Volume 29 Issue 24 14 Aug 2020 24 Av 5780

Primary

Colleen Elkins – Gifted and Talented Co-ordinator K – 6

Year 5 class formation

As our Year 4 parents will know, the Year 5 Class formation for 2021 is underway.

As always, this time can bring with it some polarising emotions: from great excitement for some to disappointment and confusion for others.

We encourage you to have the conversation with your children that this is a snapshot of their time in education and that the school has sought to place students where they best fit, for their own development.

The ultimate goal when Year 5 classes are being formed is to ensure that students are placed with others at a similar ability level to them, at that point in time, in order to allow them to be successful learners.

When students are in this kind of learning environment, teachers are able to pitch the learning experiences at the Zone of Proximal Development of the child. The child is challenged to the point where they are reaching for new material that is unknown, yet within their grasp, allowing them to feel inspired to learn, to take on the challenge and consequently experience success.

If the level is beyond the Zone of Proximal Development of a child, they can become overwhelmed, decide that the task is too difficult for them and shut down; not having the confidence to attempt it. This tends to have a detrimental effect on the long-term academic self-image of a student, consequently affecting their progress.

To place a student with others to investigate content at the same level of complexity as them, creates the conditions for the student to be able to flourish.

All teachers are aware of the need to engage students, by piquing their curiosity, engaging them in the subject matter and then extending them however far they can go. This is achieved through the implementation of differentiation in all classes.

High expectations are set for all students and as such, no ‘ceiling’ is placed on any class. Differentiation occurs on an endless continuum and thus in whichever class a child is placed, their academic needs will be catered for and the very best achievement by each and every student is sought by the teachers.

Continual communication occurs between the Year 5 teachers and the Gifted & Talented stakeholders, so that the monitoring of students allows for adjustment of the curriculum where necessary.

We encourage all members of our school community to emphasise for students, that it is their personal best that we are after, and that is what makes people proud of them.