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. As mentioned in the last Newsletter, information regarding the College’s new Instructional Teaching Model, timetable times and structure will be disseminated across the next two Newsletters. The purpose of this Newsletter article is to provide some context regarding the College’s new Instructional Teaching Model which will be implemented in all classes in 2022.

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 listed 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.

More information regarding the day structure and period allocations for each subject will be provided in the next Newsletter. 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.