Dear Parents and Caregivers,

As always, there is plenty happening here at St. Joseph’s Kingswood. At the beginning of Week 4 we had a professional learning day with Bill Hansberry. Bill runs trainings and supports schools in the areas of specific learning disabilities, evidence-based teaching of literacy and literacy interventions.  He is also the co-developer of Playberry (Tier 3 Reading Intervention) and Laser Literacy (Tier 1 Literacy Program). Both will begin in our school in Semester Two of this year (keep an eye out for parent workshops on this next term).  This day covered a range of evidence-based instructions which help to ensure effective teaching and learning.  We were lucky enough to have all our teaching and educational support staff attend to ensure a whole school approach. Once the word got out, we also had an additional 20 staff from surrounding schools join us which contributes to the strengthening of relationships across CESA schools. 

In addition to this, myself, Jodie and Joshua Bennett attended a Leaders of Learning Day with all schools across CESA.  This professional learning day had three knowledgeable others present: Associate Professor Lorraine Hammond, Ollie Lovell (Cognitive Load Theory: Four Big Ideas) and Tom Sherrington Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction.

It was pleasing to hear much of what was echoed at our staff professional learning day with Bill. We are excited about the direction our school is heading, particularly in the areas of Literacy and Numeracy.  I will continue to keep you updated as our journey unfolds and share our learnings with you all.  In the meantime, below is some information for families around a key aspect unpacked on both days.

Cognitive Load Theory (Ollie Lovell and John Sweller):
Cognitive Load is the amount of information our working memory can hold at any one time.  The capacity of our working load is limited and therefore students can maximise their working memory by practising a range of strategies.  Research shows that strategies for reducing cognitive load can assist the human brain to learn and store knowledge, boost confidence and improve memory retention.

Further research has identified that reducing the cognitive load can reduce stress and anxiety and the feeling of being overwhelmed with tasks.

Some strategies to reduce the cognitive load for parents according to these experts include:

• Breaking down problems into smaller parts
• Helping children to understand worked examples to work out how to complete tasks.
• Encouraging your child to take advantage of auditory and visual channels in their working memory.
• Supporting them to create stories to help remember information in accessible chunks.
• Working with your child to simplify information so that they are avoiding overloading their brain with too much information at any one time.

It is also important to note that the learning environment is crucial to reducing cognitive load.  Helping to create a calm environment to work in with as few distractions as possible is imperative. Turning off phones, devices, TV, music etc is crucial as this all adds strain to our working memory.

Finally, Overlearning is a thing! We want our students to achieve mastery where retrieval becomes effortless.  Strengthening the retrieval pathways makes it easier to do in the future.  Help and encourage your child to review information as they go along to improve their retention.  This will add knowledge to their long-term memory. 

Inclusive Education:

I have sent a message via Seesaw offering meetings to parents who would like to review their child’s personalised learning plan.  If you have not received this or would like to meet about your child’s learning then please let me know, my door is always open.

Leaving with a Literacy Tip…. Vocabulary is Key!

In the last newsletter I addressed the importance of vocabulary.  This was reinforced in both professional learning sessions recently and seems to be prominent in everything I have read or heard recently. The breadth and depth of a child’s vocabulary is linked closely to their ability to comprehend successfully. Research has shown the importance of repetition when developing vocabulary. Children must engage with a word several times in different contexts before it is learnt. Below are some more simple and effective ideas for developing your child’s vocabulary taken from Five from Five (www.fivefromfive.com.au)

Vanessa Saccardo

Assistant Principal