Innovation

When visitors enter the new Year 6 Precinct, they are amazed at the modern furniture, the specialised break-out rooms and the choice that students have as to where and how they will work. It is a place filled with energy and excitement. Sometimes it can appear chaotic, with seven teachers and 150 students sharing the space, and yet teachers and students alike have embraced their new learning environment and would be reticent to return to a more traditional classroom. So what is it that makes this new way of learning such a success?

Having an open learning space is far more than ‘organised chaos’. Weeks of planning go into setting up design-centred learning experiences to explicitly teach skills and concepts such as interpersonal and communication skills, encourage positive character traits and attributes, and develop social and emotional intelligence. While as parents it can sometimes be unnerving to see our children learning in a way that is so different to the way we learnt ourselves, we have to remember that we were educated to enter a workforce that valued and rewarded a different skill-set and knowledge-base.

At Hillcrest, our skills-based curriculum is based on the SECRET Skills; students are taught how to be Self-Managers, Effective Participators, Creative Problem-Solvers, Reflective Learners, Enquirers and Team-Workers. This is achieved through participation in design-centred tasks that require grit, perseverance and collaboration, and where process is valued as much as the end-product. Students reflect on their growth and assess themselves and their peers based on visible evidence of their progress.

Last term, the Year Sixes undertook tasks such as assembling furniture to build collaboration and teamwork skills, designing a multimedia presentation for an ANZAC service at which the Poco Voce choir was performing, and developing a pitch for a new business, based on their passions. In all of these tasks, students presented to an authentic audience for a real-world purpose, creating a more motivational and meaningful learning experience. This term we are excited to see other year levels taking on the fun and challenges of a skills-based curriculum, and look forward to seeing even the youngest members of the Hillcrest Community learn the SECRET to being successful learners.

Danni Foster-Brown
Acting Deputy Head of JLC