STAR learning - Inquiry and thinking
Aims are to:
- Enhance children's thinking by learning how they learn and knowing what they need to do to improve.
- Enable a deeper level of learning.
- Provide children with skills and a life long structure for learning.
These key skills are taught through all areas of the curriculum, in particular reading, writing, and topic. Learning using thinking skills and inquiry processes are based on SOLO taxonomy (a progression of thinking) and incorporate the key competencies of the national curriculum. Relevant concepts and contexts are used to make learning meaningful.
Star learning
This model has been developed to give children a useful structure to use when inquiring. The Star Learning process consists of five stages. These include: questioning, researching, analysing, presenting, and reflecting. These stages are not necessarily followed in order as the children many need to revisit previous stages depending on the direction of their learning.
2013 at Stanley Bay
This year the overarching theme running across the school is Energy.
This theme is broken down into a different focus for each term.
Term one: Energy around us
Term two: Energy around our planet
Term three: Energy and change
Term four: Making energy work for us
The focus for each term is the same across the school, despite what year level the children are in. It is however up to each year level to choose how they will organise their studies around their focus.
The purpose of this is to encourage greater sharing across the school. Children from different year levels have the opportunity to share what they are doing through our buddy class system and shared assemblies thus developing a greater sense of community within our school.