Competencies
As we are all lifelong learners, we believe a focus on how we learn is essential. For this reason we keep competencies and skills that enable us to reflect on our learning at the forefront of all learning design.
Australian Curriculum
‘The Australian Curriculum sets out the core knowledge, understanding, skills and general capabilities important for all Australian students…It makes clear what all young Australians should learn as they progress through schooling. It is the foundation for high quality teaching to meet the needs of all Australian students.’ (ACARA)
At Holy Family, learning focuses on both the content and learning process. We therefore place emphasis on developing our students to be successful learners, confident and creative individuals and active and informed citizens through the general capabilities of the Australian Curriculum.
ELLI
The Essential Lifelong Learning Inventory (ELLI) is based on the research of Dr. Ruth Deakin-Crick and colleagues from the University of Bristol, United Kingdom into what makes a person a successful and effective learner for life.
ELLI in practice
From the research, 7 learning powers emerged: Creativity, Meaning Making, Critical Curiosity, Learning Relationships, Resilience, Strategic Awareness and Changing and Learning. Learners complete an online questionnaire which gives them a graphical representation of their identity across the 7 learning powers. They then discuss this with a coach and reflect on their own learning.
Inquiry Approach
At Holy Family, we employ an inquiry approach to learning, nurturing children’s natural curiosity and inquisitiveness to build their own knowledge and understandings. There are a number of different models of inquiry and at Holy Family we are open to all of these. Two models we have used in particular are: the challenge based learning model and the personalized inquiry model developed by Ruth Deakin-Crick.
The Challenge Based Learning Model
The CBL model for inquiry encourages the learner to start with a big issue and through a series of steps and investigations, come to a local solution.
The Personal Inquiry Model
Through this inquiry process, the learner starts with an item of personal significance and begins to explore and investigate questions that arise from this. As questions lead to more questions or as information is collated, a more focused inquiry emerges.