Throughout 2020, the College undertook a review of its current Timetable structure. In Term 1 this year, the College Leadership Team endorsed a change of the timetable structure for 2022 from the current six 50-minute periods per day to a five 60-minute period per day timetable. The purpose of this Newsletter article is to summarise the information provided in the three previous Newsletter articles, that being the rationale behind the change to the Timetable structure for 2022, the College’s Instructional Teaching Model and the day structure in 2022.

Rationale

Before making recommendations regarding a change to the College Timetable, both educational literature and the findings of the 2019 School Review were addressed. Educational literature in the areas of increasing student engagement, improving student outcomes, increasing academic rigor and refining consistency in teacher pedagogy were used as the basis of informing this change. Some of the key findings from a review of the research are noted below:

• A school scheduling system must be well thought out to make a significant impact on the academic achievement of students (Olsen, 2020)
• A school schedule that is well thought out can result in more effective use of time, and school resources, improve the teaching and learning climate and assist in establishing desired instructional practices (Canady and Rettig, 1995)
• Spaced lessons over multiple days have an effect size of 0.71 on student achievement, compared with massed practice which has an effect size of 0.41 (Hattie, 2009)
• More contact with teachers provides greater opportunities for feedback to be provided to students (Hattie, 2009)
• Repeated or multiple opportunities to be exposed, encounter, engage or elaborate with content and knowledge provides greater opportunity for deep learning to occur (Hattie, 2009)
• Increased exposure to teachers across the course of a week, term or semester increases the relationship developed between teachers and students (Armstrong, 2006; Dickinson, 2001)
• Students cannot stay focused for longer periods of time, and knowledge retention diminishes if classes do not occur on a regular basis (Bowman, 1998)
• A shorter length of class time can be more conducive to the attention span of adolescents (Roberts, 2016)
• If the day is less taxing for students, there may be a range of positive consequences such as reduced stress, improved morale and fewer behavioural concerns (Morton, 2021)
• Student productivity is higher in the morning compared to the afternoon (Pope, 2016)

Supporting the educational literature, the School Review highlighted improving the quality of learning and teaching across the school was a high priority. However, the review noted that students felt that stimulating learning environments within the classroom could be improved. The review identified that there was a variety of contemporary teaching strategies being used across the school, but consistency in these strategies across all subjects and teachers was required, with examples such as Learning Intentions and Success Criteria being highlighted as important to deploy across all classrooms.

It is anticipated that the change to five 60-minute periods in 2022 will lead to increased levels of student achievement and engagement in classes, higher expectations of students within classes and an increase in academic rigor. Additionally, the timetable change will result in an increased frequency of contact between students and teachers across the cycle and the ability to minimise interruptions of learning in classes due to College events and co-curricular activities. The timetable change also allows for greater flexibility of scheduling practical and theory lessons across the cycle, increased opportunity for students and teachers to build positive relationships and greater opportunity to review curriculum and skills taught in previous lessons.

GANAG Instructional Teaching Model

Prior to selecting an Instructional Teaching Model for 2022, the College’s Learning and Teaching Team researched a variety of Instructional Models and identified similarities across the majority of these. Research has shown that the implementation of an Instructional Model consistently in the classroom increases student achievement (Hattie, 2008; Marzano et al., 2001). The GANAG model has the following steps occur throughout a lesson: setting a goal, accessing prior knowledge, introducing new knowledge, applying knowledge and reviewing the initial goal. In 2022 the College will implement an adjusted version of the GANAG Instructional Model (Marzano et al., 2001) across all subject areas. The Setting a Goal in the GANAG Model has been adjusted to Learning Intentions and Success Criteria of the lesson and the Reviewing the Initial Goal adjusted to a Lesson Summary/Reflection.

In 2022, within each lesson at the College teachers and students will:

• Identify Learning Intentions of the lesson
• Explore Success Criteria of the lesson
• Access Prior Knowledge about the content or skill being covered in the lesson
• Be presented with New Information about the content or skill being taught in the lesson
• Have an opportunity to Apply Knowledge learnt within the lesson
• Summarise/Reflect on the learning that has occurred in the lesson

A brief description of each part of the Instructional Model is below.

Learning Intentions – Learning intentions are statements that make the goal of the lesson visible for students. They typically start with the phrase ‘To be able to…’ Another way to think of a Learning Intention is what students are expected to learn in the lesson.

Success Criteria – Are more focused than the Learning Intentions that make the skills or content the students will be able to do or know about by the end of the lesson clear. They typically start with the phrase ‘I can…’ Another way to think of Success Criteria is how students will achieve the Learning Intention.

Accessing Prior Knowledge – This stage is designed to engage students so that they are ready to learn. It is also designed to get students thinking about what they already know about the topic being covered, or what they had learnt in the previous lesson.

New Information – In a format chosen by the teacher (e.g., video, information sheet, textbook, PowerPoint presentation) the new knowledge for the lesson is introduced.

Apply Knowledge – This stage is the most important stage in the lesson as it is when students begin to interact with the new knowledge. There are many ways students could be asked to apply this new knowledge.

Summary/Reflection – The aim of the summary/reflection is to reintroduce to students what they have achieved in the lesson.

The School Review in 2019 highlighted that students felt that stimulating learning environments within the classroom could be improved. The review identified that there was a variety of contemporary teaching strategies being used across the school, but consistency in these strategies across all subjects and teachers was required, with examples such as Learning Intentions and Success Criteria being emphasised as important to develop across all classrooms. With the implementation of the Instructional Model across all subjects at the College in 2022, increasing consistency in use of contemporary teaching pedagogy will begin to address some of the recommendations of the School Review.

Day Structure and Period Allocations

In 2022, the College will still run on a 10-day cycle, however, there will be a slight change to the time Homeroom begins, that being 8:42am instead of 8:45am. This change has been made to increase the time students spend with their Homeroom Teacher each morning, strengthening the relationship between each student and their Homeroom Teacher. The day structure also allows for the vast majority of learning to occur prior to lunch each day. The structure of the day in 2022 will be as follows:

With the change in timetable structure the number of periods that students complete in each subject has also changed. This is to align with the recommendations by ACARA and MACS. At Year 7 minimal changes to the time spent in each subject has occurred, and STEM has been introduced as a compulsory subject. Students will complete one semester of Italian, Japanese, Art, Drama, Music, Visual Communication Design (VCD), Digital Technology and Food Technology across the year.

*Denotes a semester-based Subject.

At Year 8, the elective options for students have been changed, with both STEM and Digital Technology introduced as new elective choices for Year 8 students. The time in elective subjects has also increased at Year 8. Students are required to study Materials Technology for a semester, and complete either Japanese or Italian for the whole year. Students are then able to select five semester-based subjects from the following options: Art, Drama, Music, VCD, Digital Technology, Food Technology, STEM and a second Language (Italian or Japanese).

At Year 9, students select four elective options, and study two in each semester. More information about elective options can be found in the Learning & Teaching Quick Guide, found on the College website.

At Year 10, students select four elective options, and study two in each semester. More information about elective options can be found in the Learning & Teaching Quick Guide, found on the College website.

At Foundation VCAL, students select two elective options from the Year 10 Elective Program, and study one each semester. Students will also select a VET subject to study at CRC Sydenham one day each week, and students complete Structured Work Placement, one day a week also. More information about VET and Structured Work Placement options can be found in the VCAL Course Handbook, found on the College website.

Should you have any questions about the 2022 Timetable Change, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the College’s Learning & Teaching Team.