Our Junior School and Gawura School are dynamic learning communities. Teachers construct teaching and learning opportunities which are based on current educational research. We promote best practice by encapsulating the best of explicit teaching, inquiry-based learning and cognitive science, all combined with the aim of fostering deep learning.
Underpinning the entire programme is the intention to foster higher order thinking, where a visible thinking culture is the routine. Our learning process intentionally prepares students for the Inquiry Cycle of the MYP Programme in Middle School.
From Kindergarten to Year 12, students develop their learning dispositions through the use of the School’s Character Strengths. These dispositions help our students to become confident and capable learners who persevere when they encounter challenges and uncertainty in their understanding, problem solving and reasoning. As part of their journey into becoming great learners, our students understand the importance of The Learning Pit, an analogy for understanding the stages of learning and, at times, the need to struggle and persevere through challenge.
St Andrew’s Cathedral School’s Teaching and Learning Model informs all teaching and learning. This evidence-informed approach to learning ensures that students receive appropriate instruction, opportunities for practising newly developing skills, and feedback from teachers and peers to constantly improve their work. Teachers ensure that students’ learning balances explicit instruction of new concepts and opportunities for inquiry and exploration. Students also engage in appropriate practice to ensure that they move from shallow to deep learning that is embedded in their long-term memory. The feedback cycle is an important aspect of students actively developing resilience and reflectiveness as learners. It helps them to become assessment capable learners who understand where they are going in their learning, how they are going in their learning, and where they should go to next.
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