A high school in New South Wales says it will permanently adopt a 4- day, face-to-face learning week -- after a successful trial of the program. Chevalier College in the southern highlands said it's had a broadly positive response to the new schedule -- which it hopes will better prepare students for life beyond school.
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00:00On some Mondays, most Mondays throughout this year,
00:05we do learning differently on that day in two parts.
00:10For Year 7, 8 and 9 students,
00:11they enjoy a day of face-to-face teaching
00:16mixed with what we call flipped learning,
00:18surface-level learning set by the teacher
00:20to be more connected throughout the week.
00:23For Years 10 to 12 students, we do it for the whole day.
00:28On those days where they're not doing excursions
00:31or other full school events,
00:33which can often interrupt face-to-face teaching.
00:37So what we've found is that throughout this year,
00:40whilst we have reduced the number of timetabled
00:44face-to-face classes where teachers meet with students,
00:48there is far less disruption or interruption
00:50to that face-to-face teaching on Tuesday through to Friday
00:54because the disruptions have been moved to Monday
00:57or they do flipped learning on a Monday.
00:59And what ends up resulting in that
01:01is that we can get some continuity of learning
01:03Tuesday through Friday with the single biggest difference
01:07that impacts learning being that of the teacher
01:09teaching in a face-to-face environment.
01:11What there has been has been an acknowledgement
01:14that the steps that we've taken have increased our intent
01:18to develop self-regulated learners.
01:20So managing time, being organised for the day
01:24and for the week are two crucial and critical,
01:29I suppose, qualities that post-school learning environments
01:32are looking for, including employers.
01:34And we can say that the students have acknowledged that.
01:38What we have seen also is some feedback from parents
01:43that are a bit concerned about their child
01:46either being bored or being left to their own devices
01:49for too long.
01:50What we would say is that the feedback from the students
01:53is that they are getting through the work,
01:55they're being productive,
01:58and that they are seeing this as an opportunity
02:00where they can exercise greater choice
02:02about what they're learning, who they're learning with
02:05and being ready for the remainder of the week
02:07when they can get to what we call deeper learning activities.
02:10The way that we deliver learning for one child
02:13is not necessarily always suitable for others as well.
02:16And there is no doubt that we have learnt
02:19that this is taking some students,
02:21especially our younger students,
02:23a little while and a little longer getting used to.
02:25We need to provide more support and scaffolds
02:29to support them making that adjustment.
02:32What I'd also say is that for those students
02:34that are known as diverse learning students
02:36who have other abilities that need to be managed,
02:39that we have got better and more direct access
02:42to our diverse learning team throughout a day on Monday
02:46where students can quietly access their support
02:49in a small group environment
02:51to help them get through the work
02:53because they need that extra support.
02:55So we provide it.
02:56A lot of our students are committed to Saturday sport
02:59as are our staff.
03:01And we thought that the Monday would provide
03:04a bit of a gentler start to the week,
03:07still getting the work done,
03:08but also it was strategically placed on Monday.
03:11So there was direct line of sight
03:13for activities done on a Monday
03:14linked to learning throughout the week.