Implementation Process

How we did what we did:

How much and how well? 

• The PLLT  conducted a number or different tasks and activities when researching the topic of Rigour that contributed to our projects success. This included all members of our PLLT completing professional learning on the topic of Rigour through Barbra Blackburns Webinar sessions, as well as subject and faculty based collegial discussions that required each faculty to clearly articulate what rigour is and is not in their specific KLA’s. This allowed us to identify trends across faculties, as well as unique strategies that apply only to specific KLA’s.

• Through the research completed we were able to design, deliver and facilitate teacher professional learning for 100% of staff at the highly accomplished level. We produced two different Professional Learning Sessions in the area of rigour for meeting the minimal standards necessary to achieve a HSC. This resulted in the embedding of the 3 principles of rigour (each student is expected to learn at high levels, each student is supported so he or she can learn at high levels, each student demonstrates learning at high levels) in all HSC assessment tasks and ensured that each student is appropriately supported to demonstrate their learning.Working in subject teams, teachers developed boot-camp lessons to prepare students for minimum standards testing, redesigned programs for students in years 10-12 and embedded capabilities and dispositions in teaching and learning programs with the goal of a reduction in HSC Band 1 results.

• The team developed a Rigour Position paper (link to document) in the initial stages of the project, to ensure that all teachers, new and existing, had shared understanding of the principles and practices that the faculties were implementing to improve rigour. This document was then able to inform the updates to the RHHS curriculum policy and the assessment, feedback, reporting and recognition policy. 

• The Student Pathways PLLT began with an audit of all year based programs and evaluated and embedded strengths and creativity. The strengths based language is now embedded within all wellbeing programs from years 7-12. Students were given an opportunity to create and publish their own strengths based academic report reflection and annotate documents for upload to #MyLearningHub (Online platform etc.). This resulted in over 85% of students having demonstrated opportunities to build on their strengths.

• The team spent time working with academic partners, including Professor Bill Lucas, to create the @RHHS Tenacity Wheel and design strategies to ensure “Tenacity”. This was then used by subject teams and the wellbeing teams to embed into teaching and learning programs, using the expert knowledge and experience of students, staff and the community to meet the needs and extend the learning of students from diverse backgrounds.

• The project directions changed slightly when the Rigorous HSC PLLT and the Student Pathways/Tenacity PLLT in order to link the Rigorous strategies of lesson design to the tenacity strategies being adopted by students in order to improve student learning trajectories. 

What difference? What were the big shifts? 

• Our team was able to demonstrate exemplary practice and high expectations when leading colleagues in professional learning . We lead colleagues to encourage students to pursue challenging goals in all aspects of their education and we modelled exemplary skills and led colleagues in selecting, creating and evaluating resources when completing lesson design. We evaluated school assessment policies and strategies with the aim of supporting colleagues with using assessment data to diagnose learning needs, comply with curriculum, and to understand that school assessment requires rigour in its design in order to facilitate student tenacity. As a result of the work of our projects, staff capacity has improved, rigorous approaches to teaching have been increased and enhanced student results in stage 6 have been achieved.

• By establishing baseline data, continually reviewing the implementation of the project and using qualitative and quantitative data sources we reduced Band 1 HSC results from 15.8% in 2017, to 6.8% in 2018, and 5.7% in 2019. The final year of evaluation in 2020 had a further reduction in Band 1s to only 3.3% of course results. Year 10 VALID results have been above state average and no students have received a level 1, which further demonstrates the achievement of our goal of eliminating band 1s and 2s. There were no band 1’s in Standard English and Advanced English and 7% of Advanced English Students received Band 4 or higher, and Year 10 minimum standards testing in reading has had 148 out of 150 students achieve the required level by the end of Year 10. 

• We have collaboratively led the creation, implementation and delivery of the milestones, products and practices for the ‘Rigorous HSC’ project and ‘Students Pathway’ Project. As a result of our work, we have developed practice that ensured  all year based programs have been evaluated to include strengths and creativity, strengths based language is now embedded from year 7 onwards and 88% of students have had the opportunity to build on their strengths.  Each student from Year 7 through to year 10 now writes a strengths based comment in their reports articulating where they were able to use  their strengths to achieve their best.The TTFM analyst teams analysed data to assist in planning, implementing, monitoring and altering of programs, events, assemblies and other extracurricular activities using evidence based data of students wants and needs. Their analysis shows improved trends and evidence from stories behind each curve.

• We have developed a deep understanding of the requirements of MyPL, departmental software for registering staff professional learning, and the processes for course registration at APST Highly Accomplished. We also created the Tenacity Wheel as a product that allows students to associate their strengths with the habits of tenacity (connected, confident, committed and controlled), the sub-habits ( including things such as seeking feedback, staying optimistic, controlling impulses and many more), and the RHHS signature experiences that provide students with the experiences and opportunities to display their tenaciousness.