Newington is committed to continuous improvement. There are many conversations and professional programs at the College which aim to improve teaching and learning. A new program which is available to parents is NEWtalks – a series of presentations from teaching staff on elements of Teaching and Learning.
NEWtalks began with a riveting lecture from the Head of Academic (Teaching and Learning) at Stanmore, Mr Trent Driver, who responded to questions about the “holy grail” of teaching and learning – differentiation – sometimes known as personalised learning.
Trent was first asked, “What is quality teaching?” His response began with an important reflection that teaching is about developing relationships with all boys in the class and responding to their unique needs. Trent went on to discuss his ideals about personalised assessment, where there is no ceiling to how a student may respond to an assessment. This challenges the high performance learner to delve deeper a subject area. In essence, differentiation is a system which allows for all learners to engage at their level and demonstrate what they know and can do, and be inspired to do better.
Trent’s NEWtalk was the first in a series which will address a range of issues associated with tailoring learning so that it meets the needs of each boy. To come NEWtalks will explore differentiation across departments from Maths and Science to Journalism and High Potential.
View Trent’s talk on ClickView here.
Stay tuned for NEWtalks in the near future.
Mr Vic Branson
Assistant to the Headmaster
