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School Description Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Primary School is a co-educational Catholic school in the Brisbane suburb of Darra. The school currently has 545 students enrolled in 21 classes from Prep to Year 6. Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School has an ethos based on Gospel values. Our focus is showing respect for each other. We are a multi-cultural community that celebrates the richness of each culture.

Whilst our school has a strong emphasis on the teaching of Literacy and Numeracy and ensuring all students have the foundational knowledge preparing them for a wide scope of learning, we also value the teaching of performing arts subjects. With a whole school musical biennially and instrumental and drama lessons happening in school time, children continue to grow in confidence through a variety of subjects.

The curriculum is designed in such a way that students develop an openness to truth, a tolerance of different views and an ability to be a critical learner and become self directed. The school therefore does not refer to buildings, but rather people. Parents, students and teachers together make up a faith community, which reflects our love of God.

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Primary School is proud of its history of providing high quality education in an environment of the Catholic tradition. Our school is committed to meeting the challenges of education today and in the future, in order to provide students with the skills necessary to progress further along the lifelong journey of education and learning.

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Brief History The church and school, of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, at Darra were blessed on 4th April 1937. The Twelve Apostles Church at Jindalee was later opened in 1972 to cater for the growing number of parishioners in the surrounding Centenary suburbs.

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School received its first pupils on 5th April 1937, when the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart travelled each day from Corinda to staff it. Referring to the first day of school, Sister Osmund Hanrahan recalls: - “It was a day I could never forget. I had been teaching in well-established and well-equipped schools, but at Darra the children were the only assets. After a few days, however, with the purchases made by the Parish Priest, the teaching aides that the sisters at the Corinda could manage without, and the generosity of parishioners, such as the Tathem, Carmody and Smith families, the essentials were gradually provided. Sister M. Austin’s sister, Mrs Hall offered her services and made uniforms for all the children. The sisters themselves were happy, however, to face the deprivations in order to give the children an education compatible with the faith in which they had been baptised and to re-awaken and keep that faith alive in those who lived on the outskirts of the Corinda Parish.”

At the end of 1953, the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart withdrew from the Darra School. In January 1954, at the invitation of Archbishop Duhig, the Sisters of Mercy took over the administration of the school, whose pupils included children of post war migrants. Since then, the school has expanded to include the suburbs of Jindalee, Forest Lake, Mt Ommaney, Sinnamon Park, Jamboree Heights, Middle Park, Riverhills, Westlake, Inala, Springfield, Karana Downs, Oxley and Wacol.

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To cope with this development, the Parish Priest Father Carroll, worked tirelessly to ensure that a new school was opened in March 1975 and this school has become a fine example of modern education, buildings and surroundings. To complement the Years 1 to 7 Primary School at Darra and to meet the needs of pre-school children in the Parish, a pre-school was opened at the Jindalee campus at Yallambee Road in 1987. Father Carroll has continued to support all new initiatives at the school including the Federal Government “Building Education Revolution” scheme which provided funding to build our multipurpose hall and covered outdoor learning area in 2011. Recently, existing classroom refurbishment and eight new classrooms have been completed. This also includes a new boardroom, offices and allocated space for a future modern library. These changes meet the demands of learning in the 21st Century.

Father Carroll was also instrumental in extending the original church to more than double the original size to cater for increased parishioners and school numbers. Previously School Masses had been celebrated in the covered outdoor learning area. The students now enjoy liturgical celebrations in the light and modern church, complete with the re-contextualised Creation story displayed in the magnificent stained glass window.

Schools are places that provide growth to the human spirit. Our school and the people who make up ‘our school’, are committed to providing a quality educational experience that is consistent with Gospel values.

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The Charism The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart The special gift that founders of religious congregations have been given, is called a ‘charism.’ It is passed on to all who follow them. It includes a unique way of understanding the Gospel message and is expressed through the spirituality of the congregation.

The charism and the way it is expressed enriches the Church, the people to whom it is given and those with whom they work. It gives each congregation its identity, it determines its spirit and its mission in the world.

The founder of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Father Jules Chevalier, gave them that name to honour Mary. Mary gave Jesus his humanity. In this special relationship, Mary becomes for all time, the woman closest to the Heart of Jesus. Mary is always present with Jesus: it is the compassionate heart of Jesus on which we focus, not Mary, and Jesus is the human manifestation of the compassion of God.

In 2011, the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart celebrated the 100th Year of the foundation of Australia as a Province of the Missionary Group of Sisters founded in Issoudun, France in 1874.

The original name of our school was Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School. Sometime in the 1980s, the name was changed to Darra-Jindalee Catholic School. Under the guidance of former school principal, Michael Kelleher, our school returned to its original name in 2009. In 2011, after this name change, the school staff started to examine the charism of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. In 2016, after significant staff changes and participating in the Catholic Identity Project, the staff is again discovering, learning about and embedding the charism of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. This has been initiated by professional development led by Pat Lavercombe on Monday 16th May, just prior to celebrating the Feast Day of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. Our aim is to build a more complete knowledge of the charism that pertains to our school.

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School Motto “Be Strong in Faith and Love”

This motto encourages all to appreciate and deepen their faith and show loving care and concern at all times

School Logo The school logo is a combination of symbols of the worship centres in the parish

• A large M in the centre symbolises Our Lady. • 12 crosses symbolise The Twelve Apostles. • Beneath the crest is the School Motto

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Mission Statement

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School Song

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Element One: Students and Community

Faith and Family Demographics The school’s Religious Education Program is responsive to the needs and religious backgrounds of students and the contemporary contexts for learning in the Religion classroom.

Vision for Religious Education The school community of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart at Darra aligns its vision for Religious Education with the Archdiocesan Vision for Religious Education, with particular emphasis on the following elements:

• The complementarity of the two dimensions of Religious Education

• Alignment with the goals of the Brisbane Catholic Education (BCE) Learning and Teaching Framework (2012)

• Challenges students to be a religious voice in the world • Developing the religious literacy of students in light of the Catholic Christian tradition • Jesus Christ is the centre of this Vision

“As it is the parents who have given life to their children, on them lies the gravest obligation of educating their family. They must therefore be recognised as being primarily and principally responsible for their education. The role of parents in education is of such importance that it is almost impossible to provide an adequate substitute.”

(Vatican 11, Declaration on Christian Education)

There are two dimensions to Religious Education at our school. The first dimension is teaching students religion. This is an educational activity that focuses on the teaching and learning of religion. Teaching religion normally takes place in a classroom setting and makes use of a range of learning processes and resources. Teaching students religion aims to assist students to develop their religious literacy so that they can participate in a critical and effective way in their faith communities and the wider society. Teaching students religion has an educational framework and educational expectations similar to other learning areas of the curriculum.

The second dimension of Religious Education is teaching students to be religious in the context of the Catholic Christian tradition. This is a faith development activity focused on nurturing the religious, spiritual and faith growth of students. The faith development of students in the religious life of their school takes place in the context of the religious identity and culture of the school; activities promoting evangelising and faith formation, times of prayer and worship, and opportunities for social action and justice.

Religion # %

Anglican 26 5

Catholic 338 62

Lutheran 1 0

Non-Christian 49 9

No religion 60 11

Not stated 24 4

Other Christian 23 4

Uniting Church 22 4

Sikh 3 0

Muslim 1 0

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Our staff at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School value the opportunity to nurture our own religious, spiritual and faith journeys through weekly staff prayer celebrations. All staff are welcome to lead prayer, centred on personal reflections or elements of Religious Life of the School.

In this school, teaching students religion and teaching students to be religious draw on the Catholic Christian tradition in ways that are sensitive to our local school community context. These two distinctive dimensions of religious education are complementary and reinforce each other in the religious education and faith formation of students.

The Guidelines for the Religious Life of the School carry the Imprimatur of the Archbishop of Brisbane Archdiocese, Archbishop John Bathersby as does the Syllabus for Religious Education for Catholic School. The two documents are authorised by the Archbishop for Religious Education within the Archdiocese.

Our Religious Education program is integral to all aspects of the school’s curriculum. Students of all faith traditions are welcomed and encouraged to share their beliefs and practices with a view to broadening religious tolerance and understanding.

Year 3 to 6 students participate in the celebration of the Sacrament of Penance each semester.

Students from Years 3 to 6 participate in the celebration in the Eucharist at 9.00am on a Wednesday. The classes from Prep to Year 2 celebrate with a Liturgy of the Word. On special Feast Days the school community gathers to celebrate in the Church or school hall. Parents are welcome at all celebrations.

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Vision for Religious Education at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School At Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School, we aspire to know and experience the love of God and demonstrate the actions and values modelled by Jesus. We share in the joys and challenges of our diverse religious backgrounds and learn new things with excitement, wonder and awe. We strive to learn to love ourselves and others through our respectful words, actions and understandings. We seek to teach religious literacy in the Catholic and broader Christian tradition through enriching and engaging learning possibilities.

The Contemporary Contexts for Religious Education This school community recognises the Contemporary Contexts of School Religious Education, namely the Societal, Ecclesial, Educational and Digital contexts and its responses to these can be found in formal planning documents, school policies and in the celebrations and rituals observed in this school community throughout the year.

Our Societal Context Like all Catholic and ecumenical schools of the Archdiocese of Brisbane, this school operates in a complex and ever-changing environment. Contemporary students are immersed in a global world and from an early age are exposed to a range of values represented through diverse media.

As a consequence, our school is continually challenged to engage families in Religious Education in rich and relevant ways. At Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Religious Education seeks to reflect a Catholic Christian worldview that integrates faith, life and culture. At the same time it seeks to embrace an ecumenical perspective and reflect the multi-faith context and reality of this school.

Pastoral Care

Students learn best when their spiritual, physical, social and emotional needs are met. Pastoral Care permeates all aspects of school life and expresses itself in the quality of relationships and the sense of belonging to our school community. Sister Sue Walpole is our School Pastoral Worker. She is available to staff, students and parents in a personally supportive and confidential way. Sr Sue organises and presents Virtues Assemblies to teach the students about Christian values in a creative and fun-filled manner.

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Our Ecclesial Context

At Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School, as is the case with many Catholic schools in the Archdiocese, an increasing number of students and their families are less engaged with the formal life of the Church than in the past. Consequently, many students have little or no experience in the culture and language of Religion.

This school, along with many Archdiocesan schools, increasingly provides the introductory and developmental understanding and experience of Church for students and their families. This is supported when the school is a place where students and their families encounter the mission and outreach of the Church, especially through pastoral care and the experience of Catholic Christian community. In this community, such activities include school masses, class masses, reconciliations, liturgies, virtues assemblies (linked to key Catholic faith tenets) and parish Sacramental Program. A number of students have sought membership of the Catholic Church through Baptism and the other Sacraments since enrolment at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. These activities enable our school to promote knowledge, deep understanding and skills about the Catholic and broader Christian tradition within the wider evangelising mission of the Church.

Our Educational Context Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School, along with each Archdiocesan school, seeks transformation of the whole person so that those in the school community are empowered to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their everyday lives. In the Catholic Christian tradition, education is a work of love and service. At Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School, we seek to nurture and develop the faith of individuals in ways that are mindful of their cultural and religious identity. Examples include Mini Vinnies activities, fundraising for Caritas Australia, Catholic Mission, St Vincent de Paul Society and the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Mission in South Sudan.

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In addition, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School nurtures, accepts and celebrates diversity of cultures and religions by hosting a Harmony Day celebration each year. Students, led by our Pastoral Care Worker, Sr. Sue, proudly dress in traditional costumes and present cultural understanding through dance, song or displays. The school, including the wider community, joins together in the eating of food from a range of nationalities within the school at a shared lunch celebration.

Religious Education in the Archdiocese of Brisbane, including this school, builds on best practice of the broader educational community. The classroom learning and teaching of Religion reflects the philosophy, content, structure, academic rigor and assessment and reporting modes used in other learning areas. The religious life of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School forms and skills students to negotiate the tension of maintaining Christian integrity when confronted with the complexities of life in contemporary society.

Our Digital Context Religious Education at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School seeks to engage students in the critical, creative and responsible use of digital tools which is an important component of digital citizenship. It includes provision and use of laptops, iPads, data projectors and the BCE LIFE learning program. This enables the students to express their learning in rich and relevant ways and connect with individuals and communities in a global context.

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Beliefs about our Learners and Learning

At Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School we believe that:

• Every learner is created in the image and likeness of God and, inspired by the Spirit, responds with passion and creativity to life.

• Every learner seeks to find meaning in life and learning and, in the Catholic Christian Tradition, we find meaning in the person and teachings of Jesus to grow as pilgrim people.

• Every learner is a lifelong learner, with a desire to search for truth and do what is right.

• Every learner is accountable for choices and responsible for actions. • Every learner is in some respect, like all others, like some others, like no

other and we respond creatively, flexibly and with a futures orientation to ensure dignity and justice for all.

• Every learner can achieve success in life and learning where diversity is valued and shared wisdom contributes to decision-making that enriches and enlivens our world.

• Every learner brings to the learning experience their own richly diverse life journey to contribute to a community in communion, empowered by the Spirit to be at the service of others.

We believe that all students are entitled to rigorous, relevant and engaging learning programs in Religion, drawn from the Religious Education Curriculum P-12, that address their individual learning needs. The three dimensional design of the Religion Curriculum P-12 comprising specified curriculum content, general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities, provides teachers with the flexibility to cater for the diverse needs of students, including the needs of students with disability, gifted and talented students and students for whom English is an additional language or dialect.

The school’s unit planning template requires teachers to consider and account for these beliefs when creating learning opportunities for students.

At a class and individual student level at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School, the interests, religious backgrounds and learning needs of students inform the development of work units. Data retrieved from the BI Tool, Census Application and other sources has been used to inform planning decisions for learning. Teachers use this information to interpret the curriculum flexibly to meet the individual learning needs of students and to personalise their learning by:

• Adjusting the way in which students are taught and the means through which they demonstrate their learning

• Using the extended general capabilities learning continua from the Australian Curriculum to adjust the focus of learning or to emphasise specific aspects such as higher order cognitive skills

• Providing students with opportunities to work with content in more depth or breadth; e.g. an individualised LIFE page

•

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• Providing students with additional time and support; and drawing from

content at different levels along the Prep to Year 10 sequence • Use of the requirement for diversity in assessment tasks required in the

planning template • Consulting with specialist staff e.g. STIEs, Speech Therapists, Indigenous

Support workers in order to make adjustments and develop appropriate learning and teaching strategies to enable success

Collaborative Planning At Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, teachers are released for a whole day to plan for teaching and learning across the curriculum. During that time, the APRE joins the group for specific planning for Religious Education using the unit planning template which includes the requirement for each teacher to adjust the teaching and learning to respond to the interests, religious backgrounds and learning needs of their students. During any term, teachers of each year level collaborate informally as needs arise in the teaching of Religious Education. Teachers of each year level gather to plan the RE statement for the report card. At times, teachers collaborate in the planning for and celebrating of liturgies.

Communication to Parents and the Wider Community Parents are given a summary of the content of the Religious Education units to be taught each term. In the future, this will be uploaded onto the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parent Portal. For members of our school community who are unable to access this portal, hard copies will be provided.

Impact of System and/or Religious Institute Initiatives Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School has committed to being a part of the Delivering Excellence in Learning Teaching (DELT) pillar of Brisbane Catholic Education and currently is beginning to roll out this initiative in Religious Education and other curriculum areas. The RE Planning Template used by the school incorporates key elements of Visible Learning, including consistency of line of sight documents, learning intentions and success criteria.

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School participated in the Leuven Enhancing Catholic School Identity Project (ECSIP) in 2014 and in response to received feedback, members of staff are now working with staff from BCEO to begin to implement recommendations outlined in the report. In terms of Religious Education, this will include a focus on contextualising Scripture when it is studied in classroom learning and teaching, and also seeking opportunities to recontextualise religious iconography for the school community.

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(See appendix for evidence of Element 1)

Element Two: Curriculum Structure and Organisation

A Catholic View about Learning and Teaching A Catholic View about Learning and Teaching forms the basis of how Religious Education is taught and experienced at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Darra, namely:

• A Catholic View of Christian anthropology is centred on the person of Jesus. It recognises that each person is created in the image of God.

• A Catholic perspective on epistemology orients a curriculum towards rationality, holistic knowing, knowing and living, wisdom is the fruit of knowing and life-long and life-wide learning.

• Catholic Christians are called to respond to questions about how we understand our place in the universe and the choices we make to live within the integrity of creation. This occurs through the elements of stewardship and sacramentality.

• Through the dynamic interaction between My Story, Our Story and The Story, individuals and communities encounter and develop their capacity to engage with a new way of being and seeing, a new language and a living theology.

These four core themes are addressed as part of the unit planning template for the classroom Teaching of Religion as well as the delivery of the four components of the Religious Life of the School where students learn how to be religious in a particular way, namely the Catholic Christian tradition.

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A Model for Religious Education At Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School, as in all the schools and colleges of the Archdiocese of Brisbane, the model for Religious Education focuses on two distinct but complementary dimensions, namely teaching people Religion and teaching people to be religious, drawing upon the Catholic Christian tradition in ways that are mindful of local contexts and the ecumenical and multi-faith realities of contemporary culture. The school’s unit planning template requires teachers to incorporate and link where appropriate these two dimensions. This is also evident in the Scope and Sequence for each Year level.

A Reconceptualist Approach The Reconceptualist approach to teaching and learning in Religious Education as required by the Archdiocese of Brisbane is followed at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. In a reconceptualist approach, the classroom religion program becomes a primary arena for dealing with the critical religious issues and concerns of life. The school’s unit planning template requires teachers to incorporate the three key considerations for using this approach, namely the Avoidance of Presumptive Language, Teaching ‘about’ the Tradition and Powerful Pedagogies.

Time Allocation and Effective Timetabling of Religious Education As evidenced in the attached sample timetable, teachers at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School are required to teach Religious Education for a minimum of 2.5 hours each week. The preferred option is for 30 minutes each day, however, this can be adjusted to meet timetabling of specialist classes. When timetabling Religious Education, teachers are required to make a clear distinction between the 2.5 hours per week classroom Religious Education and time for prayer and liturgical celebration. However, the unit planning template requires teachers to examine how elements of the Religious Life of the School and prayer rituals and liturgical celebrations can be integrated into units of work. At Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School, the effective timetabling of Religion classes is given high priority within the life of the school.

Alignment- Scope and Sequence The content of the strands and sub-strands of the Religion Curriculum P-12 closely aligns with the components and elements of the Religious Life of the School P-12. This is evidenced in the attached Scope and Sequence Tables for each year level, which indicate where that alignment occurs in each unit of work.

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Pedagogical Direction, including Line of Sight Documents The pedagogical direction of the Religion Curriculum P-12 is consistent with the BCE Model of Pedagogy (2012) and draws significantly on John Hattie’s research, Visible Learning (2009), and the visible learning and teaching story outlined in Visible Learning for Teachers (2012).

The Religion Curriculum P-12 promotes inquiry learning, a learner centred pedagogical approach to learning and teaching, that aligns closely with the directions taken in the Australian Curriculum.

Further, at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School, continuity in the Religion Curriculum is ensured within and between year levels, building on where students’ learning in Religion is situated and leading onto where the students are heading in their learning. The Checklist for

Planning in Religious Education includes instructions regarding referring to the scope and sequence, not only of the current year level, but of those the year before and after. There is also a clear focus on the Line of Sight Documents in year level planning: Year Level Description, Achievement Standard and Content Descriptions as evidenced in the planning template used for Religious Education.

Continuity Continuity is ensured within and between year levels, building on where students’ learning in Religion is situated and leading onto where the students are heading in their learning by the provision at each year level of a detailed Scope and Sequence chart. Within year levels, continuity is ensured through the collaborative planning process and the use of line of sight documents (ensuring connectivity between the Year level overview, content and achievement standard) in the unit planning template. At the end of the teaching of a unit, teachers are required to record an evaluation of how well the unit developed and any suggestions for amendments and resource for when the unit is taught again (appendix completed unit of work with evaluation).

Design Principles for Religious Education at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart The Religion Curriculum P-12 has been developed around four design principles: embracing a Catholic Christian Worldview; modelling a Seamless Curriculum; setting a clear Pedagogical Direction; and strengthening Alignment. These principles have been put into practice at Darra.

Catholic Christian Worldview In alignment with the content of the Religion Curriculum P-12, Religious Education at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School unambiguously reflects a Catholic Christian worldview that integrates faith, life and culture. Where possible, content embraces an ecumenical perspective and is responsive to the multi-faith context and reality of contemporary Religion classrooms. The attached sample units provide evidence of this alignment.

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Seamless Curriculum The Religion Curriculum at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School reflects the philosophy, content, focus, structure, academic rigor, and assessment and reporting modes used in all other learning areas. See for example, the assessment tasks in the sample units provided and the copy of the school’s report card in the Appendix.

(See appendix for evidence of Element 2)

Element Three: High Quality Learning and Teaching

This Religious Education Program is consistent with whole school approaches to teaching and learning across the curriculum. It identifies how these approaches are developed, communicated, supported and reviewed. Leadership in approaches to curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and reporting is provided by Principal, AP, APRE, PLL, STIE and ESL. Education Officers for Curriculum and Religious Education from BCEO, and in the case of Religious Education, an Implementation Team drawn from teaching staff, further enrich these processes.

Accreditation The BCE requirement that a minimum of 2.5 hours per week of Religion teaching is provided in both primary and secondary schools from P-12 is upheld throughout all year levels at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School. This equates to 92 - 100 hours per year, based on 37 - 40 available teaching weeks per year. Liturgy, prayer, hymn practice and other religious practices are not included in this provision.

Maintenance of Accreditation At Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School, professional learning to support the accreditation process is offered in a variety of modes e.g., January pupil-free days, staff meetings, visiting theologians and speakers (example the Parish Priest). Teachers are also required to access further professional learning opportunities in their own time. Under the supervision of the APRE, some research, planning and resourcing of units of work contribute to accreditation to teach Religious Education. Teachers are required to keep their own accreditation log on iLearn. The school supports the accreditation of new teachers by sponsoring their attendance at REAP.

Professional Learning

Religious Educators at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart engage in ongoing professional learning focused on enhancing individual and collaborative practices as well as the capacity to improve student learning. This occurs regularly on an informal basis as part of planning and assessing at each year level and as part of the maintenance of accreditation professional development mentioned above.

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Powerful Pedagogies Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School attempts to teach the five practices that provide a common language for planning and reflecting on learning and teaching as identified in the Archdiocesan Religion Curriculum, focusing on: learners and their learning, establishing clear learning intentions and success criteria, activating multiple ways of knowing, interacting and opportunities to construct knowledge, responding with feedback to move learning forward and evaluating learning with students as activators of their own learning and resources for others. For Religious Education, this is clearly evidenced in the unit planning template. Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School is a Visible Learning school and its pedagogical practices are being introduced into classroom teaching. The unit planning template requires teachers to use a model of inquiry for developing learning activities and by its inclusion of learning intentions and success criteria which are made known to students at the beginning of a unit. Students are given the best opportunities to succeed and to demonstrate their learning. In addition, the implementation of the KidsMatter Framework supports students in their emotional and mental well-being and thus enhances their classroom learning. Effective Assessment As noted above, teachers collaborate with the assistance of the unit planning template to produce quality teaching and learning experiences for the students. At each year level, teachers collaborate to develop a variety of assessment techniques and tools that are valid, equitable, aligned and evidence based to ensure achievement of standards for all learners. Early in Term 4, teachers engage in a process of intra-school moderation of Religion and then participate in inter-school moderation. Teachers are provided with the report on Consistency of Teacher Judgement issued by Brisbane Catholic Education Office for consideration and improvement of submission in the following year.

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Tools for Assessment

Teachers at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School are encouraged to use a range and balance of assessment tools allowing teachers to cater for all learners and learning situations, to measure the impact of their teaching and plan for further learning and teaching. Assessment revolves around three core practices, namely:

• Teacher observation: observing students and monitoring their progress as they work; • Student/Teacher consultation: interacting with students either formally or

informally. • Focused analysis: teachers examining in detail student responses to tasks or

activities.

Examples of Assessment tools used at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School

Assessment tools Questioning Reflective tools Teacher Observation Running Records Criteria for success Research projects Annotated work samples Written tests Multiple choice tests Extended response Group discussion Oral presentation Written tasks Portfolios Graphic organisers Concept maps Concept mapping

Think Pair Share Wait time Effective questioning Asking questions Question Matrix

Blogging Reflective journal Podcasting Reflective questions and prompts Learning logs Peer feedback Two Stars and a Wish Plus, minus, interesting Traffic Lights De Bono's Thinking Hats

Anecdotal records Checklists

Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Consistency of Teacher Judgement occurs through a number of processes at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School. At the planning stage, consistency in teaching and learning, which assists consistency of teacher judgement, occurs through collaborative planning, use of a common planning template which requires learning intentions, success criteria; line of sight with the Achievement Standard, commonality of standard in assessment tasks and the development of correction criteria and rubrics. Regardless of whether Religious Education is part of the formal CTJ process, consistency of teacher judgment at each year level occurs on planning days each term, when classroom teachers meet with the APRE, AP Curriculum (CST) and Primary Learning Leader.

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The moderation of assessment techniques occurs on a number of informal and formal levels at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School. A degree of moderation occurs during the planning process for units of work: teachers agree on the standard of work sample which demonstrates the achievement of knowledge, understanding and skills. The creation of a rubric also assists teachers to apply the same correction standards to student work. (See appendix for an example)

• At a given year level teachers may meet at reporting time to attempt to establish equity in marking through discussion and annotation.

• Formal intra-school moderation of annotated samples of work occurs in Term 3. • The school participates in Consistency of Teacher Judgement Day in October where

teaching staff moderate with other teachers at their year level, annotated samples of work.

Reporting of Student Learning

Religious Education is not taught in isolation: it is a curriculum area similar to all other curriculum areas in the school. It is taught, assessed, reported and evaluated in the same way as other subject areas. The Staff Handbook (pp 3, 9 and 14) outlines general processes for assessment, reporting and evaluating. (See appendix)

Student achievement is and has been recognised and celebrated within our school community in a variety of ways including: informal meetings, one on one feedback to students, parent-teacher nights, celebrations of learning, publication of works and exhibitions. At times, the Parish Priest will use a student’s submission as the basis of a homily.

The Student Reporting System (SRS) is Brisbane Catholic Education’s online student reporting tool. SRS facilitates the reporting of student achievement to parents and caregivers by allowing teachers and administrators to create, proofread, edit, verify and publish student reports. As has been noted previously and is evident in the school’s Religion Planning Template, Religious Education is taught and assessed with rigour and is flexible to enable each student to achieve and demonstrate what he or she have learned.

Further, as part of the school’s commitment to BCE’s DELTA initiative, the three core practices of Visible Learning will become part of the teaching and learning of RE, namely, the High Yield Strategies of Data Walls, Review and Response and Walk-Throughs. It is hoped that students at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School will become familiar with articulating responses to the five questions around their progress and achievement: What are you learning? How are you going? How do you know how you are going? What do you need to do to improve? What do you do when you get stuck?

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At Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School the following processes are used to report student learning:

• Term 1 - Parent-Teacher interview • Term 2 - Written report card • Term 3 - Parent-Teacher interview • Term 4 - Written report card

Either parents or teachers initiate informal reporting when required. Special efforts in Religious Education by students or classes are brought to the attention of the Parish Priest.

A copy of the school’s report card is included in the appendix.

Meaningful, Relevant Learning Experiences The APRE has a budget for Religious Education Curriculum for the purchase of resources. Access to ICLT’s has meant that students can access high quality resources on the Internet. Teachers know they can access Resource-Link and the APRE constructs “kits” for staff to use for particular units or topics. The online Learning Bytes and REAP website provided on the BCEO Portal provide many resource opportunities for teachers and students. Students also have the opportunity to participate in excursions to sites of religious interest such as the Jewish Synagogue (Margaret Street) and St Stephen’s Cathedral.

Meaningful and relevant learning experiences also come about as a result of:

• A range of effective assessment practices that enable students to demonstrate the full extent of their learning

• Practices to ensure consistency of teachers’ judgements about student achievement across the year level and department practices for reporting student progress, achievement and development to students, parents/caregivers

• Pedagogy that makes the learning intent and success criteria visible to students • Resources to be accessed to provide meaningful and relevant learning experiences

for students • Effective assessment practices to be used so that students are able to demonstrate

the full extent of their learning against the achievement standards • How feedback is used to enhance student learning progress and development • The use of a body of evidence of student work to make judgements about student

achievement against the achievement standard

Feedback to Students At Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School, student self-assessment at upper levels is regarded as vital to success at school. As the school further adopts the principles of Visible Learning, it involves teachers:

• Sharing with students the success criteria for each assessment activity • Ensuring that students understand the success criteria • Explicitly teaching students how to apply those criteria to their own work • Providing students with feedback to help them improve • Helping students to set learning targets to achieve that improvement.

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As noted above, Correction Criteria and Annotations provide feedback.

Peer feedback occurs when students offer each other advice about their work, which incorporates reference to:

• What has been done well in relation to the success criteria • What still needs to be done in order to achieve the success criteria • Advice on how to achieve that improvement.

Teachers, who engage students in self-assessment, see the responsibility for learning shifting from them to the students. They see an increase in student motivation and are able to use the feedback from their students about how they learn to shape future teaching and learning.

(See appendix for evidence of Element 3)

Element Four: Monitoring and Evaluation

Processes for Monitoring Student Achievement At Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School, planning and evaluating the effectiveness of assessment processes occurs when:

• Teachers meet in Professional Curriculum Conversations to review the previous unit, plan a new unit of work, including assessment tasks and student performance and annotate the unit for the information of teachers the next time the unit is used. (See attached example, which refers to assessment tasks)

• The APRE, CST, PLL and Principal use the BI tool to evaluate the awarding of standards across year levels and at individual class levels. This leads to discussions at staff meetings prior to reporting and professional learning opportunities such as diversity of assessment; depth in tasks to extend students; assessing students with special needs.

Processes for Monitoring Planning As our school engages further with its chosen powerful pedagogies, more formal methods of monitoring planning will be developed. As stated previously, the size of the school and the release time made available to staff for planning impact on the degree of collaborative planning and the availability of specialist teachers such as CST, PLL, APRE, STIE etc. to partake in and monitor planning. As indicated at various points in this document, the school currently employs the following processes:

• There is a whole-school planning procedure, which outlines the requirements for planning in all curriculum areas, including the requirement for annotating and noting success and challenges in the teaching of the unit for when it is taught next time before planning begins for the next unit.

• Teachers plan by collaborating with the APRE, CST, PLL and other support staff. • Completed units of work are posted on the school portal, enabling oversight by the

Principal, APA, APRE, CST and PLL.

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• Internal Moderation processes enable evaluation of planning and the recording of this evaluation on the scope and Sequence charts and Unit plans on the portal

• Participation in CTJ and review of the CTJ reports enable a critique of the school’s planning processes and procedures.

• Staff engage with the BCE Business Intelligence Tool to access monitoring tools which provide information on the learning of students at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School. These tools are used to analyse data, monitor student progress and inform planning and assessment to ensure learning progress for all students. The High Yield Strategy of Data Walls has been implemented to promote a shared responsibility of student learning at our school.

Processes for Monitoring the Religious Life of the School At Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School, both formal and informal process are used to monitor how well the components of the Religious Life of the School are being addressed and taught. Formally, this occurs when the collated elements of each component being addressed in units of work are recorded in the Unit Plans and the Scope and Sequence Tables for each year level.

This monitoring also occurs as part of the ongoing formal and informal school renewal processes – for example, when:

• The APRE meets with the Parish Priest to review liturgical celebrations and prayer rituals in the school.

• The APRE plans and develop the year’s Prayer and Outreach calendar. • The Leadership Team evaluates and reviews the school’s annual Prayer and Ritual

calendar. • The Leadership Team discusses the school’s Social Justice and Outreach programs. • Staff evaluate and review the Religious Education and Evangelisation Element of the

School Renewal Process, both internal and external. • The school community responds to recommendations of the Leuven Enhancing

Catholic School Identity (Leuven) Project with the assistance of officers from BCEO. • The school reflects on its Mission Statement at the beginning of each year. • The school is developing its understanding and commitment to the charism of its

founding Religious Institute as part of the recommendations of the Leuven ECSIP project.

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(See appendix for evidence of Element 3)