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ELEMENT THREE: High Quality Teaching

The teaching and learning identified in this Religious Education Program is consistent with whole school approaches to teaching and learning across the curriculum at St John Fisher College.

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND ACCREDITATION

The teaching and learning identified in this Religious Education Program is consistent with whole school approaches to teaching and learning across the curriculum at St John Fisher College.

 

Accreditation to Teach Religion in a Catholic or Ecumenical School

All teachers of religion in Archdiocesan schools are required to be accredited to teach religion, including teachers of religion in the senior secondary years engaged in Study of Religion and Religion and Ethics. Currently, at St John Fisher College, all teachers have Accreditation to Teach in a Catholic School, however since the staffing of RE in a smaller school can be problematic, there are some teachers of religious education, namely the new graduate staff who have not yet gained their  Accreditation to Teach Religion. Some of these have begun study under the REAP program to enable them and the College to meet this requirement, and two are working towards a Masters in RE and Graduate Diploma.

 

Maintenance of Accreditation

As part of their professional learning, all staff are required to maintain their accreditation status by engaging in the required number of hours to maintain Accreditation to Teach and to Teach RE. The College provides some opportunities on Professional Learning days each year (See RLOS Calendar in EVIDENCE), in addition to a Lenten  Study PD series  for an hour  on 4 afternoons during the lead up to Easter. Teachers are also expected to find other opportunities in their own time to complete the requirements.

 

 

Teachers as Professional Learners

Religious educators at St John Fisher College engage in ongoing professional learning focused on enhancing individual and collaborative practices as well as the capacity to improve student learning. The College has engaged in the process of Consistency of Teacher Judgment, a key strategy for implementing the Religion Curriculum P-12 and monitoring its effect on students’ learning. Internal moderation across each year level occurs as a part of the processes of assessment, and is a mandatory part of the College’s assessment processes.

 

Each formal assessment task is moderated across year level teaching teams (see List of RE teams in EVIDENCE) to ensure equity and consistency. When teachers moderate they look for evidence which supports the decisions made by their colleagues. It is also a valuable reflective practice, which can provide useful feedback for future unit planning. Moderation of these assessment pieces also provides feedback to support the End of Unit Reflection document which is returned to the APRE by each teaching team at the conclusion of the term. (See EVIDENCE for End of Unit Reflection sample.)

POWERFUL WHOLE SCHOOL PEDAGOGIES AT ST JOHN FISHER COLLEGE

St John Fisher College supports the BCEO goal of Delivering Excellence in Learning and Teaching (DELT). At this College we are engaged in the TEACH component, with our focus being Visible Learning. Grounded in John Hattie’s meta-analysis of international research, Visible Learning provides our teachers and students with a range of processes, practices and systems that contribute to building a culture of learning that ultimately has a positive impact for each student’s progress. With a shared language of learning students can articulate their learning progress and anticipate the learning which is to follow.    

REPORTING STUDENT PROGRESS AND ACHIEVEMENT

Student achievement is recognised and celebrated within our College community in a variety of ways including at informal meetings, one on one feedback to students, Parent-Teacher nights, at Open Day, Assembly celebrations of learning held at the end of each semester, Night of Excellence, Illuminaré etc.

The Student Reporting System (SRS) is Brisbane Catholic Education’s online student reporting tool and this facilitates the reporting of student achievement to parents and caregivers by allowing teachers and administrators to create, proofread, edit, verify and publish student reports. As has been noted previously and is evident in the sample unit plans, Religious Education is taught and assessed with rigour and is flexible to enable each student to achieve and demonstrate what she has learned. Religious Education is formally reported at the College three times per year with a Term One Interim Report, and with end of Semesters One and Two Reports. Parents are also given an opportunity to formally discuss their child’s progress and achievement at Parent Teacher Interviews, which are held twice per year (Term Two and Term Three). 

Further, as part of the College’s commitment to DELT, through the Model of Pedagogy and focus on Learning Progressions, students are becoming familiar with articulating responses to five questions around their progress and achievement:

  1. What are you learning in Religious Education?

  2. How are you going with that learning?

  3. How do you know?

  4. How can you improve?

  5. What do you do when you get stuck?

RESOURCING RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Sharing of resources with students occurs though internet-based Padlet, through One Note and a College-shared Student Drive (See EVIDENCE). RE is further resourced through access to ResourceLink, electronic resources, BCE Religious Education Services (RE Portal – Religion and Ethics modules), with the use of Bibles, Bible Gateway, the College Library.

 

The budget allocation for Religious Education allows us to adequately resource the subject area, and new Cambridge Press texts for Years 7, 9 and 10 are on order and will be delivered when published.

HIGH QUALITY ASSESSMENT

At St John Fisher College, assessing student learning is an integral part of the learning process, important for both the learning and teaching process. It is the means by which teachers identify, gather and interpret information about student achievement and learning in order to improve, enhance and plan for further learning.

 

Teachers at all year levels, as part of their planning and teaching, employ the five key strategies for formative assessment by:

  1. Ensuring that Learning Intentions and Success Criteria are understood (written on whiteboard at commencement of each lesson).

  2. Providing activities and learning tasks that elicit evidence of learning

  3. Giving feedback that moves learning forward

  4. Using peer feedback

  5. Encouraging self-assessment

At St John Fisher College, it is believed that evidence of achievement should reflect the knowledge, deep understanding and skills described in the relevant achievement standards and reflected in the success criteria.

Tools for Assessment

Teachers at St John Fisher College are encouraged to use a range and balance of assessment tools to cater for all learners and learning situations, to measure the impact of their teaching and plan for further learning and teaching.  Assessment revolves around three core practices, namely:

 

  • Teacher observation: observing students and monitoring their progress as they work

  • Student/Teacher consultation: interacting with students either formally or informally

  • Focused analysis: teachers examining in detail student responses to tasks or activities

 

The variety of assessment methods enables students to build upon their literacy and numeracy skills. Students with greater proficiency in particular areas are provided with the opportunity to demonstrate this. Similarly, provisions for students with learning difficulties are also made in consultation with the Curriculum Leader – Learning Enhancement. These students are provided with differentiated tasks which enable them to access the curriculum with the appropriate adjustments and scaffolding. (See EVIDENCE for modified assessment task.)

Examples of assessment tools used within the RE Dept. at St John Fisher College

Making Judgements

Teachers at St John Fisher College use the criteria for assessment to make judgements and provide quality feedback to students. This can also be achieved through conferencing. (See EVIDENCE for sample assessment and criteria sheets.)

 

Feedback to Students

At St John Fisher College feedback to students is regarded as vital to successful learning, and is done both before and after assessment is submitted.

 

A strict policy of Draft Submission Dates incorporating how the Marking of Drafts should occur for all non-exam assessment, operates across the College. This involves the submitting of 2 Draft copies, one of which is retained by the teacher. Teachers in the RE Dept. provide feedback on drafts, usually in written form, to assist students to improve. Prior to this, teachers aim to ensure that students understand the success criteria for all tasks.

 

A system of peer feedback also occurs when students offer each other advice about their work, usually in association with, not as a substitute for, teacher feedback. Teachers using peer feedback in RE have found this a particularly successful tool with classes from Year 10 onwards, assisting both peer and writer of the task. 

 

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