INTRODUCTION

St. Joseph’s is a co-educational Catholic primary school located in the suburb of Bardon,

Brisbane. At St. Joseph’s, students are encouraged to participate as fully as they can in all

aspects of school life. As a Christ-centred learning community, the vision for St. Joseph’s

is to strive for equity and excellence in education, inspired by the Franciscan values of

humility, respect and care. These values are demonstrated in the creation of our

sustainable gardens, spirituality mural and creation mural.

St. Joseph’s is a parish school which, this year, celebrates 78 years of Catholic primary education in Bardon. The

school was established by the Missionary Franciscan Sisters, and was first built to cater for the needs of Catholic

families in the parish. The parish church, St. Mary Magdalene’s, is located on-site. The school’s current enrolment is

392 students.

Links between the school and parish are strong, with our Parish Priest and Assistant Priests attending school events

and experiences, and celebrating class and school Masses on a regular basis. Parishioners are also invited to attend

school events and Masses.

At St Joseph’s we strive to provide high quality inclusive Catholic education. Our staff forms a professional and

dedicated team, committed to innovative and creative practice, including in Religious Education. Enhanced by the

latest technologies and resources, we offer a broad based curriculum providing a range of opportunities and

experiences that deliberately foster growth in students as life-long learners.

Strong collaboration exists between parents, staff and students in the school. This is reflected in the involvement of

all parties in numerous aspects of the school. Parents regularly attend weekly school assemblies, including prayer

assemblies. In addition to this, parents are included in a variety of other special assemblies, class and whole-school

Masses, and whole-school celebrations. Parents are encouraged to be active participants within classroom learning

environments.

The Franciscan charism of the original sisters has an ongoing impact on our school community. Believing in and

trying to imitate the charism of St. Francis provides us with the passion to embrace our commitment to the

Franciscan values in our school motto:

To live life with Humility, Care and Respect

STUDENTS AND COMMUNITY

Vision and Context for Religious Education at St. Joseph’s

Teaching and learning in Religious Education at St. Joseph’s is responsive to

the needs and religious backgrounds of students and the contemporary

contexts for learning in the Religion classroom.

Faith and Family Demographics

St. Joseph’s current enrolment is 392 students from Prep to Year Six. Our

Business Intelligence data (Table 1 and Table 2) reveals that 88% of our

students are Catholic, with a further 7% belonging to other Christian

denominations. 5% of our families identify as no religion or have not stated a religion upon application. Our

five-year trend indicates we are generally maintaining Catholic enrolments. Our 2016 Student Religious

Profile by year level data does however indicate that there are more students in the Early Years who

identify as having no religion or no religion stated. This is an interesting point to note for implications for

future planning.

Table 1

Table 2

What this data does not tell us is the religious literacy of our students. Teachers gather this information

based upon observations, feedback from students and reflective processes and evaluation. This data

influences teachers’ approach to planning and delivery of the curriculum.

Within each class group there is a significant range in students’ involvement and engagement within the

formal life of the church community. Therefore, up to one third of students may have high level religious

literacy due to regular, ongoing church experiences. Although the majority of students have had

experiences of sacramental celebrations within the church community, the majority of students do not

come to school with high levels of religious literacy. This impacts on the way we teach Religious Education

and the importance of not presuming that students understand key religious language and terminology,

process and procedures for engaging in Catholic rituals.

At St. Joseph’s every effort is made to ensure that all who seek to share and celebrate our Catholic

Christian heritage feel welcome and respected in their own faith journeys. This is evidenced through

invitation to participate in the Religious Life of the School and the Religious Education Curriculum and

opportunities that expand their knowledge of, and commitment to, their own Christian faith.

At each year level at St. Joseph’s, teachers engage in collaborative planning to develop a year level plan

that responds to the reality of our students and families and their needs.

Vision for Religious Education

St. Joseph’s Primary School is a Catholic learning community, inspired by Franciscan values and traditions.

Religious Education in our contemporary Catholic school supports the two dimensions of Religious

Education – teaching students religion and teaching students to be religious in a particular way. As a Christ-

centred learning community, the St. Joseph’s Religious Education Program articulates our School Vision of

striving for equity and excellence in education inspired by the Franciscan values of humility, care and

respect. It also aligns with the Brisbane Catholic Education Learning and Teaching Framework (2013) and

the Model of Pedagogy (2014) in its approach to planning, learning, teaching and evaluating.

The St. Joseph’s Religious Education Program also aspires to develop the religious literacy of our students

and nurture their faith formation. It seeks to develop this religious literacy of students in light of the

Catholic Christian Tradition, so that they might participate critically and authentically in contemporary

culture. Students become religiously literate as they develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions to

interpret and use language confidently in and for faith contexts and the wider society.

The Vision for Religious Education at Brisbane Catholic Education is:

“to aspire to educate and form students who are challenged to live the gospel of Jesus

Christ and who are literate in the Catholic and broader Christian traditions so that they

might participate critically and effectively in faith contexts and wider society.”

(Catholic Education Archdiocese of Brisbane, 2013, p. 10)

Here at St. Joseph’s School, Bardon, this vision

closely aligns with our school wide vision that

as a Christ-centred learning community,

inspired by the Franciscan values of humility,

care and respect, St. Joseph’s strives for equity

and excellence in education. We demonstrate

this by living the values taught by Jesus, living

our faith through liturgy, ritual and outreach,

and living the Catholic story, tradition and

teachings. In doing so, we are creating confident, creative, active and informed learners at St. Joseph’s

School. They are empowered to shape and enrich our world.

Our St. Joseph’s Vision for Religious Education encompasses our link to our Franciscan heritage through

our motto, Humility, Care and Respect, and their commitment to serve others. It reflects our school

Mission and is closely linked to our identity and culture as a Catholic school.

Contemporary Contexts of School Religious Education

At St. Joseph’s, recognition is given to the four contexts identified as having a significant impact on

Religious Education in contemporary Catholic schools. They are Societal Context, Ecclesial Context,

Educational Context and Digital Context.

Our Societal Context

St. Joseph’s is situated within a high socio-economic community and operates in a complex and ever-

changing environment. Our 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 St. Joseph’s, Religious

Education seeks to reflect a Catholic Christian worldview that integrates faith, life and culture. Due to the

access that our students have to resources at home, many of our students have travelled internationally

and therefore bring this expanded world view to Religious Education dialogue in our classrooms. Some

students have also had exposure to third world experiences. One of the challenges within our societal

context is to build an awareness of cultural diversity, given that there is very little cultural diversity within

our school community.

Our Ecclesial Context

St. Joseph’s is part of the greater Jubilee parish, consisting of three Catholic schools and six churches in the

region. St. Joseph’s has developed strong links with the other two schools in the parish (St. Ambrose’s,

Newmarket and St. Finbarr’s, Ashgrove). Staff at these schools engage in combined professional learning

experiences and curriculum planning. Students from the three schools participate in shared religious life of

school experiences throughout the year, including the parish sacramental program and social justice

awareness events. The three Principals and the Parish Priest (Fr. Peter Brannelly) convene weekly to

collaborate and develop common policy, and to consolidate links between the schools.

With reference to the religious literacy of students at St. Joseph’s, an increasing number of students and

their families appear to be less engaged with the formal life of the church than in the past. St. Joseph’s

therefore provides the introductory and developmental understanding and experience of church for many

students and their families.

Our Educational Context

St. Joseph’s 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 St. Joseph’s, we seek to nurture and develop the faith of

individuals in ways that are mindful of wider cultural and religious identities. Some of the ways in which we

do this include; NAIDOC Week celebrations, Multicultural Week and International Peace Day focus for

school assembly, and Harmony Day events.

At St. Joseph’s the Religious Education program is built on best practice of the broader educational

community. The classroom learning and teaching of religion reflects the philosophy, content, structure,

academic rigour, assessment and reporting modes used in all learning areas.

Digital Context

St. Joseph’s School seeks to engage students in the critical, creative and responsible use of digital learning

tools, with a particular focus on developing knowledge and skills to be responsible digital citizens. This

enables students to safely express their learning in rich, real and relevant ways, connecting the school to

the wider community. Some of the ways students are engaged in digital learning include each class

accessing laptops on a one to one basis, sets of iPads for each class from Prep to Year 6, the use of digital

tools such as Seesaw App to provide feedback to students and making use of the online digital platform

LIFE.

Beliefs About Learners and Their Learning

At St. Joseph’s School, we believe

- in focusing on the whole person as a learner: a whole

person created in the image and likeness of God, and

a whole person who brings to their education a

diverse background of skills, talents and mindsets

they are able to use to be successful in their learning

- that learning happens when the students, staff,

school leadership and their families work in

partnership

- that learning occurs within our welcoming, safe and caring community

- in rich, real and relevant experiences that engage, challenge and support the learner, and promote

lifelong learning

- that students use their Dispositions for Learning – Persist, Reflect, Take Risks, Connect and

Collaborate when engaging with the curriculum

- that all students are entitled to rigorous, relevant and engaging Religious Education programs, that

model expected and effective teaching and learning approaches

- that this program is drawn from the Brisbane Catholic Education Religious Education Curriculum

- that our program addresses students’ individual learning needs

At a class and individual student level, the interests, religious backgrounds and learning needs of students

inform the development of units of work at St. Joseph’s. Data retrieved from a variety of monitoring tools

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 and breadth

- providing students with additional time and support

- use of the requirement for diversity in assessment tasks required in the planning template

- consultation with specialist staff, e.g., APRE, PLL, STIE, Speech Pathologist, TL, in order to make

adjustments and develop appropriate learning and teaching strategies to enable success

Impact of System Initiatives

In 2016, St. Joseph’s has been a member of

the Learning Collaborative aspect of the

Delivering Excellent Learning and Teaching

(DELT) strategy. After engaging with Visible

Learning strategies and explicitly embedding

these in our daily practices, the staff have

been highly engaged in gathering data to

identify current beliefs and practices. The St.

Joseph’s Dispositions for Learning have been created, promoting a growth mindset, working towards

establishing clear learning intentions and success criteria and using effective feedback to progress student

learning. Teachers have spent much time engaging with the implementation of the DELT strategy in the

Religious Education classroom.

St. Joseph’s enrolment of 392 students comprises three classes from Prep to Year Three, two classes in

Years Four and Five and one class in Year Six. Teaching staff at St. Joseph’s are required to meet in both

year levels and across year levels to develop units of work for Religious Education. These units align with

the school Religious Education Scope and Sequence, and suit the unique classroom context and needs of

the students in their own classes. These meetings are supported and/or attended by the APRE, PLL, ST: IE

and TL. This process assists teachers in implementing a curriculum that ensures mandatory requirements

are met and that there is continuity and comprehensive coverage throughout the school.

Communication to Parents/Wider Community

Through termly overviews, the class teachers communicate clear information to parents and the wider

community about what students will be taught in the religion classroom at each year level. Through

updates at weekly assemblies, school and parish newsletter articles, Parent Portal and class teacher

communications, families are informed of how they are able to support their child’s Religious Education

learning and the Religious Life of the School.

When planning at the class level, teachers pay particular attention to the unique classroom context and

backgrounds of the students in their own class. Classroom teachers seek support from the APRE, PLL, STIE,

speech pathologists, hearing impairment visiting teachers and Guidance Counsellor to ensure all students

have access to the teaching and learning experiences and are supported to be successful learners in the

religion classroom.

CURRICULUM STRUCTURE AND ORGANISATION

A Catholic View of Learning and Teaching

At St. Joseph's School, a Catholic view about learning and

teaching embraces our Religious Education Program, which

is centred on the person of Jesus as teacher. We believe in

life-long learning in religion and faith development. We

believe in holistic learning; the gaining of wisdom; the

connection between rationality and beliefs and the

essential integration of knowing and living in the Catholic Christian tradition. We believe in a curriculum

that develops understanding of stewardship and sacramentality, allowing students to be co-creators and

experience God in their everyday world. Our Franciscan charism provides the school with a particular focus

on being living witnesses of faith with an emphasis on living with Humility, Care and Respect.

Model for Religious Education

At St. Joseph's School, our Religious Education program reflects both dimensions of Religious Education,

namely, the classroom teaching and learning of Religion and the Religious Life of the School. It is the

coming together of the two dimensions that enables the Vision for Religious Education to be fully realised.

Our school Religious Education program seeks to understand and utilise the distinct yet complementary

nature of the two dimensions of Religious Education. The classroom learning and teaching of religion

upholds the same rigorous approach used in all learning areas and enables students to gain greater

understanding of the Religious Life of the School. Students are explicitly taught about elements of prayer

and liturgy, social justice, evangelisation and faith formation through the Religion Curriculum. They then

extend their classroom learning about these elements through class, year level and whole school Religious

Life of the School activities and events.

Reconceptualist Approach

St. Joseph's Religious Education Program identifies and articulates how entitlement to learning in the

Religion Curriculum Prep to Year Six reflects a reconceptualist approach. This is ensured through the

balance and integration of all four strands, effective timetabling and time allocation.

This reconceptualist approach means that our Religious Education Program operates from an educational

framework rather than a catechetical framework. Our Religious Education program focuses on allowing

students to explore their own religious tradition whilst exploring and building empathy and understanding

of the religious beliefs and practices of others. Students are given the opportunity to investigate and

inquire about their own faith and the faith of others with enhanced understanding.

At St. Joseph’s, students arrive with differences in religious literacy levels in relation to the beliefs, symbols,

rituals and language of the Catholic faith, but they are all capable of learning. Therefore, St. Joseph's

teachers use non-judgemental language in order to be more inclusive and build understanding through

engagement in genuine, challenging, pedagogically-sound experiences utilising contemporary resources.

Scope and Sequence

The St. Joseph's Religious Education Scope and Sequence is a working document that will continue to

evolve every year. It informs how the achievement standards and core content descriptors for each year

level link to classroom teaching and learning at St. Joseph's School, and clearly outlines the yearly

progression of learning in Religious Education. It includes fertile questions linked to core content

descriptors, mandated and supplementary texts, explicit prayer and Religious Life of the School. This

document informs planning and allows alignment within DELT practices.

The leadership team and teachers of St. Joseph's School work together to ensure continuity across year

levels through collaborative planning practices within and across year levels. Year level and individual

planning sessions enable teachers to plan units of work which build on students’ learning. There is a clear

focus on the line of sight in year level planning: year level description, achievement standard and content

descriptors. The planning template also identifies mandated scripture and explicit prayer to be covered in

the unit of work. Teachers then articulate the teaching and learning sequence through an inquiry approach

which also reflects the Learning Collaborative effective and expected practices. Students are provided with

varied and multiple opportunities for assessment during and at the completion of the teaching cycles. The

planning template also includes specific areas of focus to support our planning within the local context.

At St. Joseph’s, teachers plan with the focus of the needs of their learners in mind, including their faith

backgrounds and religious literacy. Staff incorporate differentiation, individualised learning goals and

monitoring processes to meet these needs. The Religious Education Curriculum planning, routines and

practices for individual classes and students are organised to respond to the needs of students.

HIGH QUALITY LEARNING AND TEACHING

St. Joseph's Religious Education Program is consistent with whole

school approaches to learning and teaching across the curriculum.

It identifies how these approaches are developed, communicated,

supported and reviewed.

Teachers of Religion

Teachers at St. Joseph's School are supported to achieve and maintain full accreditation to teach religion in

a Catholic school. They access and undertake regular professional learning and faith formation

opportunities. St. Joseph's provides at least five hours of professional learning each year, on pupil free

days, twilights and at staff meetings facilitated by the APRE or other guest speakers. Staff are also

encouraged to outsource other professional learning opportunities within particular areas of interest

through Brisbane Catholic Education or external agencies. The APRE monitors the accreditation status of all

teachers and follows through with teachers who need to complete further studies in order to gain full

accreditation for teaching of Religion. REAP (and continued studies through ACU) has been the preferred

pathway for teachers requiring full accreditation status.

Powerful Pedagogies

St. Joseph's School embraces the principles of the DELT strategy to improve learning outcomes for all

students. Our Religious Education program applies these principles in conjunction with the BCE Model of

Pedagogy to the teaching of Religion. Five practices provide a common language for planning and reflecting

on learning and teaching in the religion classroom:

1. Focusing on learners and their learning;

2. Establishing clear learning intentions and success criteria;

3. Activating multiple ways of knowing, interacting and opportunities to construct knowledge;

4. Responding with feedback to move learning forward; and

5. Evaluating learning at all levels

Inquiry based learning promotes a constructivist approach with the Religion Curriculum and enables deep

conceptual understandings and critical thinking skills. Fertile questions, learning intentions and success

criteria for Religion units are made explicit to students and parents and displayed in classrooms. DELT

practices are applied in the Religious Education classroom to ensure high quality and high equity learning

outcomes for students. This provides data for reflecting on student progress and achievement and teacher

effectiveness. The Gradual Release of Responsibility process and Context-Text model are used to support

student access to scripture.

Resourcing for Quality Learning Experiences

St. Joseph's School places a high value on quality resources to be used to enhance the learning experiences

of all students. Teachers access the BCE Religious Education site to enhance their teaching of Religious

Education. The Religious Education budget is used to purchase contemporary resources, including big

books, sets of bibles, and prayer and liturgical resources that support various units. It is used to make

quality kits to support both the classroom learning and teaching of Religious Education as well as the

Religious Life of the School. Teachers have received professional learning from ResourceLink staff to assist

in engaging students with a broad range of quality Religious Education resources, including learning kits,

eBooks, teacher background information and Web 2.0 tools. Teachers use a variety of online resources

which can be found on the internet, the school portal and the BCE Religious Education site. These might

include; Bible Gateway, BCE Learning Bytes, The Judaism site, BCE Religious Education Curriculum App and

Ways to Pray Calendar, Together at One Altar, Flame of Faith, The Religion Teacher and Caritas Australia.

Assessment and Consistency of Teacher Judgments

Teachers at St. Joseph's School discuss student assessment in Religion both formally and informally with

each other, the APRE and Principal and the Education Officer Religious Education (EORE). Assessment tasks

are designed and adapted to meet the various needs of students in each class, and to provide multiple

opportunities for students to demonstrate learning and achievement. These tasks are planned in various

modes, can be independent or require collaboration and reflect current best practice in relation to digital

technologies. Staff also engage in annual focused intra-school and interschool CTJ opportunities, using

annotated work samples to moderate on understandings of the Religious Education achievement

standards.

Reporting

At the beginning of each term, teachers at St. Joseph’s School send home an overview of focus areas for

Religion. In the school newsletter, the APRE provides an overview of classroom teaching and learning

across the school as well as the Religious Life of the School, highlighting ways parents and carers can

support, engage with and reinforce content covered in the Religious Education program.

Both informal and formal reporting procedures keep parents and students updated with student progress

and achievement in Religion. Feedback on assessment tasks is provided via informal conferencing with the

students as well as written annotations. Formal written feedback outlining student progress in relation to

the Religious Education achievement standard is provided in the end of semester report card, supported by

student work samples. Formal parent-teacher and student led conferences (offered twice yearly) provide

opportunity for face-to-face discussion of student progress and achievement. However, St. Joseph's invites

ongoing and open communication between teachers and parents throughout the year.

Powerful Pedagogies

The leadership team at St. Joseph’s, in collaboration with classroom teachers and specialist teachers, lead

the development and monitoring of agreed approaches to curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and

reporting across the year levels and school with the aim of consistent and sustainable practices.

The inquiry approach to learning is used to develop units of work in Religion. Inquiry based learning

promotes a constructivist approach with the Religion Curriculum and enables deep conceptual

understandings and critical thinking skills.

Planning for Effective Assessment

Using the BCE Model of Pedagogy to guide the planning, teaching and assessing of their Religious

Education programs, teachers at St. Joseph’s are conscious of differentiating to meet the needs of each

student so that all students can succeed and demonstrate their learning against the achievement standard.

This is used in conjunction with the Context-Text model and the Gradual Release of Responsibility process.

This ensures that teachers are providing quality expected and effective learning experiences and

assessment practices.

Teachers are supported in making decisions about how to differentiate to support student needs by

members of the Student Support Team. Differentiation can be made in such areas as the choice of

resources, the mode of presentation, the expectations, the scaffolding or time provided for tasks or the

tasks themselves. This ensures that teachers link the needs of students to quality learning experiences and

assessment practices as well as to the curriculum.

Assessing student learning is an essential part of monitoring and evaluating the Religious Education

program. The process of assessing student learning provides opportunities for teachers and students to

evaluate, make improvements and plan for further learning. Assessment is undertaken for the purpose of:

Assessment for learning – includes gathering information about the learners, analysing and

interpreting that information and using that information to inform and shape the learning and

teaching process

Assessment of learning – assists teachers to use evidence of student learning to assess student

achievement against goals and standards; and

Assessment as learning – self-assessment used to support students to develop practise

and become experienced with reflection and critical analysis of their own learning

Making Judgments

It is expected that teachers at St. Joseph’s will plan in collaboration with other key staff members to ensure

consistent, high quality student achievement. Planning sessions are used throughout the year. Staff are

encouraged to meet with the APRE, PLL and STIE to ensure that plans indicate differentiation strategies

and that learning experiences support students to demonstrate the achievement standards.

Teachers at St. Joseph’s discuss student assessment in Religion both formally and informally with each

other, the APRE, Principal and the Education Officer Religious Education (EORE). Teachers are encouraged

to share student work samples informally and formally during staff meetings, planning times and in

preparation for reporting to parents and intra-school moderation. Teachers at St. Joseph’s School value the

opportunity to share their judgements and learn from other teachers at their year level by participating in

interschool moderation each year (CTJ).

Use of Feedback

Teachers at St. Joseph’s School provide feedback both formally and informally as an integral part of the

DELT strategy to progress student learning. Criteria sheets and annotated work samples are used to

provide authentic feedback in relation to the success criteria and achievement standards. This allows

teachers to work with students to see where they can make improvements to their religious

understanding. Individual conferencing and classroom discussions are used as feedback opportunities. Self-

reflection and peer assessment practices are other strategies used by teachers to progress student

learning.

MONITORING AND EVALUATION

The St. Joseph’s Religious Education Program

outlines how student progress and achievement are

monitored to ensure high expectations for each

student. It identifies how data is used to evaluate

current practice and inform decision making and

action related to the classroom teaching of Religion

and the Religious Life of the School.

Monitoring Student Achievement

At St. Joseph’s School a whole school culture valuing collaborative practice is reflected in a shared

approach to monitoring and evaluating student achievement and development. While the APRE supports

the teacher in taking responsibility for monitoring student achievement, formal and informal dialogue

between all stakeholders is ongoing and informs practice. Religious Education units reflect multiple

opportunities for students to demonstrate their learning in formative and summative assessments and to

achieve success.

Data collected from these assessments (as well as eMinerva student data) is analysed to identify trends,

anomalies and needs to inform practice about both the classroom teaching and learning of Religion and

the Religious Life of the School. This aims to maximise student achievement and development as well as

ensure consistency. Data in the BI tool is accessed by staff to review goals and inform future planning at

the whole school level as well as at the year, class and individual level.

Monitoring Planning

The St. Joseph’s Religious Education Scope and Sequence informs Religious Education planning and is

reviewed and refined in Term 4 each year. Teachers and the APRE review periodically the effectiveness of

all elements of unit planning in order to make recommendations for future improvements. The school

leadership team annually records and reviews whole school goals and action plans for the learning and

teaching of Religion and the Religious Life of the School.

Monitoring the Religious Life of the School

At St. Joseph’s School, the Religious Life of the School P-12 document provides a lens through which the

school leadership team (in consultation with staff, parents, carers, students and the local and wider

community) audits and sets goals to develop the Religious Life of the School. Each of the four interrelated

components: Religious Identity and Culture; Evangelisation and Faith Formation; Prayer and Worship; and

Social Action and Justice, while mutually reinforcing, provide a significant focus. The BCE cyclical review

process and strategic renewal framework is utilised to guide the collection of data to inform annual school

planning.

Monitoring Student Achievement and Planning

At St. Joseph’s School, teachers use student learning data (including eMinerva student data; formative and

summative, formal and informal assessments) to inform decisions about curriculum planning, teaching and

assessing to ensure high expectations for each student. Meetings held during non-contact time, planning

times and professional learning enable teachers to become familiar with background knowledge to support

planning, teaching and assessing and to ensure consistency across the school. Differentiation is recorded in

whole class and individual student tracking documents as well as in unit/weekly/daily planning and

communicated to parents via newsletters, emails, parent-teacher conversations, student led conferences,

information evenings and informal chats. The monitoring and evaluating process includes professional

dialogue with colleagues during the annual inter-school moderation processes.