Since St Luke’s commenced on 2017, we have relentlessly pursued the teaching, assessment and tracking of the capabilities required for a changing world.
The St Luke’s 6 Pillars of Learning align closely with the Australian Curriculum General Capabilities. These capabilities serve as a guide for equipping young Australians to live and work in a changing world. As such, the St Luke’s 6 Pillars reference the skills, behaviours, capabilities and dispositions required for curious children to become creative contributors and innovative problem solvers for a changing world. Learners actively participate in a changing world when they:
- WITNESS by living the Good News as revealed through the Gospel of St Luke
- MANAGE self
- RELATE with others
- INQUIRE and pose questions
- THINK critically
- CREATE solutions to real world problems.
In the table below, you will see “6 Pillars” of Learning and their 20 sub-elements.
The sub-elements are also seen as aspirational “I can” statements for students. These sub-elements are complemented by descriptive behaviours which together form a series of progressions which reflect growth over time. The pillars, sub-elements and descriptive behaviours serve as a guide for teachers to assess a student’s capabilities. They also serve as a reference point for a child’s ‘next steps’ in developing the capabilities required for a changing world.
The College recently took the opportunity to more formally provide feedback to parents about their child’s progress regarding their social skill and enterprise skill development required for a changing world. We did so by providing a graphic as sampled below for a Stage 4 (Year 7) student.
For the above table, please note:
- Each letter followed by a number represents one of the 20 sub elements.
- Not all sub-elements are assessed within a semester.
- A number within a box represents the amount assessments. If there is no number then there was no assessment for that sub-element.
- The progression shaded yellow indicates the appropriate level for your child’s age and stage of learning, growth and development. Please click here to view the “Pillar Progressions”.
The College also took the opportunity to provide insights into the relationship between the St Luke’s 6 Pillars of Learning (capabilities required for a changing world) and the Key Learning Areas (subjects) for each student. Each of the 6 pillars is cross referenced against each of the subjects.
When looking at the above table, the student is working extensively (well) by regularly exhibiting the actions and behaviours of the sub-elements across a number of subjects.
In conclusion, St Luke’s is only at the beginning of this ‘new normal’ and ‘emergent mainstream’ sharing and communicating of capabilities feedback for each student. At this stage, the sharing of information about each student’s capabilities has been limited to one specific time, even then, is communicated through a static PDF.
Our next challenge is to turn an improving ‘back end’ tracking tool into a more interactive and intuitive online experience for students and parents which engages them more than twice a year.
Onwards and Upwards!
Greg
LEARN AND LEAD 