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The Rotary Club of Sydney Gets Behind Innovative Educators
In November 2008, four outstanding teachers from
the state of
“We thought the time was right to do something that presented
Australian teaching in a positive light, as being up to
international standards in innovation and performance,” recalls
Emeritus Professor Rolf Prince who was part of that initial
discussion.
With backing from their fellow Rotary Club of Sydney members, the
group established an annual awards program for school teachers based
in the state of New South Wales. The program acknowledges and
rewards educators who are driving fresh, dynamic programs that
significantly benefit students and education.
The travel opportunity allows winners to learn more about their
chosen fields of education, to demonstrate their achievements
overseas and act as ambassadors for the Australian teaching
profession as well as Rotary in Australia, says Professor Prince,
who currently chairs the judging panel.
The costs of the program are considerable and for five years the
Sydney Club worked hard to finance one award winner a year. Help
came nine years ago when Caltex came on board. Since then Caltex has
sponsored three winners each year. This year however, the standard
of entry was so exceptional the number of winners increased to four.
All New South Wales teachers who have developed a creative
educational program in their school – primary or secondary, state or
independent – are eligible to enter. Entries are called for annually
around June - July and winners announced in November. Judging
criteria are broad with
programs assessed according to their degree of originality, the
results they have achieved and their potential to benefit the
education sector.
The 2008 winning teachers are William Adams of Orange High School,
Danny Spillane of Kentucky Public School, Bronwyn Walters of Tara
Anglican School for Girls in Parramatta and Fiona Wylie of Gralee
School in Leeton.
Extending subject choice
Orange Deputy Principal,
William Adams, is the full-time coordinator of “e2”, a
curriculum collaboration between five public high schools in the
Orange area.
Mr Adams’ previous experience in managing timetables highlighted the
dilemma schools face when just a handful of students elect to study
a subject. e2 extends curriculum options to students by forming
classes across participating e2 schools. The initiative became fully
operational in 2007 after nine months’ planning and building of
video conferencing laboratories in the participating schools.
Today senior students in the five schools can together pursue a host
of subjects from Physics and Geography to Dance and Hospitality via
combinations of video conferencing, on-line technologies and
face-to-face teaching on “Super Wednesdays”. e2 also partners with
Orange TAFE and Charles Sturt University – for example, “Healthe2”
students can gain credits towards TAFE qualifications and
potentially early entry into Charles Sturt.
e2 and its message “every student … every opportunity ... every day”
have attracted great interest from educators and government
departments across the state and country. The model has been presented
over 50 times in the last 18 months to educational decision makers.
“We are very proud of how our e2 schools work together with our
industry and educational partners to increase opportunities for our
students,” says Mr Adams.
“It’s a highlight for me that the kids now think that it is
normal to learn a subject with students from other e2 schools.”
Making magical music
Danny Spillane, Kentucky Public School Principal and Coordinator of
the State Small
Schools Marimba Ensemble, has rolled out marimba playing at the two
schools he previously headed, and introduced marimba ensembles in 30
schools across NSW. All
the children attending Kentucky Public School have the opportunity
to play a colourful array of African-styled instruments including
the marimba, echocellos and “wacky instruments”.
The students in the State Small Schools Marimba Ensemble come
together in Sydney usually twice a year to play as a group. They
have performed several times at the Opera House and also at the
School Spectacular in Sydney’s Entertainment Centre, where they will
return later this year.
“The opportunity to go places and be enthusiastically received is
extremely rewarding for the children,” Mr Spillane says. “The quality of the sound
produced always delights those who hear it for the first time. And the beauty of this
appealing music is you don’t need to be able to read music to play
or teach it.”
According to Mr Spillane, the speed at which the kids achieve
success is one reason their self-esteem and confidence increase. It’s an especially inclusive
program because parents, students and teachers pitch in to make the
instruments at a fraction of the purchase price. As many boys as girls belong
to the group and, by encouraging the musicians to play with two
hands rather than one and in unison with other instruments, they
learn valuable lessons in focus and concentration.
Reaching for the stars
Bronwyn Walters,
Head of Science at Tara Anglican School for Girls, created “SMART
(Student Managed Authentic Realworld Tasks) Learning”. The inter-schools program
aims to challenge pupils who have become intellectually restless
with traditional extension programs.
It gives them genuine, practical tasks to complete and has a
management team structure, including CEOs, Team Leaders and Special
Operations personnel.
“SMART Learning’s philosophy can be applied to all sorts of
activities from running a school newspaper to organising a trivia
night,” explains Dr Walters.
The SMART Learning team currently supports an initiative
arising from Global Jet Watch, an astronomy program which has
enabled the building of an observatory in Tara’s grounds. It is scheduled to be
operational by the end of the year, after which the SMART team will
be able to offer access to the resource to the community.
“It will be one of the largest privately run observatories in
Australia and, with backing from teachers, the students will run the
show,” says Dr Walters.
“They plan to conduct viewing nights, astronomy camps and scientific
research.”
The team tackling the project comprises 34 Year 9 to 11 boys and
girls from seven Sydney schools.
For the past two terms they’ve been putting infrastructure in
place, from creating a web to writing a speech promoting the
facility. They are also
soon to conduct a water rocket making workshop for younger students.
“It’s the most rewarding experience I’ve ever had as a teacher,” Dr
Walters says. “What
they’re able to do blows me away, whether it’s creating music or
writing training procedures – they’re tackling real life issues and
exploring their full potential.
They thrive in this environment and are doing so outside the
boundaries of individual schools.”
Optimising capabilities through computers
Fiona Wylie,
the Teaching Principal at Gralee School in the Riverina town of
Leeton, has designed a Microsoft PowerPoint program aimed at meeting
the needs of students with learning disabilities. The program reinforces a
host of life skills such as counting money, recognising community
signs and understanding socially acceptable behaviours.
Educational software commercially available generally covers
material from a full curriculum and so rarely meet the needs of
students with disabilities.
“My students would get halfway through a computer program and
the content became too difficult.
This led to frustration as they couldn’t progress to the next
level,” she says.
Armed with average computer skills and a desire to succeed, Ms Wylie
set about learning more about PowerPoint and, over the past three
years, has developed a series of lessons customised for her
students.
As her expertise has grown, so has the interactive component of her
lessons. “Special needs
teaching is very much one-on-one.
Now when I need to spend extra time with a student, the rest
of the class can keep on learning and it’s me, in a sense – through
the inclusion of my voice in the program – who keeps on teaching
them,” Ms Wylie says.
The benefits are very evident.
Most importantly, computers have made learning more enjoyable
for the group. “In
teaching students with disabilities you teach until your children
achieve mastery in a skill.
There is repetition which can be boring,” Ms Wylie says. “My students really love
computers so it’s a fun way to reinforce their learning.”
Ms Wylie’s lessons are being used to great effect in the primary classes of another local school. She’d be delighted to extend the benefits further afield. “My program is a great learning tool but perhaps someone with more advanced programming skills could take my ideas and create a marketable product for students with disabilities in the broader education sector,” she says.
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