Overview

When we first meet our families on tour, one term we use frequently is ‘Templetonising’. This means how our students are educated and rounded into successful Templeton students. This process begins during Prep Transition and continues until the end of Year 6. Everything in our school is structured in a specifically designed way, from our school motto right through to our lesson plans. The diagram below shows the overall structure of how our school operates, and how we successfully ‘Templetonise’ our students.

Curriculum Framework

Our Curriculum Framework is based on the understanding that students learn best by being engaged and active in their learning. Our philosophy of providing our students with a broad and well-balanced educational experience ensures that each student can explore and release their individual talents. This philosophy is supported by our extensive range of extra curricula offerings. Specialist classes in Chinese, Visual Arts, Performing Arts, ICT and Physical Education, ensure that all Templeton students can learn in varied ways. Through these opportunities, our teachers aim to create experiences that inspire students to learn and to continually challenge their personal best.

Believe, Think and Do

At Templeton, we have a clear direction for our school moving forward, particularly in our teaching pedagogy. Our basic philosophy of explicit teaching of Literacy and Numeracy has never wavered, but underpinning this focus is a carefully constructed pedagogy and curriculum framework, all stemming from what we BELIEVE (Pride in Performance) what we THINK (Values and Skills) and what we DO (Student Profile):

The Templeton Pedagogy

Our staff implement the Templeton Pedagogy with a focus on maximizing student learning. They know their role, understand their role and perform their role, regardless of level or experience. Young teachers are mentored by our experienced Management and Leadership Team in the Templeton way of planning and teaching. Teachers know what to teach, and how to teach it through professional reading, professional learning teams and professional development. They perform their role by effectively teaching every individual student in their care.

The Three Pillars

The Three Pillars of our school pedagogy are Literacy, Numeracy and Inquiry. We believe in direct, explicit teacher instruction in Literacy and Numeracy, with an increasing focus on Inquiry as students progress through the school. All students receive the 5-5-5 model in Literacy and Numeracy; five lessons in Reading, Writing and Numeracy. Additionally, Library lessons act as a sixth Reading lesson for all students P-6. We invest heavily in teacher aides and student support in the junior school, with a focus on establishing a strong foundation in Literacy and Numeracy for students in years P-2.

 Instructional Model

Informed by the Victorian Curriculum, our Instructional Model is based on The Three Pillars. Our Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) meet weekly to analyse student data, identify student, group and cohort point of need, and plan lessons for The Three Pillars.

Our lessons are highly structured, with a clear Learning Intention, Success Criteria, tuning in and explicit instruction. Teachers monitor student progress with formative and summative assessment and anecdotal notes. Teacher and student reflection concludes each lesson, followed by assessment, feedback and Victorian Curriculum Reporting in June and December.

 Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)

The 10 HITS are a part of the repertoire of effective strategies that teachers can apply to the wide variety of learning needs students present with each day. HITS have emerged from the findings of tens of thousands of studies on what has worked in classrooms across Australia and the world. Although HITS are highly effective strategies for increasing student learning they do not provide a complete framework for professional practice. Instead, HITS form part of the full set of instructional practices that contribute to a comprehensive pedagogical model for teaching.

 Peer Observation

Our staff are continually refining their pedagogy through regular PLC Meetings, Data Analysis and Planning. Additionally, each team completes Peer Observation to deliver and receive feedback on their performance. Peer Observation is timetabled weekly, with a focus on specific areas of our instructional model, depending on point of need for both staff and students. PLCs receive a report at the end of their Peer Observation to highlight areas of success and areas to improve their practice, both as a team and individual teachers. Below is an example of a Peer Observation Report for our Year 6 team.

Bringing our practice together is our Inquiry program. Inquiry inspires curiosity and creativity while facilitating student agency and voice. It connects our curriculum by providing context and purpose for our direct and explicit teaching pedagogy. Our Inquiry program is based around six concepts; Self and Relationships, Place and Time, Systems and Communities, Expressing Ourselves, The Natural World and Sustaining the Planet. Each year, students explore these units around different focus questions, decided by PLCs. Each unit focuses on a Value and two Student Profile attributes, with each of the skills interwoven into the learning tasks. This creates a spiral of learning from Prep to Year 6, with Templeton students starting secondary school with a well-rounded educational experience from Templeton. 

Learning Skills

Learning skills follow the spiral process that develops well-rounded learners. Through Inquiry, Templeton students ‘learn how to learn’, developing the following skills over each unit of work. These skills are assessed through the criteria listed on the charts below, and reported to in June and December. Click on each Learning Skills Chart for the criteria of skills at each year level. 

Inquiry Planning

Included below is an example of a Year 6 Inquiry Planner, with arrows to show how everything links together. Our planners incorporate the School Values, Student Profile and Learning Skills. The Key Inquiry Question is linked to elaborations taken directly from the Victorian Curriculum 2.0. At the bottom of each planner are links to each Specialist area. The Specialist staff match their programs to the Inquiry focus in each year level across the school. Our six Inquiry Focus Areas, Inquiry Reporting Areas and Units are outlined further below.

The Year Level Tabs below provide a full outline of Inquiry at every Year Level P-6 at Templeton. Click on your child’s Year Level to view their planner. 

The School Improvement Team (SIT) builds teacher and leadership capacity and drives a culture of learning at the school. The SIT forms an integral part of the leadership structure of a school, undertaking the crucial role of developing, overseeing, and evaluating the effectiveness and impact of the Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) each year. It has responsibility for leading the strategic planning process, providing clear and achievable goals and targets. The team comprises representatives from across the school and has a shared understanding of the role the SIT plays in supporting, driving, and monitoring improvement. The SIT supports the school leadership team to build teacher and leadership capacity and strengthens the culture of learning at the school; the school review process underlines this responsibility.

SITs support the school leadership team throughout the school review with their deep understanding of the progress made against the AIP. The SIT actively engages and focuses the school and its community in a shared purpose for improvement through their dedication to improving student outcomes. Members of the SIT may be called upon to assist in the preparation of the pre-review self-evaluation (PRSE). They may for example:

• be called to lead or support staff in the collection and analysis of data and evidence
• request collection of student responses and data or lead student, staff, or parent forums.

Following the school review, the SIT leads the development of the new School Strategic Plan. They do this with the school community, assisting in the creation of clear and achievable goals and selection of targets. These goals and targets are operationalised each year through the AIP, for which the SIT is responsible.

All students at Templeton are assigned a House, named after one of four Australian Sports Legends. Throughout the week, students are awarded House Points for good behaviour, academic achievements and sport. Every Friday at assembly, our House Captains announce the winning House for the week. Points are accumulated throughout the year, with the winning House awarded the House Trophy. Our House Captains are elected every year from Grade 6. These students lead their House in all sporting events at the school.