The 2012 Partners in Learning Innovative Schools program was brought to a close in Perth with the third and final schools forum of the year. The forum, hosted in partnership with Western Australia Department of Education, was opened by David Axworthy, Deputy Direct General, Schools in the Department of Education and Cheryl Robertson, State Director Microsoft WA. Finishing the program in Western Australia proved rather apt as two schools from previous years in the program, East Butler and Waggrakine Primary Schools were announced as Partners in Learning Worldwide Mentor Schools demonstrating how WA Schools were continuing the journey beyond the national program and taking their place on the global education stage.

At the first forum in Canberra each school was tasked with completing a project for Perth that focused on reform/innovation/a meaningful improvement and transformation of learning for kids and teaching practices and was structured to enable whole school conditions that support scalability, i.e. beyond 2012. The projects were aimed at tackling one key challenge in the school and was not meant to be a PhD. What was delivered by each of the 20 schools astounded all present and provided brilliant scope for discussion between school teams. The benefit of the projects were summed up perfectly by Gus Napoli, "even if I got nothing else from today, I have 20 school problems, solved in 20 different ways that are all relevant in some way to my school."

I encourage anyone with an interest in actual school and classroom innovations to read and watch the 20 projects in the following links.

Once the schools were able to relax know the presentations were over, it was time to get back to the Joan and Travis show and finish this year's program journey. Focusing on how to keep the community alive and engaged beyond this year program, the cohort have provided fantastic feedback on how we reengineer the schools forum and I look forward to sharing the program format from 2013 onwards. A big thank you to the group for their valuable input and ideas. Ireland for the next Australian Schools forum is my particular favourite.

Once again at a schools forum, we were lucky enough to be joined by Wayne Craig, Regional Director of Melbourne Metro North Schools who was able share with us the truly fascinating system wide transformation in Melbourne North.

As the forum and the 2012 program has come to an end, I want to extend a public thanks to everyone for making it a fantastic program to be part of. Stay tuned for 2013!

p.s. For what really happened in Perth just search for #pilaus.

Snapshot at Perth VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

"Is the teaching profession prepared for a rapidly changing age of digital learning?"

Greg Butler, Senior Director – Strategic Education Partnerships in Microsoft has recently written a paper looking at teacher competencies. As different 1:1 models evolve, certainly here in Australia, and the pressure on teachers to deliver and create content in a increasingly digital age, this is a rather timely publication. This paper address the growing shift in focus and requirement in education from providing access to technology to equity of this access and how this will contribute to creating skilled members of the future work force.

The focus in this paper is on developing the core competencies that teachers require to be successful educators in an environment where it is recognised students need to develop 21st century skills. Interestingly, the author points out that we are still attempting to define 21st century skills "12 years into the century." This lack of coherent definition has not meant that there is a lack of key research in this field. Projects such as ACT21S & ITL are working to define the needs of teachers and how to effectively integrate 21st century practices in classrooms. The author has a contention with the concept of '21st century skills' and instead proposes 'Deep Learning Competencies' as a more aligned nomenclature. The concept of 'deep learning competencies is expanded in the following diagram.

Regardless of the term you place on the needs of students, the issue is summed up very clearly in the following:

“Think of it in this way – over the last 10 years the music industry has been fundamentally changed because of the impact where new technology has required a whole new set of thinking and talents for success. Education needs to think of such a transformation through the lens of new pedagogies and processes that have students creatively apply technology to lead the learning and teachers to be active partners and coaches, for all learners.”

By examining teacher competencies for a digital age and asking the question 'are countries keeping up with their teaching standards,’ the author demonstrates that there are resources and projects addressing this deficit. However, it appears that many of these projects are stand alone or just papers published by different boards of national standards that fail to address the core requirements of developing deep learning competencies. This is probably not a surprise to anyone who has worked in 'innovative' projects in technology and education - the lack of coherent, centralised focus to scale the fantastic work being carried out on the, at times, periphery of education.

John Fawkner College is a small 7 – 12 secondary school located 18km from the CBD in Melbourne’s Northern Suburbs. Approximately 450 students are enrolled at the college with approximately 120 of these students participating in the off-site Sports Education Development Australia (SEDA) program. The college has a Student Family Occupation (SFO) index of 0.73 and therefore receives significant funding for disadvantage. Over 60% of students come from English as an Additional Language (EAL) backgrounds.

Vision

To provide a dynamic learning environment that engages students who work to achieve their personal best in an atmosphere of mutual respect and cooperation.

School Motto                                   

Aspire and Achieve                                      

School Values

Respect, Commitment, Integrity

Background

In 2009 the college, known at the time as Fawkner College underwent an external diagnostic review. The review identified that the school had a history of below standard outcomes, falling enrolments and not being valued by the local community. Data indicated that approximately 700 secondary school age students living in the enrolment area were bypassing the two local secondary colleges to attend school elsewhere.

As a result of the review the Department of Education and Childhood Development (DEECD) and Northern Metropolitan Region made the decision that John Fawkner College and another local secondary college would become part of Project Excellence, a unique initiative based on the Fresh Start Program in the United Kingdom.

As part of Project Excellence:

• Fawkner College was closed at the end of 2009 and reopened at the beginning of 2010 as John Fawkner College
• All staff were named over entitlement and asked to reapply for their positions if they wished to remain at the college. This process resulted in a 48% change in staff.
• A new Leadership Team was established
• Additional resources were provided through National Partnership funding which included two Leading Teachers (Literacy and Numeracy), Teaching and Learning Coaches (Literacy and Numeracy), an Executive Officer to support the Principal, funding to upgrade the facilities and support from an educationalist from the United Kingdom who acted as a critical friend.

After nearly three years there is no doubt that Project Excellence has been an outstanding success as evidenced by the significantly improved data - NAPLAN, VCE, VCAL, student, staff and parent surveys and school generated assessments.

A new school culture has been established based on a focus on continuous improvement, teachers working in teams, improved teaching and learning practices, consistency between classrooms, high expectations, an orderly learning environment and authentic student voice.

A key element in the school improvement agenda has been the strong commitment of the college to the Northern Metropolitan Region strategies, Achievement Improvement Zones (AIZ), Powerful Learning and Curiosity. These strategies provided a clear framework to improve teaching and learning and reduce variation between classrooms.

Consistent Teaching and Learning practices

The strong focus on improving teaching and learning and consistency of practice has had a profound impact on student outcomes. Consistent practices now include:

• A common approach to student management
• The use of an agreed whiteboard structure to inform students on what they are learning
• Students being aware of the learning intention and success criteria in every lesson

• Regular feedback to students to support their learning
• The use of the High Reliability Literacy Teaching Strategies (Getting Knowledge Ready, Vocabulary, Reading Aloud, Paraphrasing, Identifying Questions the Text will Answer, Summarising, Review)
• Teachers working in teams to plan and review curriculum and monitor student progress
• Strategic ongoing professional development of staff on agreed practices.

Partnerships

The college has strong partnerships with business and industry which have been invaluable in linking students with the world outside of school, providing them with a wide range of experiences, connecting them with mentors, developing their knowledge of the vast range of vocational opportunities open to them and building their confidence and communication and interpersonal skills.

The support of organisations such as Minter Ellison Lawyers, Australian Business Community Network (ABCN), Melbourne Heart Soccer Team, Netball Victoria, Moreland City Council and the Local Learning and Employment Network (LLEN) have benefited students in all Year levels of the college.

Information Technology

The college has a strong commitment to the use of information technology to enhance student learning.

A relationship with Promethean has resulted in the installation of interactive whiteboards in eighteen classrooms and the Library. Staff have participated in professional development to develop their skills in the use of the boards. Feedback from students and staff on the impact on teaching and learning has been extremely positive.

In 2011 all students in Years 9-12 were provided with a Netbook computer. A number of class sets of Netbook computers are available for the use of students in Years 7 and 8. Netbooks are used every day by every student.

A room with a bank of desktop computers was included in the recently built Language Centre to support ICT specific subjects such as VET Multi-media.

The college recognises the power of ICT in supporting student’s learning but is well aware that a great deal of work still to be done to ensure that students and staff have the knowledge and skills to maximise its potential.

Partners in Learning

During 2010/11 the Principal and Executive Officer participated in a program matching them with a business leader. As chance would have both worked with a representative from Microsoft Australia. A follow on from this association and the success of Project Excellence was that the college was invited to participate in the Partners in Learning Program.

A key belief at John Fawkner College is that student learning is enhanced through enquiry, collaboration and effective feedback. This is the focus of our Partners in Learning Project. The goals of our project are to:

• Develop student’s ability to work collaboratively and provide them with the opportunity to work regularly in group situations
• Develop student’s understanding that learning is enhanced through sharing knowledge and challenging others thinking
• Encourage students to develop knowledge and understanding and apply their learning through an enquiry approach
• Use One Note to enhance collaboration, challenge thinking, apply knowledge and provide feedback to promote student’s higher order learning

A small group of teachers worked closely with a local primary school which was implementing an enquiry learning approach called Self Organised Learning Environments (SOLE) promoted by Professor Sugata Mitra, Professor of Educational Technology at the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences at Newcastle University, UK. SOLE was to be the basis for our project and therefore it was important that teachers fully understood the associated theory and practices. Our project involved students using ICT in their enquiry and specifically OneNote to challenge theirs and other’s thinking, support their collaboration and provide feedback to each other on their learning.

John Fawkner College has just begun this exciting journey however we look forward to the challenges ahead as we strive to provide our students with the knowledge and skills required to be successful in the 21st Century.

Glenn White, Gus Napoli and Jess Sartori

John Fawkner College

18th October 2012

Edge Hill is a primary school situated approximately 8km from the centre of Cairns in Far North Queensland.

The school has a proud tradition of providing innovative, quality education to students from P- 7. With an enrolment of over 1000 students and a teaching staff of 50+, our school is a bustling, thriving learning community.

Our students come from a multitude of different cultural backgrounds with many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Japanese families living in the area. As an Education Queensland international school we also service a growing contingent of international students from many countries including Japan, Korea, PNG and South Africa, choosing our school as a place for their education.

Our School Vision:

At Edge Hill State School we will educate the leaders of the future in an environment that endeavours to challenge and support them, to prepare them to be healthy, confident young Australians, living and working in a global society and economy.

Our Curriculum

Historically Edge Hill has been known for innovation with regard to teaching and learning, particularly having been a part of the New Basics Project which included development of Rich Tasks used for student assessment.

During 2012 Edge Hill State School will begin implementation of the new Australian Curriculum for English, Mathematics and Science. This is a huge undertaking for our teachers and students but provides us with a powerful opportunity to explore and enhance our school wide pedagogy and in particular our digital pedagogy.

Our Charter for Excellence

Edge Hill State School believes challenge leads to personal growth - it provides motivation for positive change. Support helps to ensure successful adaptation to meet the challenge.

•Our teachers will challenge our students with high expectations while supporting them by developing meaningful relationships and providing for individual learning needs

•Our curriculum will challenge students with high expectations whilst supporting their intrinsic motivation to learn with differentiated learning

•Our school will challenge students with high expectations for social and emotional learning while providing them with whole child support

•Our school leaders will challenge teachers to improve performance while supporting their professional growth

•Our school will challenge students to become adaptable and flexible, contemporary learners by supporting them with a rich and diverse digital pedagogy.

ICT@ Edge Hill

The school’s eLearning plan encompasses 4 focus areas:

Working Digitally:

Focuses on how the school uses digital technology as a way of moving from traditional to transformational ways of working. Planning for this requires consideration of community, student and staff their access to and purposeful use of digital technologies.

Enabling Learners:

Focuses on establishing the effective learning environments necessary to address the needs of learners in a complex changing world. Considerations here include implementing consistent, school wide standards for and making use of online learning environments to optimise students opportunities to use ICT for learning at school.

Developing Professionals:

This focus area addresses development of teacher and leader capabilities necessary to deliver quality teaching and learning, including teacher acquisition of minimum standards of competency with ICTs and developing teachers’ knowledge and understanding of embedding ICTs as tools to enhance learning outcomes for students.

Harnessing the Enterprise Platform

Focuses on the processes, systems and practices necessary to develop and maintain effective learning productivity. This domain covers management and enhancement and investment in infrastructure, devices and software and ways to leverage these to personalise learning and extend it beyond the classroom.

Our Microsoft Partnerships in Learning Project Plan

Our PiL Schools Research data showed us that one 21st century learning capability that we could be doing better with is “Skilled Communication”; Connecting our community with student learning is also a regional priority; therefore our PiL project focuses on developing our students and teachers as skilled 21st century communicators.

The PiL project has been opportunity for us to look at our practice around 21st century teaching and learning and move forward with an agenda of enhancing our digital pedagogy to enhance learning outcomes for students at Edge Hill State School. The powerful networking opportunities and learning it has provided have allowed us to expand our thinking and contemplate an educational horizon so much wider than we might otherwise have been able to imagine.

Thanks to Kirsty Edwards, Paul Campbell, Cecelia Brook; Edge Hill State School Partners in Learning Team for this guest post.

Established in 1956, Kedron State High School is one of the most successful multi-cultural high schools in Brisbane. Located in the northern metropolitan area, the school’s hard working staff and dedicated students achieve outstanding results in academia, music and sport. The student population of just under 1200 students originates from some 50 different primary schools and a similar number of different nationalities are represented. The school welcomes 50 international students and 300 English as a Second Language (ESL) students each year and encourages optimum performance, reflected in the school motto - ‘To Strive is to Shine’.

In 2009 work began to create a vision for the school in terms of the use of technology for teaching and learning. As a traditional, academic, disciplined school with a proven academic record, it was important that we maintained the teaching expertise developed over years, and complemented this with the opportunities that access to new technologies afforded both staff and students. The marriage of these two methods of delivery is called “Blended Learning” and after extensive research and the experience of the teaching staff at Kedron, it is the preferred model of delivery for our school and our eLearning vision was formed.

Kedron’s Vision for eLearning

Our vision is to create a dynamic learning community where the use of ICTs is integral to the learning of every student. Through authentic engagement and involvement with their learning, we are striving to equip our students with the tools and skills for their future world.

 

Research has shown that 1to1 programs – where there is a computer for each student– are most effective when students have a computer that is theirs. Indeed, when the personal use of the device is a given, teachers can get on with teaching, and students with learning, without access to the technology becoming a disruptor. Currently, all students in years 9-11 have their own Laptop (close to 750 devices) to access the curriculum. Next year this will be extended to include year 12 also.

Kedron’s High was both honoured and excited to be chosen as one the 20 Australian schools for the 2012 Partners In Learning Program. Kedron was mindful of the fact that there was an important role to be played in ensuring that students were provided with the skills needed to navigate the world as they are experiencing it, not as previous generations have. Much has been written about 21st Century skills of the workplace and beyond, and 24/7 access to a learning tool such as a Laptop would provide the balance between Kedron’s established traditional modes of learning and new ways of learning.  The Partners in Learning Program has provided many opportunities for the school to reflect on the work it had already undertaken through the lens of the framework and ongoing support from Microsoft. The Partners in Learning program focus on sound pedagogy has enabled learningful conversations (Senge, 1990) between teaching staff.

Teaching and non-teaching staff have been working to develop their understanding of digital pedagogy – using technologies to complement and improve the teaching and learning in their classrooms – and the use of technology within school to improve overall effectiveness of systems and administration. Structured programs have been developed for staff to access training and professional learning opportunities to develop their skills in the contemporary classroom.

As part of the PIL program project at Kedron the whole year 11 English student cohort submitted a draft of their assignment in OneNote; they were then given oral plus visual feedback. Teachers invested their time and effort into two feedbacks on the draft which the syllabus allows – this was done by combining Community Clips and OneNote. The English Department had those papers marked off-site by a marker. When the marks were returned, Year 11 teachers reviewed the results the marker had given and rather than giving back the students their criteria sheet they created a podcast for each student.  This allowed students to identify their strengths and weaknesses. Students were then asked to make a judgement as to what they thought their result was before actually seeing it. The process allowed students to reflect on their mark and to determine what they need to do to improve in future.

The process saw an improvement in outcomes and whilst these results didn’t follow strict research methods outcomes compared to the same assessment task last year show clear improvement across the group.

The OneNote project is one example of the reflection in practice that involvement in the Partners in Learning program has seen across the school. Most importantly this involvement allows Kedron to provide the best learning opportunities for both students and staff, along with the chance to connect with other members of the Microsoft global learning network.

www.kedronshs.eq.edu.au

Thanks to Myron McCormick, Steve Lang, & Chrissie Coogan - Kedron Senior High School Partners in Learning Team for putting writing this post.

“Come to the edge, he said. They said: We are afraid.

Come to the edge, he said. They came. He pushed them and they flew.”

Apollinaire

Abstract & Summary

The Microsoft Partners in Learning schools program brings 20 of Australia’s best government K-12 institutions together into a virtual and real-time innovation hub with opportunities for sharing best practice and formal professional learning. The program, in its current format, has been in place since 2010 – and has been working in collaboration with the Australian public sector state and territory government jurisdictions since its inception.

Participating schools and colleges are selected because they are already showing leadership in the application of learning technologies and are undergoing whole school change and reform.

The goal of the program is to take these school leadership teams and work with them over the year to build their capacity as educational leaders.

In 2011, the Microsoft Partners in Learning schools program encouraged 20 leadership teams to engage in deep discussions around the creative integration of technology into the learning space, in order to personalise and contemporise pedagogy for an evolving educational and social milieu.

It also challenged them to address change management; that is, facilitating the move to productive and effective teaching through the artful application of ICT tools and resources. This meant the outcome of each school’s work was twofold: It aimed both to strengthen the quality of learning for students and strengthen the teaching efficacy of the educators who deliver it.

The participants were then asked to document and demonstrate the efficacy of their pioneering work and that of their staff. They were asked to verify better ways of teaching and, in doing so, deliver more successful, more engaging learning.

Malcolm Gladwell (2000) calls that new orthodoxy ‘the tipping point’, and those who have not adopted or embraced the new way of living or working become identified as laggards, resisters or not in keeping with contemporary standards. For the majority of practitioners, the new behaviour, idea, product or process has ‘stuck’.

In this case, Microsoft invited teams of influential leaders who could encourage that tipping point. They were people who could have maximum impact over the whole school community; people who understood the systems, the culture and the people that formed the school. These leaders were the key to leading a school over the edge of the known and traditional craft of teaching, into a new world supported by deepened understanding of learning, assessment, cognition and technology.

How the Partners in Learning schools program worked

The 2011 Microsoft Partners in Learning schools program had a number of elements. The core program was delivered over three two-day workshops in Melbourne, the Gold Coast and Sydney respectively. The theme of the 2011 workshops was student engagement and self-direction. The teams looked at ways to help students exercise their voices, discover personal entry points into learning, co-construct learning pathways, and use technology to present and showcase that learning in new ways.

Participants were encouraged to network formally and informally in and between the sessions. Guest presenters from previous programs, international speakers, Microsoft staff and other presenters all worked together to help them become inspirational leaders driving 21st century reform and innovation.

There were also opportunities to visit schools that had undertaken significant work on pedagogy and integrating technology into their teaching and assessment processes.

Most importantly, the program gave the school leadership teams some focus. With quality time to think about their work, the teams could take in the wider educational context and start to see what was important and what was possible in 21st century pedagogy.

Drivers towards radical reform

The following drivers are the elements of a multi-level push that will assist in achieving a school-wide pedagogical approach that enables each student to work at their personal best with a range of new resources that facilitate richer access to learning, as well as a more creative execution of that learning.

These drivers are as follows:

• Students and teachers will be inspired by best practice experiences. They need to see and experience best practice in high-quality, personalised learning in an atmosphere of challenge, trust, mutual obligation and responsibility for learning design and activities. Students and teachers see examples of high-quality learning programs that draw on a range of new technology resources that assist students to undertake their learning and assessment in rich and challenging ways.

• Standards and processes encourage educators to be their best. There is strong, explicit and shared leadership around contemporary learning. This is based on research and inquiry, with high expectations for meeting contemporary standards of teaching performance, guided by strong processes for monitoring and improving teaching.

• A whole school strategy fosters a culture of best practice. The strategic planning work of the school or college drives learning improvement, curriculum development and fosters a culture of skilled teaching – based on agreements about best pedagogy for the learning context and the needs of students. It embeds these agreements into the culture of the school, as well as its standard operating procedures for all staff.

• There is skilled dialogue to achieve a school-wide, shared understanding of what constitutes quality pedagogy for the 21st century student and
  high expectations for achieving widespread teacher buy-in for more productive pedagogy across the school against a set of indicators of quality teaching.

• Curriculum guidelines, unit plans and program guides all focus teachers and students to work within an ordered and scaffolded learning program with appropriate explicit teaching sessions, guided projects and personalised assessment.

• Authentic assessment is an integral part of the planning and negotiation for learning as well as of learning, and is a process that is continually moderated in staff teams for consistency and efficacy using state-of-the-art technology applications for the capture and analysis of student learning progress.

• Teachers work together to co-construct a new vision of what constitutes the real and virtual learning spaces, putting the protocols and arrangements in place to enable students to access the 21st century classroom safely and successfully. Risk management and social responsibility in relation to learning in the networked world are part of the explicit curriculum and behaviour codes of schools and colleges.

• Parents are educated and engaged in the reform work of the school, with information, programs and communication systems deepening their engagement with the school and giving them a much more intimate understanding of their own children’s learning, capacity and progress.

• Staff engage in skilled and rigorous research methods that produce compelling evidence that the new pedagogy is effective, engaging and gets better results for all students. Colleges and schools abandon the habit of ‘jumping on bandwagons’ and embrace a more peer-moderated approach to instructional effectiveness.

• Democratic and empowering relationships are developed between teacher and child based on personalisation and mutual negotiation, while remaining characteristic of the culture of the school or college.

• Students are able to engage with community organisations, other people and resources outside the school as members of the global community, forming the characteristics and capabilities of responsible, culturally aware and open-minded citizenship.

• Technology and other learning resources are readily available and accessible to students as they negotiate their programs, equipment is in good order, and is maintained and stored in ways that allow easy access, just-in-time training for use, security of use and fitness for purpose.

• The administration, communications systems and professional learning programs of the sites demonstrate the leading edge of information and communication technologies and are used to demonstrate applications and resources in creative ways.

• There is a breakthrough in understanding that technology in teaching is not about every student having a computer; rather, that technology permeates every aspect of school and classroom life and is to be exploited creatively.

• Curriculum is defined in both content and process terms, with the development of a set of explicit learning capabilities as an integral part of the core that allows students to develop and demonstrate capabilities for learning as they form themselves as highly skilled learners.

• High expectations of teachers are actively called for and supervision and support are in place to ensure that every teacher is able to demonstrate that their pedagogy is state-of-the-art, effective and engaging for students.

Reform does not mean a simple rearrangement of timetables, a redesigning of the types of learning activities undertaken or a more liberal approach to the way students are able to present their work for assessment. It is a deep shift in school culture, relationships and power, applied with new awareness about authentic learning, cognition and the assessment of that learning in ways that allow students to work towards their own personal achievements and demonstrate their capabilities.

Genuine reform demands intensive specialist knowledge and rigorous professional learning, not only about programs, tools, resources and equipment, but also about the process of teaching in a vastly more sophisticated learning environment with students who are much more skilled and able to use the resources around them than we as educators ever anticipated.

Equally, reform requires a new level of personal and professional understanding on the part of the teacher, the student and the parents. It demands a new level of professionalism in the relationships between those partners in learning. It calls for a new level of sophistication in the way teachers work with each student in order to tailor their learning to maximum potential. All of these things involve intelligence, rigorous routines, discipline and finely nuanced explicit teaching on the part of the teacher at a level that has never been demanded before.

Once the tipping point is reached, teaching and teachers move into a high-performance zone that students will expect and demand from all teachers thereafter. There is no retreat from the new learning frontiers required in the technological age.

Reform is not a choice.

 

To read the full report please go to the Partners in Learning Network resource here . Projects submitted at the end of the program will be uploaded shortly so join the network to explore these resources and experiences.

Microsoft Partners in Learning 2011 schools

Australian Capital Territory

Erindale College

New South Wales

Albury Public School

Campbelltown Performing Arts High School

Sydney Distance Education High School

Tuggerah Lakes Secondary College (Tumbi Umbi Campus)

Northern Territory

Rosebery Middle School

Queensland

Coomera Springs State School

Kirwan State High School

Stanthorpe State School

South Australia

Charles Campbell Secondary School

Lockleys North Primary School

Tasmania

Campbell Street Primary School

Princes Street Primary School

Victoria

Belmont High School

Buckley Park College

Mooroolbark College

Somerville Secondary College

Western Australia

Esperance Primary School

Hamilton Senior High School

Tom Price Primary School

PiL Schools Program Report 2011.pdf

As a Microsoft Pathfinder School, Campbelltown Performing Arts High School (CPAHS) has been recognised as being passionate about technology in the classroom and having a strong vision for transforming their learning environment. This program offers students and teachers the opportunity to further enhance their use of ICT tools with high levels of engagement, communication, collaboration and leadership opportunities. In addition to this, the school will have access to a shared learning community, where they are able to share best practice examples with other schools around the globe.

CPAHS uses technology in all streams of their curriculum and is a school firmly committed to enhancing learning outcomes for students, and more importantly, to equip the students with 21st century skills, enabling them to reflect deeply, think critically, work creatively, and collaborate effectively.

“Australia has always embraced technology in the classroom and it’s great to see schools like this incorporate technology into its vision for learning in such a fun and positive way, giving the pupils the best start for their future in the digital society. It is critical for our leaders of tomorrow to immerse themselves in the smart tools available,” Sean Tierney, Academic Programs Manager, Microsoft Australia, said.

Stacey Quince, CPAHS Principal, adds, “We are absolutely thrilled to have been selected as a Pathfinder School. Our vision over the next 3-5 years is to meet the learning needs of every single student in our school through personalised and differentiated learning, primarily delivered via technology”. Adding that, “Students at our school are engaged in inquiry-based learning that challenges them and rewards them. We want our students to be stimulated into thinking creatively and we encourage them to take supported risks and see the school as providing opportunities for learning to occur outside the boundaries of the traditional classroom”.

To embrace this philosophy, the high school has adapted its resources to ensure the focus on learning is underpinned by technology. Every student (Years 9-12) and teacher has been given laptops, every faculty has an interactive whiteboard (IWB) and the school is fitted with 10 technology labs, with wireless internet access throughout.

At CPAHS, one of the best practice examples includes students (dance, music and circus) using webcams to create video and audio files of their performances or musical compositions, which are then embedded into their OneNote notebooks. Peer assessors and teachers can then provide written feedback or make notes and juxtapose/tag their comments to the key points in the student’s video files. Students then use this feedback (visual, auditory and digital) to inform and develop their performance pieces, in particular, prior to final assessment.

Stacey Quince concludes, “All teachers at the high school are deeply committed and engaged in helping improve the school and this status elevation is a very exciting development for us. It was only last year that we were selected as one of twenty schools nationally to join the Microsoft Innovative Schools Program.”

See the following links for more information about Campbelltown Performing Arts High School.

CPAHS Website

CPAHS PiL Network Profile

As a Microsoft Pathfinder School, Kirwan State High School has been recognised as a school which has demonstrated they are passionate about technology and have a strong vision for transforming their learning environment. This program offers students and teachers the opportunity to further enhance their use of ICT tools with high levels of engagement, communication, collaboration and leadership opportunities. In addition to this, the school will have access to a shared learning community, where they are able to share best practice examples with other schools around the globe.

At Kirwan State High School, one of the key best practice examples can be seen by students studying humanities, who are using technology based solutions to investigate real world issues focusing on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Students have created education campaigns to raise awareness of Human Rights issues internationally and domestically. The school’s Vietnamese charity partner, Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation, has now implemented these initiatives on a large scale.

“It’s fantastic to see Kirwan State High School apply digital solutions to global problems. What’s important is using technology to better educate the kids, get them engaged and excited about learning and make a contribution to society. This gives not only the school, but the community a great sense of achievement and something to be really proud of”, Sean Tierney, Academic Programs Manager, Microsoft Australia, said.

Further enhancing the school’s focus on best technological practise, Kirwan State High School has introduced intranet based programs into their curriculum and all initiatives are based on the promotion of student advocacy through ‘Student Voice’, and engaging local students in service learning projects with global partners.

Executive Principal of Kirwan State High School, John Livingston, said, “We are very excited to have been selected as a Pathfinder School. We hope to develop authentic learning networks for students and staff and the opportunity to collaborate and innovate on a large scale. Not only can we encourage other schools to implement and use technology in a meaningful way in the classroom, but to also learn from other Pathfinder and Mentor Schools around the world. We want to promote North Queensland as a leading district in eLearning, to up-skill all educators in purposefully using Microsoft ICT for learning.”

See the following links for more information about Kirwan State High School.

Kirwan State Website

Kirwan State PiL Network Profile

As Mentor Schools, both schools have been acknowledged as demonstrating that they are passionate about technology and not only have a strong vision for transforming their learning environment, but have actually made these changes and are leading technological innovation in education across the global.

“East Butler Primary School and Waggrakine Primary School were invited to join the program as Mentor Schools because they have achieved a level of change within their education systems and are viewed as leaders in their countries and regions. Their innovations have a global interest and are replicable models that other schools can follow. Australia has a history for embracing technology in all streams of the curriculum, and the work that both schools are doing highlights this perfectly,” Sean Tierney, Academic Programs Manager, Microsoft Australia, said.

East Butler Primary School and Waggrakine will both be taking on additional responsibility with the appointment, as Mentor Schools are also responsible for mentoring five Pathfinder Schools over a 12-24 month period. Mentor Schools receive technology expertise from Microsoft, development tools and educational models, and online and in-person training to support their efforts.

Denise Jeffs, deputy principal, East Butler Primary School in Western Australia, said on the appointment, “We pride ourselves on giving students the best opportunities for the future and providing them will those valuable digitals skills needed to succeed. To be recognised by Microsoft as a Mentor School and as a global leader in using technology in education is a fantastic achievement for us. The program gives us the opportunity to encourage other schools to implement and use technology in a meaningful way in the classroom, and learn from other Pathfinder and Mentor Schools around the world.”

East Butler Primary School places huge emphasis on technological innovation in the classroom, and its student leadership committee. One of the best practice examples that the school has implemented is a student-run monthly broadcast news report that sits on the Intranet for students, teachers and parents alike to access. Focus on technology in Drama Studies is also key, with the students having access to green screens and movie-making software to express their ideas in a paperless learning system.

Elisabeth Turner, principal, Waggrakine Primary School in West Australia, said, “Being recognised in this way and taking our status on the Partners in Learning Innovative Schools Program to the next level is a fantastic accomplishment for our school. Technology in the classroom is critical in helping to support opportunities for teaching the children the three R’s through the four C’s of creativity, collaboration, critical thinking and communication.”

At Waggrakine Primary School, one of the key best practice examples is the emphasis that the school places on engaged learning beyond the classroom. Through this, students take learning to new places, with new people and new ideas, allowing them to develop skills they need to flourish in the digital world. In addition, students are given a voice at the school in the planning and direction of their learning, highlighting the importance of student engagement throughout the education experience.

See the following links more information about both schools.

Waggrakine PiL Network Profile

Waggrakine Website

East Butler PiL Network Profile

East Butler Website

Our school is a dual campus P-6 Primary School located on the western fringe of Horsham and at Haven, which is 5 kilometres south of Horsham. Approximately 580 students attend the Horsham West campus and approximately a further 70 attend our Haven campus.

School Values

• Honesty,
• Persistence,
• Responsibility
• Respect

School Goals

The school strives to meet the needs of our school community by:

• Extending each student’s individual potential by encouraging, recognising and rewarding achievement and effort.
• Recognising each student’s strengths and utilising them for continued learning.
• Providing an environment that is well maintained, safe and secure.
• Developing in students’ qualities such as responsibility, communication skills, independence, creativity and problem
  solving.

Habits of the Minds

The school has adopted Professor Arthur Costa’s Habits of the Minds as a framework to educate our students to behave intelligently and perform well in school and everyday life.

Art Costa is Emeritus Professor of Education at California State University. He studied successful people from many walks of life and recognised and defined 16 qualities as being central to intelligent thought and reasoning.

The Habits of Mind are integrated within the school program, with awards presented to successful students each month.

Restorative Practices

Through Restorative Practices we seek to enhance relationships between students, teachers, and parents, so as to nurture our sense of community at the school. The Restorative Practices philosophy and behaviour management, provides HWHPS students with the opportunity to develop self-discipline and positive behaviours in a caring, supportive environment.

A positive school climate, in which young people feel connected, is the best environment for learning.

The Aims of restorative practices are:

• Educate students towards self-directed correct behaviour.
• Promote, nurture and protect healthy relationships among members of the community.
• Enable students to be accountable for the real consequences of any wrongdoing.
• Develop empathy for others within our students.
• Become more positive, supportive and contributing members of their community.

Information Communication Technology

The school believe it is essential to use information technology to enhance student learning. Competence with information technology will also be an essential skill for all children to be effective citizens in our information rich society.

In 2010 the school implemented a Netbook program where every child from Year 4 to 6 lease a small laptop. The cost for parents will be $150 per year in 2013, which includes warranty, technical support and shared insurance. We therefore have 270 netbooks used daily by our senior students.

Each classroom has an electronic whiteboard, facilitating a broader range of teaching strategies in the classroom. With the help of our Parents’ club this investment is adding a new dimension to our classrooms.

Specialist Classes

Students participate in a number of specialist classes each week. The specialist program includes Art, Music, Resource Based Learning (Library), Physical Education and German. Students from the Haven Campus travel to West to participate in specialist classes each week.

Support Programs

There are a range of support programs designed to assist students with learning difficulties. Reading Recovery, Multi-Lit, Speech assistance, and our language support program assist students with greater needs in literacy and language. Quicksmart Numeracy is a program that targets students in Year four to help with their understanding of numeracy.

Sports

The school has various programs that promote physical activity, participation and representation at State level competitions. The school has an Active After School program three nights a week which enables students to learn about a variety of recreational activities and sports. The school’s teams regularly make the State finals and compete at the highest levels.

Microsoft Partners In Learning Program

In 2011 we were invited to participate in the program by the e-Learning branch of the DEECD. This reflected the role the school had played in integrating ICT within classrooms and supporting regional schools to enhance their ICT capabilities.

Global Awareness

The focus on 21^st Century Capabilities in the PiL program dovetails with one of our goals in our new Strategic Plan. In our Strategic Plan we outline the goal of increasing the global awareness of our students, which links directly to the one of the 21^st Century capabilities. Through professional learning workshops with our teachers we have promoted utilising ICT to increase connectivity and collaboration with people outside the four walls of the classroom.

The development of the Global Schools Blog by one of the staff members participating in the Microsoft PIL program has made the process of connecting our classes around the world far simpler and efficient. With approximately 60 worldwide partner schools already signed on to this blog our global network has certainly expanded. We recommend checking out the blog to see if it suits your school. Go to https://globalschoolsblog.wordpress.com/ for further information.

Work thus far through this program has focussed on up-skilling teachers to use a variety of ICT methods to take learning beyond the four walls of our classrooms. Email, blog posts, video conferencing, Skyping, participation in online collaboration events and sites (example:. DeforestACTION, Global Children’s Challenge, Prime Minister’s Olympic Challenge) have all enabled our students to gain a greater awareness of the world beyond our school and their classrooms.

Digital literacy

In 2012 we were successful in gaining a grant through the CASS Foundation to implement an animation project for Years four to six across the school. The project involves the teachers learning about digital animation from Dave Jones a digital artist.

• https://theartofdave.blogspot.com.au/
• https://www.transience.com.au/
• https://www.acmi.net.au/games_davejones.htm
• https://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/aim/alumni_dj&am.html

For the first three terms Dave worked at the Horsham West Campus. The students in Year 4 completed stop motion animations in term 1. In term 2 the Year 5 students completed Kahootz 3d animations and the Year 6 students used Pencil to create digital storybooks. In fourth term Dave will work with the Years 3-6 students at our Haven Campus.

The goal of the project is to enhance the digital repertoire of our teachers and students. To enable information, knowledge and understanding to be synthesised and communicated through animation.

www.horshamwps.vic.edu.au

@HorshamWPS

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