Neoteric Innovative Learning Environment Beginning
EA Southee has successfully gained a 2019 Rural and Remote Network Initiative Grant of $20,000 to support the implementation of the Neoteric Innovative Learning Environment Project (NILE Project) for Stage 3 (Year 5 & 6) at our school in 2019.
Principal, Leonie Stevenson said at EA Southee Public School we want for our students an education system that reduces the impact of disadvantage in our rural community and ensure these young people in our care have the best opportunity to learn, grow and be safe in a positive culture of learning for the future.
Our team of educators driving this project will develop classroom motivation and management plans that will be based around the existing flexible seating model with the addition of areas focused on explicit teaching, independent learning. Master classes for explicit teaching will include; Point of Need, Reteach and Extension. There will be plans for smooth transitions between instructional activities and a summary reflective dialogue will be used to check mastery and establish links to future learning with a strong STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, ARTS and Mathematics) focus.
We are very excited about the opportunity. We want to inspire, support and change the narrative for these kids to encourage them to be effective citizens in our local community and even in the wider world. We think we can make a real difference for these kids and it would be remiss of us to not have a go and challenge the ideas of contemporary education.
The Educator: 2019 Innovative Schools Award:
Award Information:
The Educator’s fifth annual Innovative Schools list has revealed the schools at the cutting edge of change and innovation in Australia. The volume and quality of the entries received made compiling this list an arduous, but exciting, task.
The inspirational programs and initiatives showcased in the report prove that quality teaching is alive and well in Australian schools.
It should be noted that the report only offers a small snapshot of the ground-breaking work being done in these schools to improve the educational outcomes and wellbeing of Australia’s young people.
So, we were named as 1 of 44 Australian Schools, making the most profound and exciting impact in K-12 education today.
Background Information:
Director Educational Leadership Temora Network, Carolynne Merchant, encouraged us to put forward our Neoteric Innovative Learning Environment Project, for this award, as it had achieved outstanding impact on the Learning Culture of our school and improved impact on the academic growth of our students.
The Neoteric Innovative Learning Environment (NILE) Project was developed initially for Stage 3 students to ensure they engaged in their learning which had been identified as an area of concern by our educators.
We decided we had to do something different to support and engage these students to ensure they became lifelong learners. We took a Team approach with two teachers, a Student Learning Support Office and Mentor working across double classroom space. The learning environment would build on the existing flexible seating model with addition of areas focused on explicit teaching, independent learning, Master classes for explicit teaching which will include; Point of Need, Reteach and Extension. All areas support opportunities for adaptive approaches for independent, pair and share, one to one and small groups.
The Project was implemented in 2019 to ensure it had positive impact on student learning outcomes growth. Subsequently, it will be introduced across other stages across the school in 2020.
Prior to across school implementation of other stages staff have been involved in Learning Walks in the Stage 3 space, observations and immersion teaching as well as professional dialogue and development about how the space operates. The project will then be shared across our region and our school could be the demonstration model school and support for other schools wishing to implement this project.
Base line data was captured to track the impact of this project. We have developed an Action Plan of implementation and Professional Learning to support the project
We strive for every student to be engaged and challenged to continue to learn in this Neotreic Innovative Learning Environment. The flexible learning space is a student focused approach for our teaching. Students are able to identify the spaces they prefer to work in through targeted questioning. They are self-reflective about their learning and have opportunities to self-assess, make choices about their learning and engage in project based learning activities.
Through this project at EA Southee Public School we strive to provide our students an education system that reduces the impact of disadvantage in our low socio-economic community and ensure these young people in our care have the best opportunity to learn, grow and be safe in a positive culture of learning for the future.
