Girls' Secondary College (19 December 2006)
The aim of this case study research is to explore gifted learners' perceptions about how they best learn, and to explore the teachers' perceptions of how they are differentiating the curriculum to meet the need of gifted learners.

Developing the integration of effective ICT practice across the curriculum (Promising)

Merri Cluster: Brauer College, Warrnambool Special Developmental School, Grasmere, Woodford and Merrivale Schools (12 June 2007)
The Team wanted to introduce teachers and students to a range of technologies to embed effective ICT use, tools and strategies across the curriculum.

Teaching Reading Recovery at a Specialist School (Exemplary)

Mildura Specialist School (16 March 2006)
Teaching Reading Recovery Program to students with a intellectual disability. Lessons were individually designed for each student, suiting the student's learning abilities and needs. Lessons often required repetition, simplicity, moderation and a variation of teaching methods and materials for each student.

Developing the Compass Award Program in Years 5 to 8 (Teacher Professional Leave)

Milgate Primary School and East Doncaster Secondary College (12 January 2007)
The Team developed the Compass program. The Compass program starts in the middle years of primary school and continues in Years 7 and 8. A manual was written to guide students, teacher mentors and parents undertaking the program. The long term goal was that students would stay with the Program for four years.

Friendly kids make safer places (Exemplary)

Milgate PS, Donburn PS & Templestowe Heights PS (10 November 2004)
Teachers from Milgate, Donburn and Templestowe Heights primary schools worked together to create a caring school climate. They started by auditing their existing practice, identified problem areas and developed an action plan to teach social competencies and emotional literacy.

Supporting the Mini Sets Program (Teacher Professional Leave)

Mill Park Secondary College (29 May 2006)
Using the thinking curriculum, support materials were designed and adapted in line with VELS and POLT, to be used by English classroom teachers when using the Mini Sets with their students (Year 7-9).

We can do it better: VCAL and VET (Teacher Professional Leave)

Mill Park Secondary College (22 June 2006)
Mill Park Secondary College has recognised a need to promote the uptake of both VET and VCAL for those students who might most benefit from "hands on" styles of learning.

How student data can drive reform (Teacher Professional Leave)

Mirboo North and District Schools' Cluster Group (20 March 2006)
The members of the Maths Group spent time specifically concentrating on common fractions. At meetings, many ideas and activities were shared by group members. The Team also devised a Cluster test that looked specifically at common fractions. The test was made up from material from Year 5 and Year 6 maths activities. The test showed that most students have a good, basic understanding of common fractions but struggled to apply this knowledge.

Boys Education at Mitchell (Teacher Professional Leave)

Mitchell Secondary College (26 October 2005)
The Team at Mitchell Secondary College identified attendance and behaviour problems with boys between Year 7 and 10. Courses and programs were designed to maximise attendance and engage students in productive worthwhile and authentic learning.

Boyz N Books Program (Exemplary)

Monbulk College (02 February 2006)
Monbulk College want to improve the engagement of boys in literacy. Boys to read more books more often and a better quality of books.

Literature Circles (Exemplary)

Monbulk Primary School (02 February 2006)
Monbulk Primary School want to improve students ability to become critical thinkers as they engage in ongoing dialogue with books.

Telling stories through the use of Digital Technology (Teacher Professional Leave)

Montrose Primary School (08 February 2006)
Carolyn Elliot was seeking to provide an opportunity for teachers to develop their own learning thereby having an impact upon their students. The conception of animation and digital storytelling was able to be applied over a broad range of units thereby encompassing all topics within the school environment.

Assessing Years 5-7 numeracy consistently across a cluster (Promising)

Mooroopna Middle Years Schools for Innovation & Excellence Cluster (10 November 2004)
A cluster of rural schools introduced the DART number assessment tools to test all students in Years 5-7. The tool made it possible to identify gaps in student learning and provide targeted professional development to teachers to develop a numeracy strategy that could fill those gaps.

Consistent assessment recording in Years 5 and 6 (Promising)

Mooroopna Middle Years Schools for Innovation & Excellence Cluster (10 November 2004)
A group of schools decided to raise teacher awareness of their students learning levels by developing a process to share information across several years. They developed the Achievement record and distributed it to middle years staff across the cluster. Achievement records are completed and transferred as students progress through years.

PoLT - Driving Student Reflection (Teacher Professional Leave)

Mooroopna Park Primary School (14 February 2007)
The Team undertook the Leave project in conjunction with their training as PoLT coordinators at their school and sought to maximise the role of the student in the learning process. Just as teachers were reflecting on their practice, the Team at the same time, put in place several processes and strategies to encourage students to do the same. Personalised learning was a central focus of development and they supported staff through providing professional development throughout the project.

Adressing student engagement, attendance and connectedness (Exemplary)

Mooroopna Secondary College (10 November 2004)
To address problems with engagement and attendance Mooroopna Secondary College used a strategy based on developing teams of teachers who share experience and practice in regular meetings. The college also introduced You Can Do It, a program to to teach positive habits of the mind.

Engagement in Grade 5/6 (Teacher Professional Leave)

Morang South Primary School (08 February 2006)
The Team at Morang South Primary School wanted to extend and support learning, reduce student absenteeism and prepare children for their future, especially their technological future. To do this they used eLearning in the classroom.

Managed individual pathways for students (MIPs) (Exemplary)

Mordialloc College (10 November 2004)
To encourage students to take ownership of their education, Mordialloc College introduced the MIPs program. Organised around home group sessions, students work in mixed age groups and have the same staff member until they reach Year 12. The program has strengthened the school community, with students from all levels interacting.

Student Leadership (Exemplary)

Mount Dandenong Primary School (02 February 2006)
Mount Dandenong Primary School want to improve the students' social competency, particularly in their ability to make responsible decisions. They have done this by providing the students with a broad range of thinking strategies and thinking organisers.

Talking tricks and toys for boys: engaging boys in school and learning (Teacher Professional Leave)

Moyhu Primary School and Greta Valley Primary School (17 October 2006)
Talking tricks and toys for boys stimulated from teachers, Jeanette Parkes and Lee-Anne Bush's involvement in the Success for Boys Lighthouse project. They felt that further professional development would assist them in planning and implement units of work.

Personalising Student Learning (Teacher Professional Leave)

Mt Evelyn Primary School (08 February 2006)
The Team at Morang South Primary School wanted to extend and support learning, reduce student absenteeism and prepare children for their future, especially their technological future. To do this they used eLearning in the classroom.

Personal and Social Learning Curriculum for students with Special Learning Needs (Teacher Professional Leave)

Mt Evelyn Special Developmental School (08 February 2006)
The Team focused on creating a Personal and Social Learning Curriculum that was functional, meaningful and relevant for students with intellectual disabilities. The recent introduction of the Victorian Essential Learning Standards greatly impacted on the creation of this document where the Team ensured the VELS learning experiences, format, philosophy and terminology was incorporated.

Rich Numeracy Tasks (Teacher Professional Leave)

Mt Waverley Primary School and Mt Waverley North Primary School (12 January 2007)
The Team developed rich numeracy tasks that would engage students, encourage more meaningful teaching and provide assessment opportunities across the domains of Mathematics, Personal Learning and Thinking.

The Place where I live: A Year 7 Integrated Program (Exemplary)

Mullauna College (02 February 2006)
Mullauna College investigated an integrated curriculum approach to a topic at Year 7. 'The Place Where I Live' project focused on a local creek system and included a number of fieldwork experiences where students worked with a number of external agencies including WaterWatch. The Project also integrated ICT and culuminated in students producing a digital portfolio.

E-Learning (Maths and English) (Exemplary)

Murray Valley Cluster: Yarrawonga Secondary College, Yarrawonga Primary School, Rutherglen Primary School, Rutherglen Secondary College, Chiltern Primary School, Sprinhurst Primary School, Wahgunyah Primary School and Tungamah Primary School (04 March 2007)
By working together towards a common goal and against a number of adversities, this cluster of schools have developed a very successful model of an e-learning program based around maths and english for Middle Years students, which we believe paves the way into education in the 21st century. It is based on sound educational research and implements initiatives and best practice of the Princliples of Teaching and Learning. We are very proud of the program and its outcomes for both students and teachers.

Boys DO like to read (Exemplary)

Myrniong Primary School (10 November 2004)
A small rural school, Myrniong Primary set up partnerships with Significant Male Role Models to work with boys on literacy. The school also developed a specific philosophy for Boy's Education, set up a Boy's Literacy professional development program and held a Dad's Day to encourage Dads to participate in their children's education.

Philosophy in the Classroom (Teacher Professional Leave)

Myrtleford Primary School (17 October 2006)
Research the impact of how the explicit teaching of Philosophical Inquiry in the classroom can raise student learning outcomes through developing critical, creative and ethical thinking skills.

Trialling the IEC-EM Maths program at Year 7 and 8 and Introduction of Graphics Calculators to Junior School Maths (Teacher Professional Leave)

Myrtleford Secondary College (17 October 2006)
Our school is trying to improve student outcomes in maths and were keen to implement and trial a new program that would be consistent with others across Australia.

New Apprenticeship Program (Exemplary)

Naranga Special School (12 December 2005)
The aim of the New Apprenticeship Program is to make the transition from school to work better for young people with disabilities, and to provide them with a wider range of options for employment.

Creating a WebQuest: Enhancing Learning and Engagement (Exemplary)

Narre Warren North Primary School (16 March 2006)
A WebQuest is a structured sequence of steps which students work through to access specific websites, gather information, interpret and recreate their findings in a new way. Groups in Society was developed as part of the Civics program to aid students' investigation into the role of volunteers in our society and to assist their analysis of the factors that make work in the home, school and Community satisfying, safe and effective.

M4: Maths + Mastery + Meaning = Motivation (Teacher Professional Leave)

Neerim District Secondary College (01 September 2005)
Abigail Graham wanted to know "Can we improve the teaching and learning of algebra through pre teaching of skills and open ended tasks?" Through professional development activities, teachers who participated in the study, incorporated the tasks into their teaching programs but from this research further questions have been asked.

Educational provision for students with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in mainstream schools. (Teacher Professional Leave)

Nelson Park School (05 October 2005)
The current curricula for students with an ASD in mainstream schools is a rigid one that does not recognise and respond effectively to the learning styles, academic and social needs of these students. Jenny Wong explored other models of curricula and school organisation to realistically address these needs.

Focussing on Pedagogy to enhance student engagement (Teacher Professional Leave)

Niddrie Primary School (03 October 2005)
Robert Beagley and Janine Martin wanted to know more about recent pedagogical developments so as to improve student engagement and learning outcomes. From this, a range of questions were asked, ie how relevant was the current curriculum and how could it be enhanced? and, how could they improve students thinking skills and also cater for various learning styles/intelligences?

Visual Literacy in the Classroom (Exemplary)

Northcote Network Cluster B (07 December 2005)
Students today bring with them a rich understanding and experience in visual literacy. The Northcote Network Cluster B decided to use this to engage students in their classrooms so that they became active rather than passive participants. Their objective was to develop and improve the students abilities to deconstruct and construct visual text through a specific focus on film.

Values education in a multidisciplinary classroom (Promising)

Norwood Secondary College (11 January 2007)
Joanne Roughan wanted to explore the pro-social values which underpin positive interdependent relationships in the classroom. Raising student awareness of these pro-social values and putting these into action will build connectedness in the classroom.

Development of Digital Portfolios (Teacher Professional Leave)

Old Orchard Primary School (29 November 2005)
Amanda Foat, Rebecca Mitchell and Wendy Scott are setting up a system of displaying and storing student work in a digital portfolio. Teachers will use this folio when assessing student's work and reporting to parents. For the students it will be a record of their learning development in all subjects throughout their primary school years. The folios will be generated by the students themselves, hence enhancing their learning technology skills.

Using ICT to improve student engagement in the middle years (Exemplary)

One secondary and five feeder primary government sector schools in a regional city (10 November 2004)
Teachers used a CD called 'Making a Difference' to introduce different strategies for engagement with middle years students. They received professional development training and were abdle to introduce learning opportunities across many topics.

Restorative Practices - A Holistic Approach (Teacher Professional Leave)

Ormond Primary School (21 November 2005)
Caroline Burston focused her TPL around the implementation of Restorative Practices, a pro-active approach to student management which focuses on developing and maintaining positive relationships amongst all members of the school community. Caroline's project involved visiting other schools to observe how Restorative Practices was being implemented in different settings, such as in secondary colleges, community schools and primary schools and talking to experienced colleagues.

Authentic Assessment (Teacher Professional Leave)

Ormond Primary School (03 November 2006)
EveArnold-Movitz and Christina Michell focused on improving the learning outcomes of the students through their direct involvement in assessment practices. These have been developed through immersion experiences, discoveries, criteria development that lead to a true sense of ownership of the assessment process on the part of the student.

The Travelling Story - a journey through the minds of a couple of hundred country kids (Exemplary)

Otways Cluster (14 February 2007)
The Cluster mean to re-connect the school communities in a cluster that has been without a Cluster Educator for 18 months. Without the connecting links, initiatives like I&E, PoLT, VELS, run the risk of being diminished through lack of teacher interaction and the exchange of diverse experiences.

Review of Year 7/8 curriculum organisation, structure and pedagogy (Teacher Professional Leave)

Ovens College (21 December 2005)
Judith Grylls, Rob Parsons and Teneille Smith wanted to improve student learning outcomes, student connectedness to school and student engagement. They also were keen to explore more of a project based approach to learning.

CAMP! - Connectedness And Motivation in the middle years at Parkdale Primary School (Teacher Professional Leave)

Parkdale Primary School (19 December 2006)
Once upon a time there were three very energetic and motivated teachers who decided to venture out on a learning journey. The youngest one was up for anything, the oldest one said, "Uh oh!", and the middle one just liked being in the middle. So off they went to find out what was "just right" to motivate middle-years students and keep them connected.

Teaching teachers RUBRICS: Improving assessment practice to monitor student progress (Teacher Professional Leave)

Parkdale Secondary College (05 December 2006)
A cross-curricular team designed and facilitated teacher workshops in the theory of developmental assessment and rubric design. Parkdale Secondary College sees valid and reliable assessment practices as a central component of a developmental assessment approach to learning with teacher confidence and understanding of curriculum change and pedagogy being central to successful implementation. The team also worked with learning areas to incorporate these practices when auditing curriculum against the VELS.

Creating Learning Communities: Engaging the disengaged at Year 9 (Teacher Professional Leave)

Patterson River Secondary College (19 December 2006)
The Team acknowledged the well recognised concerns with engaging Year 9 students in an educational program. The Team wanted to know what was being done in other schools to address their problems and how we could establish a program specifically for the school, incorporating the best practise from their action research.

Literacy Circles: A Pathway to Critical Literacy (Teacher Professional Leave)

Paynesville Primary School (01 September 2005)
A team of teachers from Paynesville Primary School used the Literature Circles method to improve students' critical thinking and co-operative skills, and their learning through interdependent and independent activities.

Restructuring the curriculum for VELS (Teacher Professional Leave)

Pender's Grove Primary School (29 May 2006)
The Team will audit and evaluate the current curriculum. Both will research and attend professional development to inform them of best practices. The Team will work with students and staff to rethink curriculum organisation in line with VELS.

Authentic learning in years 7 and 8 (Promising)

Peter Lalor College (01 March 2005)
The year 7 and 8 focus is to develop skills and knowledge for today's world. A re-vamped curriculum allows students to explore potential future pathways including events management, performance, art, relaxation, basic handyman/mechanical skills and environmental and community work.

Using focused observation and conferences for reporting (Exemplary)

Point Lonsdale Primary School (10 November 2004)
Point Lonsdale Primary completely restructured its assessment and reporting package to incorporate a week of individual student focused observation twice a year. This is followed by a three-way interview to discuss learning, celebrate achievements and set goals. The initiative has been supported by staff professional development and community feedback.

Music Technology (Teacher Professional Leave)

Poowong Consolidated School (26 October 2005)
Poowong received an Artist in Schools grant from Arts Victoria to employ a musician/producer to assist them in the recording of their first CD. They have a practising musician on staff to support students in the song writing process. They plan to go on tour around their cluster schools to develop the skills of their students in perforamance and leadership, and to share their successes.

Math support for at risk Grade 1 and 2 students (Exemplary)

Ranfurly Primary School (10 November 2004)
Ranfurly PS uses two methods to improve mathmatical outcomes for their Grade 1 and 2 students.' Initial Clinical Assessment Procedure-Mathmatics (ICAPM) is used by classroom teachers to assess 'at risk' students. Selected students then participate in the Maths Support Program.

Engaging Disengaged Middle Years Readers (Promising)

Red Earth Cluster: Mooroolbark College, Bimbdeen Heights, Manchester, Mooroolbark East and Kilsyth Primary Schools (10 November 2005)
Twenty VCAL students volunteered thirty minutes a week for ten weeks to coach students who did not enjoy reading. Many of these students had already attended support programs which had made some difference to reading levels but not in attitudes to reading.

Improving Numeracy outcomes with Open-Ended and Critical Thinking tasks (Teacher Professional Leave)

Red Hill Consolidated School (03 November 2006)
Lyn Lewis, Kate Emry and Clare Morfett wanted to improve student outcomes in the number and measurement strands of maths, addressing our schools' charter priorities. They attended professional development to improve their knowledge of thinking strategies and visited other schools to share best practices. They produced a resource kit of task cards for staff to use, encouraging the teaching of open ended and critical thinking in maths.

Multimedia inspiration in the Middle Years (Exemplary)

Ringwood North Primary School (02 February 2006)
Original music, radio and movie-making. Staff and students at Ringwood North Primary School have developed a growing, multi-faceted multimedia program that has been enthusiastically received and is delivering great results.

Supporting welfare of students in the Senior Years of schooling Years 11 and 12 (Teacher Professional Leave)

Ringwood Secondary College (21 December 2005)
Shirley Lahtinen, Heather Davies and Kim Hughes sought ways to improve student connectedness to the College, ways of delivering study skills and techniques more efficiently, reduction in student stress, depression and antisocial behaviour.

J.O.T. (Jobs Out There) (Exemplary)

Rochester Cluster (16 March 2006)
Rochester Cluster wanted to provide the first vocational experience for students. Through this the Team aimed to develop the relevance of school to students and to increase the level of engagement pupils have through their early years of secondary school.

Student welfare and well being program implementation and investigation (Teacher Professional Leave)

Rochester Primary School (18 January 2007)
The TPL team has worked across all levels within the school and integrated the foundations of the You Can Do It program into VELS and produced a document that links the foundations to the outcomes in the VELS document.

Establishing a 'Habits of Mind' Program (Teacher Professional Leave)

Rochester Secondary College (20 March 2006)
Neville Borger focused on Habits of Mind to improve student learning behaviours and integrated this Program into the whole school curriculum.

Multi-Media Expo (Teacher Professional Leave)

Rollins Primary School (29 November 2005)
Jenny Hassett and Elaine White engaged Middle Years teachers and students in the Geelong Region in authentic learning experiences based on Multi-Media challenges. Innovative teaching/learning practices were the main focus. Students were equipped with advanced movie making skills, empowering them to become expert tutors.

Year 9 Maths at Rosebud Secondary College (Exemplary)

Rosebud Secondary College (17 December 2004)
Access to Excellence funding allowed Rosebud College to completely restructure their Year 9 maths curriculum. It now includes short topics, investigative projects, problems solving and real-life examples. A numeracy team implemented the program, and both teachers and students are now much more engaged.

Moving the Dirt for EastLink (Promising)

Rowville Innovations and Excellence Cluster (21 December 2005)
The Cluster Coordinator and Rowville Secondary College Mathematics KLA Leader wrote an inquiry learning unit incorporating concepts of area and volume. This was linked to the tunnel building of the EastLink Freeway. Freeway construction issues were linked to the learning.

Information Literacy (Promising)

Rowville Secondary College (22 November 2005)
Lyn O'Brien wanted to improve information skills of students. Lyn achieved this by providing a class of Year 8 students with opportunities and skills to investigate a topic of their choice. The students used the 'Big 6 Information Skills' model to investigate their topic.

Information literacy through Big 6 Information Skills (Promising)

Rowville Secondary College (30 June 2005)
To develop their information literacy, Year 8 students at Rowville Secondary College were encouraged to use the Big 6 Information Skills model to investigate a topic of choice. To explore the topic, teachers helped students to develop an essential question and some supporting questions.

Open ended reading activities that link to student interest and current events (Promising)

Roxburgh Cluster (07 December 2005)
Roxburgh Cluster aims at improving students reading skills by using opened ended activiites in their teaching practice. Some of the reading content will focus on student interests and current events. The Cluster surveyed teachers and students to find out their preferred learning/teaching styles.

Literacy in action: a whole school approach (Exemplary)

Roxburgh College (27 May 2005)
Faced with in intake of students with low-literacy, Roxburgh College made a firm commitment to improving literacy. The college developed a whole-school professional development program on literacy and trained staff to become Leaders of Literacy Learning. The also reformed reporting formats and added extra literacy classes.

Studying Horror as a Genre in English (Promising)

Roxburgh College (07 December 2005)
Improving literacy and student involvement and motivation through the use of John Monro's Literacy Strategies, DeBono's Hats, Costa's Habits of the Mind and Cooperative Learning/Literature Circles.

Engaging and Motivating Students using an inquiry approach to VELS (Exemplary)

Roxburgh College (14 February 2007)
The need to respond to VELS saw the birth of the Inquiry Model into unit development at As a school, teachers felt that this was the best model to assist in the implementation of VELS. Inquiry Learning has stimulated reform and improved classroom practice. Unit planning included John Munro's literacy strategies, VELS, POLT and the new Assessment and Reporting advice. Its success has been in the practical alignment of these strategies and principles. Roxburgh College has made a firm commitment to improving learning and teaching.

Environment Studies Investigation (Teacher Professional Leave)

Rubicon Outdoor Centre (26 October 2005)
Elissa Page wanted to increase Environmental Education teaching and learning strategies for teachers. Elissa found that Environmental Education can be implemented using a holistic approach with many elements from the Key Learning Areas.

Reading at the right level - Year 7 English (Promising)

Rushworth P-12 College (10 November 2004)
Rather than working with just one class text, teachers at Rushworth P-12 set up a Year 7 program to get students reading at their own level. Each student was assessed and a text selected for their reading ability. Students are now more engaged with the texts and other literacy activities.

Digital Portfolios (Exemplary)

Sale Cluster (21 December 2005)
The Sale Cluster made a joint decision to implement digital portfolios into each school. All of the portfolios have a common structure, designed by the Cluster and require minimal ICT specilist training to introduce the portfolios to students.

Enhancing Humanities Education through thinking curriculum (Teacher Professional Leave)

Sandringham College (03 November 2006)
Kerry Holmquest, Jillian Marshall and Deidre Jackson focused their TPL around the enhancement of the teaching and learning in the humanities curriculum area. It is envisaged that best practice pedagogy (including ICT, thinking curriculum, student and teacher teamwork) will result in greater student engagement and an improvement in student learning outcomes at the two junior campuses of the College.

The 'Ten Men' Program (Exemplary)

Sassafras Primary School (02 February 2006)
A variety of men have been invited to talk with the students and focus on their own literacy. Each speaker has brought in their favourite books and shared them with the students. They have discussed their occupations, hobbies and the importance literacy plays in their lives. Examples of speakers are a local policeman, a member of a motorbike group, a scientist who worked in Antarctica, a lawyer and a teacher with a background in outback Queensland.

Middle years curriculum reform using New Basics (Promising)

Schools for Innovation and Excellence Cluster Phase 1: Wodonga High School,Wodonga West Primary School, Barnawartha Primary School, Bandiana Primary School (10 November 2004)
To improve student engagement and academic achievement in the middle years, a group of schools in the Goulburn region adopted Queensland New Basics. The schools focused on productive pedagogies and implemented a planned approach to professional development. Students and staff are enthusiastic about the reforms.

Year 10 Applied Learning Program (Teacher Professional Leave)

Scoresby Secondary College (21 December 2005)
Narelle McFadden, Janine Joosten, Clinton Chiumello and Suzanne Phillips wanted to improve the retention of students from Year 10 to 11 and the application of Year 10 students. A Program was designed and implemented in 2005 for 22 Year 10 students. It aimed to cater for their learning style and interests. It allowed further VCE or VCAL study as well as preparing them for apprenticeships and employment.

The Learning File: improving learning and study skills (Exemplary)

Seabrook Primary School (10 November 2004)
Students at Seabrook Primary are using The Learning File to improve their thinking skills and strategies for learning. Students use techniques such as mind maps for note-taking, mnemonics and memory development. The program is easy to learn and the students using it report feeling more empowered about learning and goal setting.

Learning Disabilities - a disability in disguise (Teacher Professional Leave)

Seaford Primary School (19 December 2006)
Advances in the field of Learning Disabilities has meant that there is a wide battery of assessment tools that teachers can utilise to assist in identifying the specific learning needs of students and developing universal design of curriculum to meet those needs.

Detectives (Exemplary)

Selby Primary School (02 February 2006)
In this unit Selby Primary School initiated a new unit of work based on planning around the thinking curriculum. The aim was to engage students and have them become so interested that they went home to investigate and bring in any resources that they had.

Making Sense. Information for parents, families and friends of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender young people (Other)

Sexuality Education Policy and Project Development, Targeted Initiatives Unit, Department of Education & Training (DE&T) (24 November 2005)
A booklet for parents of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender young people who live in Victoria. Designed to support young people, it answers questions, explores unfamiliar or uncomfortable concepts and talks through some of the emotions that young people may experience. Can also be used as a teaching resource.

Improving Pedagogy in Year 7 (Teacher Professional Leave)

Seymour Technical High School (12 January 2007)
Anne Fraser's focus was on improving student engagement in Year 7 via use of a whole range of approaches, including the use of interactive whiteboards.

Improving Pedagogy in Year 7 using Middle Years Strategies (Teacher Professional Leave)

Seymour Technical High School (12 January 2007)
A multi pronged team approach, based on middle years research, was used in Year 7 at Seymour Technical High School to begin the implementation of VELS as well as addressing the need to improve teacher pedagogy and student learning outcomes. Approaches to improve student connectedness were also implemented. 2006 Student results, as measured by AIM data and the Student Attitudes to School Survey have shown significant improvement.

The effect of Interactive Whiteboards on teacher, teaching and learning, student learning and engagement (Exemplary)

Shepparton Cluster (15 January 2007)
Since its inception in 2005, the Shepparton Innovations and Excellence Cluster has endeavoured to do its part in leading the way towards providing Middle Years students and teachers with innovative and engaging curriculum that will enable all to become co-learners.

Thinking P - 6 @ Sherbourne (Teacher Professional Leave)

Sherbourne Primary School (10 July 2006)
This project will be the impetus for sustained improvements in teaching and learning leading to improved student outcomes. Sherbourne students will become responsible risk takers as they validate their knowledge enabling them to create new knowledge, build ideas and make connections between them.

Roundtable Assessment ()

Sherbrooke Community School (02 February 2006)
Roundtable Assessment is a public demonstration of student learning. The public or panel consists of 3-5 members, usually a peer, teacher, parent and a Community member. It is the place where students are able to clearly describe to an audience, the deep understanding and knowledge they have obtained. Students are expected to improve their work habits, quality of work, self-confidence and self-reflection.

Learning how to Learn (Teacher Professional Leave)

Southern Cluster: Sebastopol College, Sebastopol Primary School, Woady Yaloak Primary School (Smythesdale Campus) (05 October 2005)
The Southern Cluster team focused on wanting to know more about the learning process, what inhibits learning and how best to meet the individual needs of the learner. It was beneficial to the team to have both primary and secondary teachers involved as they developed a learning continuum throughout discussions.

Literacy Amelioration Through LOTE: A New Focus on Student Learning (Teacher Professional Leave)

Southern Cross Primary School (19 December 2006)
Working across seventeen schools (primary and secondary), teacher Dr Andree Rodwell examined levels of Literacy development of students who studied LOTE. How do students learn English and how do they learn a LOTE? Do similarities enhance learning of English literacy?

'Building Curiosity, Enquiry and Creativity' - 'Engaging students in an ICT curriculum using creativity' (Teacher Professional Leave)

Southern Cross Primary School (19 December 2006)
Esther Hall focused her TPL project on finding out how outstanding schools in ICT were engaging students learning. Esther visited schools and experts in Victoria, NSW, SA, QLD and Tasmania with the view of improving the ICT program at Southern Cross.

Building a social conscience: Throwing passion back into our classrooms using an Environmental curriculum (Teacher Professional Leave)

Southern Cross Primary School (19 December 2006)
This curriculum aims to take a child on a journey exploring the many social, cultural and environmental issues and beliefs of this generation. To put the "Real World" learning into action and teach about "Real issues" that all people must take responsibility for.

Environmental Sustainability and Outdoor Learning (Exemplary)

Southmoor Primary School (08 November 2005)
Southmoor Primary School are focused on education for sustainability. They would like their students to understand how they have an effect on their world and how they can make it a better place or keep it as it is for theirs and the next generation. The have created a biodiversity at the school.

Interpreting History at Sovereign Hill (Exemplary)

Sovereign Hill Education (15 January 2007)
Sovereign Hill Education are improving student ownership of learning, engagement on an excursion and developing higher order thinking and research skills at Level 6 of the VELS. The unit is also promoting the implementation of VELS through a VELS assessment rubric which employs quotes from relevant standards.

Solving the Jigsaw Training - Changing the Culture of Violence (Teacher Professional Leave)

Spring Gully Primary School (20 March 2006)
Wendy Donaldson wants to promote a culture, language and understanding that encourages discussion and constructive action on the issue of violence, bullying, anxiety and a range of life issues including loss and grief and the power in groups.

Completing PedNet 20 (Pedagogy Course) (Teacher Professional Leave)

St Albans Heights Primary School (01 September 2005)
Michelle Parker wanted to create a type of authentic learning community in her own classroom. In her Grade 5/6 class she explored the possibility that students could take control of their own learning. She found that the students needed different kinds of support to shift their view from teacher centred to student centred learning.

Becoming an independent learner; e-portfolios and the Student Learning Journey (Teacher Professional Leave)

St Albans Secondary College (01 August 2006)
Working with Year 7 students at St Albans Secondary College, teacher Mark Micallef guides 200 lifelong learners through their personal learning journey using digital portfolios; but with a twist - the student is the Manager!

Reforming Mathematics Curriculum in Years 7, 8 and 9 (Promising)

Strathbogie Cluster (14 February 2007)
The Cluster improved student engagement and teacher pedagogy in Mathematics by using a more hands-on, open ended investigations and greater use of ICT in classrooms.

Spiral Integrated Curriculum Model (Teacher Professional Leave)

Strathfieldsaye Primary School (29 May 2006)
The Team originally wanted to further develop and strengthen their Web-linked Learning program, however, with the introduction of VELS, PoLT, the Team felt it necessary to start at the beginning with the Integrated Unit Structure. From there the Team can move into developing the Web-linked learning and make it much more meaningful and relevant to their students.

At the Cutting Edge - Innovations in ICT, teacher practice and student learning (Teacher Professional Leave)

Streeton Primary School (11 August 2006)
The Team initially investigated the latest Information and Communication Technology innovations and best practice through research and school visits. The main foci was to observe how information and communication technology components were being used to engage students, and how teachers implemented their use in the classroom.

Learning Assistance Mentoring Program (LAMP) (Promising)

Student Wellbeing Unit, Department of Education & Training, Central Highlands Wimmera Regional Office (03 March 2005)
The Student Wellbeing Unit introduced LAMP to improve the social skills of children at risk of developing behavioural difficulties at primary school. Volunteer mentors were recruited to work one on one with children for one session a week. Children have responded well to the program, developing strong relationships with the community volunteers.

'Critical Literacy' in the Middle Years Classroom (Exemplary)

Sunraysia Mallee Schools Network - Mildura West Primary School (11 January 2007)
The Team want to: develop a deep understanding of 'Critical Literacy' and strategically planning for students to become 'Critically Literate' in all Domains of learning; collect baseline data, end data and anecdotal evidence to demonstrate the students developing understanding of what it means to be 'Critically Literate' and develop teaching learning and assessment resources that will assist teachers to effectively teach and assess student's skills in 'Critical Literacy'.

'Writing' Action Research in Middle Years Classrooms (Promising)

Sunraysia Mallee Schools Network - Ouyen Primary School (11 January 2007)
Teachers wanted to explore the effectivemness of teaching written texts using an 'Inquiry' approach.

Supporting Students with Special Needs (SWANs) (Exemplary)

Sunshine North Primary School (10 November 2004)
Sunshine North Primary set up SWANs for students with disabilities whose needs were not being met by traditional approaches. Led by a Special Learning Needs Coordinator, SWANs is organised around Individual Learning Plans which take a 'whole child' approach. Parents are very supportive of SWANs and report that the school has genuinely understood their children's needs.

Increased use of ICT by staff, within and out of the class (Teacher Professional Leave)

Swan Hill College (24 July 2006)
Tania wanted to improve staff ICT skills and further implement ICT in the classroom. She did this by identifying ICT needs of current staff, prioritise these needs via staff surveys, KLA audits and communications such as e-mail. Arrange staff needs depending on feedback and prioritzing staff needs. The ICT PLT produced an appropriate list of PD currently needed. As the PLT members became more skilled they were required to pass their knowledge on to other staff and make themselves available as a 'mentor/resource' for particular software. This varied from using peripheral devices such as camera's & data shows to specific software such as Excel, Frontpage, Outlook Express, Movie Maker, Inspiration etc.

Teaching novels more effectively (Teacher Professional Leave)

Swan Hill College (29 May 2006)
The aim of the Professional Learning Team was to improve student outcomes and engagement levels when studying novels.

Raising Maths and English standards in Years 7-10 (Promising)

Swan Hill Secondary College (23 November 2006)
Di Davies wants to raise standards and classroom expectations of students abilities to perform at their optimal level and also monitor and track students more closely, particularly between Years 6 & 7.

Using Colleagues as Professional Development Resource to Expand Literacy Teaching (Teacher Professional Leave)

Tarwin Valley Primary School (01 September 2005)
Mary Lang wants all classroom teachers to share a rich body of knowledge about the teaching of Literacy and transfer this knowledge to every classroom in their school. She achieved this in several ways: through professional dialogue and discussion, and by developing a more consistent understanding of what specific teaching activities look like in the real world of the classroom.

Improved student outcomes through the use of Thinking Tools and Multiple Intelligences (Teacher Professional Leave)

Tarwin Valley Primary School (12 January 2007)
Grade 2/3 teacher, Jenny Logan, immersed herself in learning about different approaches to the Thinking Curriculum. She visited schools, attended various Professional Development sessions and researched literature. Jenny trialled Thinking Tools, Graphic Organisers and activities based on Multiple Intelligences theory in her classroom.

Check and Connect: improving student attendance (Exemplary)

Taylors Lakes Secondary College (10 November 2004)
When a small group at Taylor Lakes Secondary College started spending significant time out of school, the school set up Check and Connect. Teachers worked with the families of at-risk students to look at issues affecting the whole family. Absences have now significantly reduced and the students' academic performance has improved.

Improving our teaching in the middle years (Teacher Professional Leave)

Taylors Lakes Secondary College (24 July 2006)
The Team wanted to improve their individual understanding of pedagogy, best teaching and learning practice and to give them time to implement what they discovered in their classroom and embed it into curriculum they developed at Year 9 in English and SOSE.

Thinking Curriculum (Exemplary)

Tecoma Primary School (02 February 2006)
Tecoma Primary School want to improve whole school teaching and learning strategies and processes with an emphasis on deep learning and understanding including the development of reflective thinking skills and student centred learning. The School want to provide a comprehensive and stimulating curriculum in the eight KLA's which encourages high levels of student inquiry, motivation and engagement.

Philosophy Prep-6 (Exemplary)

The Patch Primary School (08 February 2006)
Margaret Hallinan wants to provide students with the opportunity to practise their thinking and question their values; engagement, respect for the opinions of others, co-operation; provide the opportunity for self-expression; allowing students to be inquirers, through the community of inquiry'; and for students to be able to support their thinking with reasons.

Skill shortages - live with them or do something about them? (Teacher Professional Leave)

Thomastown Secondary College (24 July 2006)
The term "skill shortages" appears to be the flavour of the month - Frank Gaylard wanted to find out what various groups were doing about skill shortages and particularly what others thought that schools should be doing about it. Can we realistically expand school-industry links in our area so that students are aware of real job pathways?

A 42 Grid Unit of Work on Health and Disease (Teacher Professional Leave)

Thomastown Secondary College (01 September 2005)
Patrick McGarry looked at different ways to construct and deliver a differentiated curriculum. He used his TPL to plan a unit of work that focused on giving students choice in some tasks while detailing specific assessment/reflective criteria for each of the 42 potential activities. The core activities related to essential skills already identified by staff.

Where Am I Heading? (Promising)

Torquay Primary School (07 December 2005)
In response to the Blueprint Strategy, the Leadership Team investigated means of updating and improving the existing reporting to parents practice, especially for mid-year reports. The concept of student lead conferences was adopted. Individual teaching teams were responsible for developing and implementing evaluative tools suited to the child's ability.

Keys to Success (Promising)

Traralgon Cluster (27 February 2006)
Renamed Keys to Success, an adaption of the You Can Do It program (Michael E. Bernard) into the secondary school. This involved training of staff in the concepts and language; adaptation of key documents such as classroom management plans and school policies relating to student management to align with the Program and then a launch of the Program into both campuses simultaneously a the beginning of 2006.

Enhancing Student Engagement and Outcomes in Mathematics (Teacher Professional Leave)

Traralgon College (01 September 2005)
Three teachers at Traralgon College have found a new an exciting way to teach Mathematics tasks and teaching strategies to Years 7, 8 and 9. This involved researching and identifying best practice ideas, pedagogy and resources, developing assessment criteria, and incorporating student reflection, self-assessment and literacy components.

Permanent Environmental Visual Arts (Teacher Professional Leave)

Tyabb Primary School (19 December 2006)
Classroom teacher Sharon Wright identified a need within the school for permanent visual arts displays in line with the school charter. The visual arts program was also identified as not currently catering for gifted, talented and interested students in the area of visual arts.

Effective use of student notebooks (Promising)

Tyrrell College (11 January 2007)
Kane Summerhayes wanted to make better use of the student notebooks so they had a clear purpose. He used the 'RelationaLearning' notebooks (reference below) that aim to use both sides of the brain and to make connections between the work completed, students' thoughts and feelings and the outside world.

Enhanced Transition Program (Exemplary)

Upper Kiewa Innovations and Excellence Cluster (15 January 2007)
The Cluster focussed on Improving Primary-secondary transition by: giving primary students increasing exposure to secondary school life during years 5 and 6; giving year 7 teachers exposure to the primary classroom environment and encouraging imitation of best practices; forming a 'Buddy' relationship between each student in year 6 and a year 9 student; and increasing the level of interaction of students from the various feeder primary schools prior to them beginning year 7.

Doing the write thing: an alternative approach to teaching the craft of writing (Teacher Professional Leave)

Upper Plenty Primary School (17 October 2006)
With teacher and students fed up with the traditional 'genre' approach to teaching writing, Carolyn Crowther, knew there must be a more engaging and challenging way to structure her writing program which would allow students to discover an interest and purpose for writing.

Engaging and Empowering Students with Low Literacy (Exemplary)

Upwey High School (20 March 2006)
Upwey High School adjusted teaching programs to better meet the needs of students with low literacy skills thereby catering more effectively for individual student's needs.

Year 9 Review (Teacher Professional Leave)

Upwey High School (10 April 2006)
The Team reviewed the curriculum at Year 9. The TPL supported this ongoing curriculum review as it embarks upon the research and data gathering component of the process.

Student Engagement and Wellbeing (Exemplary)

Upwey Primary School (08 February 2006)
Malcolm Aspinall wants to improve the ability to address and cater for a variety of learning and teaching styles. Malcolm is doing this by improving the engagement of students in Year 5 and 6 by addressing their talents through class projects based on learning styles.

Active Learners (Exemplary)

Upwey South Primary School (20 October 2006)
Maree Campbell applied the thinking curriculum to make students more independent in their learning, more engaged and able to meet their full potential in all key learning areas.

Year 9 Community Learning Program (Teacher Professional Leave)

Wangaratta High School and Ovens College (05 December 2006)
Wangaratta High School, along the Ovens College decided to develop and implement an innovative program to provide the opportunity for Year 9 students to link their learning to their interests and skills within a community context. This was developed in conjunction with the merger of the two school communities.

Rural Schools Transition Program (Promising)

Wangaratta Innovations and Excellence Cluster (14 February 2007)
The Cluster wanted to improve the transition process of students from small rural schools and 'at risk' students from city schools to Wangaratta High School.

Improving Boys Engagement in Learning (Promising)

Wangaratta Innovations and Excellence Cluster - Snow Road Subcluster (14 February 2007)
Boys engagement in education, improved socialisation skills and building teacher resources and skills to engage and develop boys educational outcomes.

'Making Maths Successful For All' - Differentiating the Mathematics Curriculum for high and low achievers (Teacher Professional Leave)

Wangaratta Primary School (17 October 2006)
Four teachers from Wangaratta Primary designed strategies and procedures to address the learning needs of two groups of maths students: those who needed extra help and those who were high achievers. The project focussed on designing assessment tools, developing targeted mathematics plans, using consistent lesson structures and developing activities that targeted specific needs.

Old Mates: linking two generations in learning (Exemplary)

Waranga Cluster (10 November 2004)
Old Mates are older volunteers who work one-on-one with the same middle years student each week. Volunteers are matched with students with similar interests to work on self-esteem, confidence and literacy. Old Mates describe the relationship as a win-win, and students report a greater sense of connectedness with their community.

Boys Teaching Boys in ICT (Exemplary)

Waranga Cluster (11 January 2007)
Warragul Cluster wanted to improve attitudes to school, interpersonal relationships, knowledge of ICT specifically Kahootz verbal communication skills.

Planning for improved student engagement (Teacher Professional Leave)

Warburton Primary School (17 October 2006)
Student disengagement with the curriculum highlighted a need to improve the schools teaching practice. The Team's challenge was to explore ways of increasing classroom engage-ment by developing multidisciplinary units built around VELS.

Cross-Age Program supporting a Community of Learners (Promising)

Waverley Meadows Primary School (21 December 2005)
Kerry Roberts is facilitating the Prep students adjustment to school life by assisting them to feel secure with a sense of belonging, and at the same time developing skills in facilitating the learning of others, communication, organisation and social competence in senior students, as well as increasing their understanding of their responsibilities towards others.

ICT Integrated Units (Teacher Professional Leave)

Weeden Heights Primary School (14 February 2006)
The Team are auditing and revising integrated units in order to bring them into line with the Victorian Essential Learnings Standards. They are implementing the Intel R Teach to the Future program and addressing the use of ICT in Class Programs. This all is then linked to their Assessment and Reporting Procedures.

Develop a whole College (P-10) curriculum to improve teaching and learning (Teacher Professional Leave)

Weeroona College (29 May 2006)
The Team at the College would like to improve areas such as student learning, engagement and connectedness. They have developed two alternative curriculum models.

Improving Student Engagement at Year 9 (Teacher Professional Leave)

Westall College (03 November 2006)
Leigh West, Georgia Staikos and Tim Warden developed an alternative Program for Year 9. The 'Odyssey Now Program' will be implemented in 2006. The model aims to engage, offer experiences outside the classroom, is student focussed and provides an integrated approach to the Curriculum at Year 9.

Alternative pathways to education and training for year 11 and 12 students (Exemplary)

Western Edge Vocational Cluster (WEVC) (21 December 2004)
A large group of schools set up the Western Edge Vocational Cluster (WEVC) to give year 11 and 12 students the best possible opportunities to acquire full-time employment or training when they leave school. Focusing on practical hands-on learning, the cluster offers VET and VCAL programs to students from a number of different schools.

Re-living the national narrative - an investigation into Australian History using the performing arts. (Exemplary)

Western Edge Youth Arts (14 February 2007)
Our history is closely linked to our identity. What is the Australian national narrative and how can we investigate it actively so that we create our own relationship to it? How can we start to understand the interface of Aboriginal and European culture? A performing arts approach opens the door to 'powerful learning'.

Bring the Colosseum to Life. An investigation into the values of Ancient Rome using the performing arts. (Exemplary)

Western Edge Youth Arts (14 February 2007)
Ancient Roman civilisation is part of the bedrock of European culture but what were the values underlying this civilisation? This Program used innovative creative arts techniques to bring Roman culture alive for Year 7 secondary students. A complex docu-drama form was used in a performance to Primary students.

Action Research: Meanings & Messages in Aboriginal Art: Art Tells a Story: Exiles and Emigrants (based on NGV exhibition): Assessment for Learning, of Learning, and by Learning (Teacher Professional Leave)

Western Port Secondary College (19 December 2006)
The development of curriculum models has been achieved for the Art Domain: Year 8 Art or VELS Level 5. These have been formatted in a style that provides ease of teaching delivery, with options for expansion to other VELS levels or Arts subjects. Assessment by VELS Standards have been incorporated.

No one text book satisfies our Year 9 MATHS students' needs! (Teacher Professional Leave)

Western Port Secondary College (19 December 2006)
This study evolved from a three year survey of the abilities on entry of the Year 7 cohort. Each of the indicators used, showed approximately two thirds of the students were not ready for the Year 7 course. By Year 9 the problem was magnified.

'Kahootzing' Around the Books (Exemplary)

Wheelers Hill Primary School (21 December 2005)
Kahootz Xpression project - integrating learning technologies into the Literacy program.

Enrichment and Extension of Student Learning (Promising)

Wheelers Hill Secondary College (21 December 2005)
The school's direction is towards a student centered pedagogical approach. They are increasing student engagement and active learning, incorporating a range of teaching practices that emcompass recognition of student learning styles and preferences, a thinking curriculum and differentiated learning, which all culminate in improved student outcomes.

How can Improved Student Outcomes be supported by Integrated Curriculum? (Teacher Professional Leave)

Williamstown High School (08 February 2006)
Adrian Berenger focused his TPL on the relationship and interdependence of pedagogic reform to the school organisational framework, and how the reform agenda defined under Flagship 1 of the Ministerial Blueprint is dependent on the distribution of resources.

Living in 2030 - an experiment in Survival (Promising)

Williamstown High School (20 October 2006)
The '2030' unit was written collaboritively by three teachers in cooperation with a non-for-proft community group called Global Green Plan. The Unit aims to educate middle year students about what life may be like in coming years if we do not switch to more sustainable ways of living. For one week families volunteer to exist with 50% less water, gas, electricity and petrol than they ordinarily consume. This very unique experience is documented through a student video diary which is used as a teaching tool for the community.

Spelling Reform @ Willmott Park (Teacher Professional Leave)

Willmott Park Primary School (02 November 2006)
Year 1/2 teacher Josie Stocchero, Year 3/4 teacher Brendan Chugg and Year 5/6 teacher Michelle Dall'Est investigated different approaches to spelling through literature review and action research. They also visited different schools to gain insight into their spelling programs and their effectiveness. They were particularly looking for a program that could be used easily and efficiently in their school.

Wimmera Hot Rod Project (Promising)

Wimmera Hot Rod Project, Mallee South Eastern Local Learning and Employment Network (LLEN) (03 February 2005)
Wimmera Hot Rod is a partnership between four schools, a TAFE, local business and an employment network. Based on the construction of a Hot Rod, or high performance car, the scheme provides hands-on learning and generic skills. The applied learning approach has been popular with young people who have been disempowered by more traditional methods.

Addressing declining student learning in middle years (Exemplary)

Wodonga High School (10 November 2004)
To improve student connectedness and learning, Wodonga High School restructured year 7 to have seven dedicated staff and a reserved area within the school. Students are now producing higher quality work and managing the transition from primary to secondary with greater confidence.

Jump Start (Exemplary)

Wodonga Institute of TAFE (11 January 2006)
Jump Start is a general education program with a focus on multi-media or hospitality studies. It is a Year 9 or Year 10 equivalent program designed to assist young people aged 15-19 years to re-engage with education.

Believe Achieve Together (BAT) Catering for disengaged students (Teacher Professional Leave)

Wodonga Middle Years College (31 October 2006)
Working in a large secondary school we were interested in examining family involvement in schools and the effect this has on student outcomes.

Enhancing Student engagement via embedding the Principles of Learning and Teaching into Rich Assessment Tasks (Promising)

Wodonga Phase 1 Cluster (14 February 2007)
Teachers are identifying and reflecting on effective learning and teaching via the use of the Principles of Learning and Teaching auditing tools. They are utilising this information to develop effective teaching and learning strategies to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes.

Identifying students at risk and structuring effective numeracy programs to cater for them (Teacher Professional Leave)

Wodonga Primary School (26 October 2005)
Pam Hildritch used her TPL to investigate key growth points in young children's development of number ideas and strategies, with particular emphasis on the difficult transition points and barriers to children's understanding in the areas of addition and subtraction, counting and place value.

Young Citizens Curriculum Leadership Day (Promising)

Wodonga West Urban Cluster (14 February 2007)
The Cluster ran a Curriculum Leadership day for 50 students from four schools. Teachers and students of Years 5-9 from cluster schools participated in the activities and learned together. Students gave feedback on preferred learning styles and their opinion on a range of activities. This is a unique form of professional learning because of the range of students and teachers who participated and observed the results.

Radio Shows - live and pre-recorded (Exemplary)

Wyndham Innovation and Excellence Cluster (15 January 2007)
The Project involved presenting one hour radio shows live on SYN FM 90.7 on a weekly basis for a term and pre-recording eighteen 20-minute radio shows using Audacity software. It was to give the students an authentic educational task that provided them with a real audience. They gained a very realistic insight into the radio industry. SYN FM has an audience of 60,000 listeners. This project has a very positive impact on the personal growth of the students involved.

Brain Gym and Sensory Integration (Teacher Professional Leave)

Yarraville Special Developmental School (29 November 2005)
Nanette Hansen focused her TPL on Brain Gym and Sensory Integration. Through study, and some research, Nanette furthered her knowledge of how Brain Gym and Sensory Integration can be used to assist children with learning disabilities and behavioural problems and enhance their academic, emotional and social skills.

MATHeMATES (Exemplary)

Yawarra Primary School and Knox Gardens Primary School (11 April 2006)
This project was designed to address the need for students to improve their mathematical reasoning skills, develop an understanding of the role of mathematics in society, and become confident users of mathematical approaches to real-world problems.

Improving wellbeing in the community. Year 9 school based Rich Task (Teacher Professional Leave)

Yea High School (17 October 2006)
Ruth Konig and Julie Lynch, working with Year 9, set out to build connectedness between students and community groups. They aimed to encourage participation in these groups and recognition of their role in promoting community well being.

Spelling (Teacher Professional Leave)

Yinnar Primary School (26 October 2005)
Christine Ballis, Robyn Irvine and Christine Carew believed that increasing teacher knowledge in the linguistic system of English would result in more targeted teaching, more explicit and powerful teaching conversations and a greater ability to tailor teaching to individual needs and developmental stages, which would lead to improved student outcomes.

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