A Curriculum Initiative for Engaging Students in Contemporary Learning Practices
St Aloysius College is offering the Learning Centred Partnerships Program in response to a gathering body of research which informs effective teaching and learning in the 21st Century. This research claims that engaging students in the contemporary world requires:
- Connecting learners to communities beyond the school to engage with diverse perspectives and collaborate with others.
- Building learning relationships within the global and local community to create authentic opportunities for students to learn from and with others.
- A climate that promotes inquiry and creative exploration of ideas, where students are supported to engage in deep and powerful learning. (Learning Centred Schools: A Sacred Landscape)
In the process of reflecting on how we could continue to provide our students with a dynamic, collaborative and engaging environment for learning, it seemed obvious that we should explore establishing more formal partnerships with the local Primary Schools. We were hoping to provide opportunities for students to learn from one another, and we decided to initially focus on meaningful learning relationships between our Senior Students and Primary School Students. Consequently, a number of Primary Schools were invited to attend a forum to discuss how such a program might further enhance the learning of their students and to identify specific curriculum areas that could be developed for this purpose.
On the basis of these forums and the information gathered, St Aloysius College will be working with a number of the Primary Schools in 2012, focussing on specific learning objectives and areas of the curriculum.
Learning Objectives
- To foster social and emotional resilience
- To develop life skills and confidence
- To foster self-expression
- To increase the self-efficacy of our students
Targeted Curriculum Areas
- Visual and Performing Arts
- Food Technology
- Personal Learning: Health and Nutrition
Student Participation
- Year 4 Students – St Margaret’s Maribyrnong; St Joseph’s West Brunswick; Holy Rosary Kensington; St Michael’s North Melbourne
- Senior Students (St Aloysius College): Year 10 - Year 12 Visual and Performing Arts Students
Program Sessions
The Program will be run for each Primary School over one term and commenced in Term 2. The students will participate in 5 sessions. These sessions will be held at St Aloysius College fortnightly, in the afternoon, from 1.30 – 3.00pm.
The parents and teachers of students are invited to St Aloysius College for the lastsession of the Term in which their daughters/students are involved in the Program. Parents and Teachers will be able to view the work produced and enjoy the performances and/or presentations that students have prepared.
The first group of students to take part in this program are Grade 4 students from St Margaret’s Primary School, Maribyrnong. Jill Rogers, Grade 4 Teacher and ICT Co-Ordinator at St Margaret’s Primary School, says “The program is a great initiative to introduce the girls to subjects they will have the opportunity to undertake in Secondary School. It is a good opportunity for St Aloysius students to display their skills and the ability to teach them to our girls. It is a valuable way to promote the school and remove some of the natural apprehension of attending secondary school for our girls.”
“This program provides an opportunity for our girls to build relationships with the students from local primary schools and further develop life skills” says Anne Henderson, Deputy Principal at St Aloysius College. “The students learn from one another and the senior students have the opportunity to share their knowledge and skills with the primary school students.”