OECD/CERI

Innovative Learning Environments (ILE) Project

Case study: Bellaire Primary School

Summary

Bellaire Primary School is a Prep to Year 6 government primary school located in Highton, near the city of Geelong. The Bellaire Primary School community prides itself on being a leading school in the innovation of education. Student engagement in learning and catering for 21st century learners was the original impetus for whole-school cultural change. The focus of the school’s ILE is personalised learning, enabled through team teaching in flexible open plan environments. The ILE is strongly supported by teacher coaching and goal setting and the school works to engage students in learning communities through its personalised learning focus. There are four learning communities in the school: the Prep Learning Unit; Junior Learning Unit (Years 1 and 2); Middle Learning Unit (Years 3 and 4); and Senior Learning Unit (Years 5 and 6).

Aims of the ILE and the nature and history of the innovation

This innovative learning environment was stimulated out of the desire to cater for the needs of 21st century learners and teachers through a culture of personalised learning. This culture was enabled through coaching-supported team teaching in flexible open-plan environments.

Background and context

Bellaire Primary School is a state co-educational primary school located in the suburb of Highton, near the city of Geelong (see Figure 1). The school is situated on four hectares of land and provides an attractive landscaped environment. The site is sloping, with large open spaces, new courts and developmental play spaces.

Figure 1. Location of Bellaire Primary School

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Students come to Bellaire from five local pre-schools and a mix of day-care centres and community kindergartens. The school’s current enrolment is approximately 590 students, with an equal number of male and female students. Bellaire has increased its population by 25 per cent over the past five years with approximately half the students travelling past closer schools, crossing ‘boundaries’ to attend the school and there is a rising demand for Prep (first year of school) enrolments. The school population is predominantly Anglo-Celtic and middle class. Bellaire Primary School community, in line with its school motto, 'Aim High', prides itself on being a leading school in innovative education in Victoria, having received several teaching awards. The school hosts numerous visiting teachers and principals who wish to learn from its teaching programs.

Origins and development of ILE

The initial catalyst for the whole school cultural change was an identified lack of student engagement in learning. Five years ago, the school was a traditionally-structured school consisting of teachers working in isolation in individual classrooms. While team planning was in place, teaching was generally undertaken individually. Of concern to staff and the new Principal were the results of the Student Attitudes to School Survey (DEECD 2008a) which indicated that despite good academic results, student engagement could be improved. In response, the Principal led a review of curriculum provision for 21st century learners through extensive analysis of school data and professional learning.

An action research project initially focused on the establishment of a Senior Learning Unit. The learning community was driven by data that investigated how students were feeling about being at school, about their connectedness to school, and their interest in the curriculum offered. Data showed ‘students were wanting something new and different’ (Assistant Principal).The research plan was reviewed every six months, with progressive changes enacted in funding provision, physical environments, teaming, coaching, pedagogy and assessment.

Over time, the review resulted in the development of a model (see Figure 2) that enabled personalised learning for both students and teachers (through coaching).

Figure 2. Model of Personalised Learning

Through successive cycles of action research, Bellaire developed a commitment to personalised learning of all students—and teachers—through individual student and teacher goal setting.

To enable this shift, funding which had been traditionally dispersed to curriculum areas was re-directed to four learning communities who were responsible for spending decisions.

Prep (first year of school) Learning Community, consisting of four home groups (classes). Flexible doors mean that groups can work in single classrooms or in combined spaces that enable team work.

Junior Learning Community, (Years 1 and 2) consisting of approximately 160 students, with 80 learners in either Junior Community A or Junior Community B. Each community has four home groups.

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Middle Learning Community, (Years 3 and 4) consisting of seven home groups who, in mid-2010, moved into a new contemporary learning space constructed as part of the Building the Education Revolution program (Australian Government’s Nation Building - Economic Stimulus Plan).

Senior Learning Community, (Years 5 and 6) which consists of seven home groups and works in a learning space that also provides ready access to art, science, a theatrette and outdoor learning. This space was built in 2006 and has been part of an action research project, with support from the Innovation and Next Practice Division of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD).

Changes were made to the physical environments in which Professional Learning Teams worked, so as to ensure that no teacher worked in isolation. Coaching has been used as the key element in driving all teachers’ professional learning. Each teacher has a coach.

Over the past five years, the school philosophy has embraced open-plan team teaching, students setting individual goals in literacy and numeracy—drawn from the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS) (VCAA 2005)—and teacher goal setting through coaching as encouraged in the Blueprint for Government Schools (DE&T 2003) and the Blueprint for Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD 2008b). By 2010, the pedagogies that were developed had become institutionalised as everyday practice (DEECD 2011).

While personalised learning is becoming embedded across the whole school, the structured patterns and characteristics of the learning environment are most strongly evident in the Senior Learning Community, the focus of the discussion below.

Structured patterns and characteristics of the learning environment

The Years 5 and 6 students work in an open learning community called the Senior Learning Unit (SLU). This area includes seven home group spaces, a theatrette, an outdoor learning space, and dedicated science and art spaces. It is enhanced with interactive whiteboards and computers, including banks of wireless laptops. 162 students (90 Year 5; 70 Year 6) work with seven home group teachers, with 23-24 students in each group. There are three ESL (English as a Second Language) students in the SLU, from Thailand and China. Three integration aides support students with disabilities, including students with hearing impairment and Autism. Close relationships are developed because many students stay with the same home group teacher for both Years 5 and 6.

Layout

The Senior Learning Unit is an open learning community in an adaptive teaching space (see labelled images of areas of the Learning Unit in Figure 3 below). It is accessed by the long central corridor of a 1960s pebble-mix covered building. During the approach one passes through the Junior Learning Unit (see Figure 3). Units are entered through custom-made doorways which give a sense of ‘entry’ to the learning community as well as creating boundaries between the units.

Further into the SLU a small stretch of corridor has been retained which serves as a lobby, providing access to toilets, a cleaner’s room, a workshop room, and a noticeboard displaying photographs of student activities, notices and work samples. This leads to a ‘great space’ around which interactive whiteboards are located, in front of which students can collect and work with teachers on carpets and beanbags. Nests of mobile tables are situated down the centre, along the right and left walls of the great space. One side of the space has glassed-off teacher offices; the other side features a small theatrette complete with floor-to-ceiling blue velvet curtain. Straight ahead are low locker blocks that enable visual access across the great space. Five steps lead into a ‘support’ area with wet spaces for cooking, science and art and small group work. The side of the SLU comprises doors opening onto outdoor decking adjoining the inner space where students can work in groups on benches or at tables.

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Approach to the Senior Learning Unit (viewed from the Junior Learning Unit)

Entry to the Senior Learning Unit

Lobby with displays of student work, photographs and notices

Southern side of the SLU

A home group area

Students can use the beanbags when engaging in individual or group work

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Examples of the flexible tables and furniture used at Bellaire x 3 images

Teacher offices

Theatrette adjoining main SLU area

Transition space to the ‘support’ area downstairs from the main SLU area (previously breezeway and toilet block)

Circular seating encourages interaction with peers and teachers

Students working in groups in outdoor area adjoining the classroom x 2 images

Figure 3. Areas of the Year 5-6 Senior Learning Unit

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This spatial design, replicated in the Middle and Junior Learning Units, enables mobility and flexibility of students in small and large groups. The Middle Learning Community, funded by the Building the Education Revolution program, includes specialist spaces for art, science, home economics, construction and library activities (see Figure 4). This space is technology-rich and provides ready access to both indoor and outdoor learning.

The new open-plan learning space

The new open-plan learning area

Use of different floor treatments serves as a division between continuous spaces

This large bench/table seats a class group and is used by teachers for meetings

An area that teachers use to work with smaller groups

Reading area

Figure 4. Middle Learning Unit

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The Junior Learning Unit consists of two learning communities, each housing four home groups. There are approximately 160 students in each, with 80 learners in either Junior A or Junior B, physically separated by a carpeted corridor which houses shared computers (see Figure 5).

The Prep Learning Community (see also Figure 5) consists of 86 students and four teachers in four traditional classrooms. However, these spaces are not used in a traditional sense. The dividers between pairs of classrooms (as per the Junior Learning Unit) are permanently opened to enable team teaching and collaborative planning.

Entrance to the Junior Learning Unit

Junior A

Junior B

Shared computers in corridor between Junior A and B rooms

Entrance to the Prep Learning Unit

Corridor area between the Prep rooms

Figure 5. Junior and Prep Learning Units

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Sequencing and mix of learning activities

The Senior Learning Unit curriculum includes all of the traditional subject areas such as Literacy and Numeracy, and includes the Deep Knowledge Unit and the You Can Do It Program. In addition, special interest areas—Preparation for Puberty, Debating and the Geelong College Challenge—are included in the program. The students also choose workshops in specialist classes that include Art, Library, Computer Lab, Physical Education, Music, Drama and French. Students in the Senior Learning Unit are given the opportunity to take on leadership roles: School, House and Sporting Team Captains, membership of the Junior School Council, Assembly Leaders and regular playground mentoring and monitoring roles. A number of outreach programs include kindergarten visits and other community activities. The annual school camp provides the opportunity for students to develop confidence in their abilities and to build relationships that extend beyond the standard curriculum.

The shared premise of all teaching and learning is that all students at Bellaire Primary School are able to ‘set learning goals and reflect on their progress’ to ensure that they become independent learners. Teachers scaffold the development of independent learning skills with younger students through the goal-setting process. This includes being organised and showing persistence in working towards achieving their goals, being able to deal with challenges and remaining resilient. All students have a weekly conference with their teacher which has two major purposes: to ensure that their learning is on track; and to make choices about their learning from a range of high interest workshops.

Regular conferences between teachers and students focus on discussing their literacy and numeracy goals, analysing the evidence in having reached them, recording progress towards them, and setting further goals (see Figure 6). Each one-to-one conference takes approximately fifteen minutes and is strictly scheduled. The goals in reading, writing, speaking and listening and mathematics are tracked in an online recording system, then comments are made by the teacher, and the student has the opportunity to clarify, provide feedback, and raise work-related and social issues. Teachers also discuss their personal goals (set with their coach—see below) with students during this time.

Senior Learning Unit timetable

Individual student timetable showing selected workshops

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Student Reading Goals with date of goal setting and evidence of achievement

Student Writing Goals with stickers showing goals achieved

Student record folder and digital teacher record keeping

Class record of goals

Notes from weekly individual student conferences

Back of Student Trust Licence

Figure 6. Examples of Senior Learning Unit planning and assessment artefacts

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Also discussed at the conference is the scheduling of workshops. Each of the eight teachers (seven home group teachers and one assistant) in the Senior Learning Unit creates and conducts workshops offered to students in five-week blocks. These focus on reading, writing, speaking and listening, and mathematics, and may incorporate some aspect of the current Deep Knowledge Unit (DKU) which may be based on Science, Humanities or Health and Physical Education. In all areas except Mathematics, students sign up to workshops and negotiate their own timetable during their weekly conference. In relation to Mathematics, students are allocated to workshops based on the result of a school-devised mathematics test that is administered regularly.

Students also have independent learning sessions. During these sessions roving teachers support and facilitate students’ learning to achieve their individual goals. One day a week, students attend specialist classes including French, Art, Physical Education and Drama. Specialist teachers also offer options from which students can choose. As a result of these structures, teachers work with a variety of students from the Senior Learning Community across a number of curriculum areas.

A key strategy used to engage students in behaviour that enables a positive learning environment are Student Trust Licences. Similar to a driver’s licence, a trust licence has the student’s photo, signature and teacher’s signature. On the back of the licence (see Figure 6, above) is a set of principles. Students agree to abide by the set of principles at the commencement of the year. In return they are given privileges such as the opportunity to work in outdoor areas and to go to specialist classes unsupervised. Small misdemeanours result in the loss of points. More substantial misdemeanours result in the suspension of the student’s licence and the loss of privileges. Students have the opportunity to try and earn the licence back, and progress towards this is also discussed during weekly conferences.

In the Senior Learning Unit, staff seek to provide students with a supportive but challenging completion of their time at primary school, as well as enabling smooth transition to the secondary school of their choice. Through flexible grouping and targeted teaching, staff work to capitalise on the strengths of each student and build learning partnerships. Overall, the teachers promote a strong group identity that is reliant on harmonious relationships between students and teachers in the Unit.

Nature and quality of learning

Bellaire’s innovation has been to engage students and teachers in renewed notions of what it means to be a learner, and a teacher. This has involved changes to the ways in which students and teachers engage with the processes of schooling. To summarise the key aspects of the student experience described above, the students are involved in:

personalised learning through individual goal setting

selection of workshops to meet individual learning needs

negotiation of principles for flexible learning through privilege-bearing trust licences

independent sessions with access to roving teachers

weekly conferences where goal setting, selection of workshops, negotiation of flexible

learning principles and progress in independent sessions are monitored.

Student goals are drawn and modified to be ‘child friendly’ from the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS) progression points.

The role of teacher

The role of teacher at Bellaire differs from the role in many other schools. All staff scaffold an individualised learning approach to prepare students for the Senior Learning Unit. Teaching and learning is explicit and at the point of need. Each teacher’s role includes the following:

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Learning advisor to each student in their home group, conducting fifteen-minute one-to-one

weekly conferences to discuss and revise learning goals.

Developer and facilitator of workshops in five-week blocks across the curriculum, for which

students sign up and negotiate their own timetable.

Roving teacher during independent learning sessions, supporting and facilitating students’

learning to achieve their individual goals.

Blog administrator, tracking learning goals, timetables and forming home-school links, with

Information Communications Technology (ICT) integrated across the curriculum (wireless

Apple Macintosh laptops, iPods, iFlips, interactive whiteboards etc).

Staff are also engaged, through a coaching model, in setting unit and individual learning goals for themselves. The school has two leading teachers who are full-time coaches, each dedicated to two Learning Units. Each unit develops goals based on the school’s Strategic Plan. Staff use the GROW model (Whitmore 2002): Goal (defined in such a way that it is very clear when it has been achieved); Reality (how far teachers are from their goal); Obstacles (factors stopping the teacher getting achieving their goal) and Options (ways of dealing with the obstacles); and Way Forward (action steps which will help achieve the goal). Each staff member sets an individual goal—usually based around their home group data or student engagement. One example of a coaching goal in the Senior Learning Unit related to the planning of writing topics. A teacher decided to make an authorial goal-setting template for students that would assist them to focus on writing like an author. In conjunction with her coach she decided to trial the authorial goal-setting sheet in her writing workshops, gain feedback from the students about the language and concepts used, refine the template and then introduce it to the other teachers in the unit for their use.

Many of the teachers at the school had previous experience of the Bellaire culture through professional experience placements while in pre-service teacher education programs at university. As a result, they knew what to expect, and understood that being a teacher at Bellaire involved a different role from that at other schools. As the Assistant Principal explains:

The understanding is that if you come to Bellaire you know you’re coming into a very different community. You apply knowing that you’re going to be working in an open space. You’re going to be teaming…you’re going to be using data to drive absolutely every decision that you make…The data tells us what we’re doing next and frames the next learning for the students. So you know when you get people applying and coming in, it’s those people who are really passionate about the same type of philosophy and really want to give it a go. And the way that the units are set up, it just is there to support everyone that comes in.

The school has been strategic in building and empowering autonomous teams of staff in each learning community. This is often referred to as having their own team unit ‘voice’—a voice that the school has been working to strengthen. A number of initiatives have supported this, such as allocating funding to curriculum areas rather than unit teams. For example, the English committee purchases all the English resources, with the aim of developing group identity. Accountability consists of reporting on expenditure to the leadership team at the end of the year. Teams also choose their own professional learning.

There’s no wasted money. Because they’re managing their own pool of funds they’re very discreet about how they spend it and…in terms of professional learning that they access outside of the school, it needs to fit in with the school’s goals and the unit goals, and [they need to justify] whether it’s going to make a difference to them as practitioners. So they sit together as a team. They present what’s on offer in terms of external professional development. They talk about whether or not it’s going to make a difference. Does it fit in with what they’re doing? And then they come to a consensus as to who within the team is going to go, and they spread out the professional development across the school (learning unit coach).

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Prior to the initiation of the ILE, Staff Opinion Survey results (completed annually) showed that staff felt that communication could be improved. Under the new model, unit leaders now represent teams at leadership meetings, where they report on resources, professional learning, and unit and individual goal setting. Each Learning Community now has its own process for intra-team communication, which is increasingly online through the school’s platform. Each team also has a newsletter that they develop and distribute to parents. Across the school there are staff meetings, professional development sessions and a bulletin published at the start of each week that communicates events and staff movement, There is also a whole-school newsletter for parents.

Leadership, consultation and action research

Consultative and iterative approaches to change have underpinned the success of the implementation of the many changes involved in the Bellaire innovation. Leadership have relied on action research to initiate and sustain change in an inquiry approach. Action research, as a form of systematic inquiry, promotes the view that new initiatives will be trialled and reflected on and their impact assessed as part of the overall school program. The Assistant Principal explains this in relation to coaching:

The coaching program is like everything else in the school … you trial it, you put it in place, see how it goes, reflect on it, make changes if you need to … it’s not like we say to staff ‘this is it’, and it will never change and look any different. It grows along with them. As [staff] needs change so does the role that [the coaches] play in the school as well.

The leadership required staff to analyse school data, particularly around student engagement. They posed the question: ‘Why do our students not necessarily feel connected with what is happening at school?’ An environmental scan identified other models of engaging learning environments. The leadership team had discussions about goal setting and reflection and considered becoming ‘a coaching school’ for personalising learning for staff and students. Staff also viewed and discussed videos about the need for particular types of curriculum, pedagogy and learning spaces to support 21st century learners, which then informed an action plan. Action research strategies meant that they explored what personalised learning would look like for different age groups, and how it needed to be scaffolded across all age levels. By revisiting action plans every six months they have made rapid and substantial changes.

Impact and effectiveness of the ILE

A key feature of the school was its commitment to, and the capacity of, the school community to embed these fundamental reforms within the school culture. The ILE has attracted sustained interest and attention since its implementation, as evidenced by numerous local and international visitors to the school. The ILE has also resulted in an increased number of families sending their children to Bellaire rather than to schools closer to their homes.

Several criteria are used to assess the effectiveness of the ILE, including teacher judgement data against VELS outcomes and progression points, and data from the National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), and the Department’s Attitudes to School Survey data (student and staff opinion). The school emphasises the use of teacher judgement data against the VELS. Individual grade graphs are developed showing the ‘value-added’ by each individual teacher over the course of the year. Teachers meet with the coaches to analyse the data, develop individual goals for students and identify those who require an Individual Learning Improvement Plan (ILIP). NAPLAN data is considered in conjunction with mid-year teacher judgement data and discrepancies identified. Bellaire student achievement is in the top 40 per cent in Victoria. The percentage of students in Prep to Year 6 achieving a grade of C or above in teacher judgement data is above the state mean. The NAPLAN results were even stronger than the teacher-assessed data, with Year 3 and 5 results being well above the state mean. When comparing Bellaire to other schools on adjusted school performance measures, the Year 3 students are achieving well above average in NAPLAN in Reading. The Year 5 results are similar to the results of like schools.

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Teacher judgement data against VELS shows an informed but conservative approach to assessment.

The Attitudes to School Survey examines students’ attitudes in the areas of wellbeing, teaching and learning and student relationships. It was the Year 5 and 6 data in these areas that were the catalyst for the ILE initiative. Student focus groups are also conducted to supplement and qualify the survey data. Thus student reflections highlight issues, and students know changes have been made based on their responses.

It’s got to be a very honest time. Initially I guess there was only a few students were saying things [which needed attention] and then as they went along all of them have shared … I write down everything they say. I don’t make excuses because otherwise they’re just going to shut down and not tell me anything. We share [student responses] with the teachers … and try to pick one area to improve, such as teacher organisation. The team consider[s], for example … what do you think it would look like for a student if you were organised in class? (learning unit coach)

The Attitudes to School Survey data has substantially improved since 2007 with student satisfaction in the third quartile in all areas. Year 5 and 6 students’ sense of belonging and connectedness is strong, indicating that the Senior Learning Unit has been successful. One student focus group identified how they enjoyed the opportunity to learn with other teachers, ‘not just our own’ and felt able to follow a timetable, which made them feel confident in preparation for secondary school. The students greatly appreciated being able to work with their friends and the privileges associated with trust licences. The major criticism was that noise in the unit sometimes makes it difficult to concentrate, although they admitted that this was generally confined to times when activities changed.

Data related to staff opinion are also presented to learning communities. Areas for improvement and future direction, such as participative decision-making or professional learning, are identified and agreed upon. Any changes are monitored through the annual survey. As with the student survey data, staff data indicated that students had excellent classroom behaviour. Teachers appreciated the leadership and new learning environments. The one area of challenge was teacher workload. Despite this, the teacher interviews indicated a strong commitment to the ILE approach. As the Principal explains:

When you talk with teachers, they’ll tell you that they work harder here than they’ve ever worked before but it’s good work, and they enjoy the work that they’re doing. The teaming, they find really so much stronger in the sharing of resources and so on, is really different. And I think they feel that they get more professional learning opportunities … they get a chance to first of all be recognised for the work that they’re doing [and they] present and attend conferences and might go and see some practice at other schools.

Concluding comments

The ILE is a process-driven whole-of-school approach with the aim of developing 21st century learners. The pedagogical focus is on personalised learning for both students and teachers. For students, this meant emphasising student self-management and independence, goal setting, collaboration and accountability through documentation and belonging to a learning community. The ILE is facilitated through team teaching in customised, flexible, open-plan environments where teachers are supported by coaches to align their professional development and planning with the personalised needs of their students, as identified in regular goal-setting conferences. In these sessions, the coach utilises both collaborative discussion and documented evidence to drive accountability. Teachers model the value of inquiry processes.

The catalysts for the ILE were low student engagement and a lack of focus on the identified needs of contemporary learners. Similarly, leadership, teacher renewal and the embracing of new pedagogical principles and strategies supported by resourcing and policy initiatives were key factors in the success of the ILE. Empowerment of both staff and students underpins the innovation

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and the pursuit of continued improvement. Broad-based commitment to, and implementation of, the ILE is evidence that it is reaching the sustained phase and is part of Bellaire school culture.

The role of the student has changed, as indicated in student feedback. Students have avenues to voice their concerns, and mechanisms are in place to respond. Student achievement also continues to improve. The ILE has required changes to the role of teacher. Teachers have become learning advisors to students, sharing responsibility for planning and implementation of workshops and student assessment with a team of peers. They conduct weekly individual student conferences to discuss and revise learning goals. Teachers are also learners as the Bellaire coaching model is deployed in supporting and developing teachers so that the ethos of personalised learning is enacted and sustained. Within an autonomous, self-managed teaming environment, curriculum coaching has been put in place to support teachers with change. By all accounts Bellaire Primary School appears to be a very supportive community. The capacity of the school community members to attract funding is an evident support that has enabled the creation (or renewal) of flexible learning spaces. The spaces are a tangible expression of the ILE that has become well known in the broader educational community, both locally and internationally.

No doubt transferability of ideas, use of resources, use of time, space and documentation is possible. However, replication of this ILE in its current form is limited to adopting and adapting ideas, the use of pedagogical tools, resources and learning spaces and the process of action research that has driven the reform. More generally, the whole-school process-driven approach has been encouraged system-wide in a policy environment that supports a focus on teacher leadership, professional learning, flexible design of learning spaces and changed pedagogy. At the school implementation level, it relies on the initiative and commitment of school leadership to embed change in practice. Such process-driven, action research approaches are more readily transferrable across sites as they can develop and integrate the skill base, direction and student learning needs specific to one school.

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Glossary

Attitudes to School Survey: The overall objective of the Attitudes to School survey is to collect data about the opinions of Victorian government school students from Year 5 to Year 12 and for individual schools across Victoria to use this information to drive improvement.

BER: Building the Education Revolution was funded by the Australian Federal Government in 2008 as part of a stimulus package to address the global financial crisis by modernising schools through the delivery of infrastructure.

Blueprint for Government Schools: The Blueprint provides the framework for an effective Victorian government school system—a system with effective teachers, effective leaders and effective schools. The flagship strategies focused on student learning; developing a new Resource Allocation Model; building leadership capacity; creating and supporting a performance and development culture; and teacher professional development.

DE&T: The Department of Education and Training, Victoria; now the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Victoria, Australia.

DEECD: The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Victoria, Australia.

NAPLAN: The National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy developed by the Federal Government in 2008. Every year, all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 are assessed on the same days using national tests in Reading, Writing, Language Conventions (Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation) and Numeracy.

VCAA: The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority.

VELS: The Victorian Essential Learning Standards outlines what is essential for all Victorian students to learn during their time at school from Prep to Year 10. They provide a set of common statewide standards which schools use to plan student learning programs, assess student progress and report to parents. VELS is based on best practice in Victorian schools and draws on national and international research about how students learn. The VELS differ from traditional curricula by including knowledge and skills in the areas of physical, social and personal learning, thinking and communication to encourage flexible and creative approaches to learning.

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References

Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) 2008a, Student attitudes to school survey, DEECD, Melbourne.

Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) 2008b, Blueprint for education and early childhood development, DEECD, Melbourne.

Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) 2011, Research into the connection between built learning spaces and student outcomes: literature review, DEECD, Melbourne, <http://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/publ/research/publ/blackmore_learning_spaces.pdf>.

Department of Education and Training (DE&T) 2003, Blueprint for Victorian government schools, DE&T, Melbourne.

Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) 2005, Victorian essential learning standards, VCAA, Melbourne, <http://vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au>.

Whitmore, J 2002, Coaching for performance, Nicholas Brearley Publishing, London & Boston.