St Catherine’s School has a long and proud commitment to students with learning difficulties. Perhaps it is time to share the rationale behind our Learning Plus program and the benefits it provides students.

A speech therapist and educational psychologist established the Educational Support Program some 10 years ago. The program’s name morphed into a more inclusive name, Learning Plus, in recent years. However, the focus on evidence-based programs have remained, albeit updated as new peer reviewed research becomes available. Apart from the focus on literacy skill development and addressing the needs of learners identified with a learning difficulty, Learning Plus also aims to provide an environment rich in rigour and tempered with educational and emotional support.

I was recently reminded of the growing groundswell of opinions regarding contemporary education in this challenging YouTube video, “What is school for?”. The current discourse in Australia and globally, emanates from the corporate, academic and political realms. It relates to concerns that today’s education is out of sync and out of step with what our students will need in a rapidly transforming world, once they enter the workforce. More pertinent to me is the growing student voices that echo their malcontent of the education they receive by disengaging, dropping out of school and tragically giving up on themselves. In 2000, Australia was at the top of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development ladder. In 2017, we have plummeted, well below many countries. What is at the core of this decline? How can we arrest it? Perhaps it is time to listen to our students. What do they want from their education?

With a focus primarily on “growing the individual”, Learning Plus lessons aim to provide essential life skills. The individual of tomorrow will require life skills, behaviours and emotional intelligence to enable them to forge their way in a world beyond the safe environment created at school. Therefore, in Learning Plus we focus on developing the strategies, learning behaviours and mental fortitude required for the rapidly evolving global world. One we see is changing before our very eyes almost on a daily basis!

In Learning Plus, our students need to feel they can achieve, and in my mind there is no question they can. Unfortunately, many enter Learning Plus with low self-esteem, both as individuals and as learners. Our first job is to change that perception. By generally having small classes, we have an opportunity to work 1:1 or in pairs. It provides time to discuss their concerns as learners. It is our role to reduce any negative or fixed thinking and build self-esteem, confidence and resilience. This is addressed by exploring the importance of impulse control and emotional health and consider strategies that will work for each student. Naturally, there is a strong focus on academia. The difference between Learning Plus and other classes is that we work together on the best strategies required that redress a specific learning challenge, by doing this we empower our students to recognise their part in accessing the curriculum.

This may entail, learning to use assistive technologies to record their thoughts in text, audiobooks to reduce the onerous task of reading copious amounts of texts or learning the strategies for effective organisation and study. Providing links to the curriculum in class and the strategies explored is vital for our students. When they see how the strategies taught link to their subjects and to life beyond school, it engages them more in the Learning Plus journey.

There is nothing more grounding however, than hearing from our students. It is only really then that we know if what we set out to achieve has, indeed, been accomplished. As we come to the close of the academic year, I put my Learning Intentions on the line and sought feedback from my students.

Here is a sample of what some of them had to say when asked the question, “What is Learning Plus for?”

 “I think that Learning Plus helps you to learn and helps you to raise your hand to ask a question in class and to feel a bit braver and more confident.”

 “I think Learning Plus is a fun and different way to learn. Learning plus gives us the skill and confidence to use in the classroom.”

 “I believe that Learning Plus is for me to strengthen my English and to widen my vocabulary. It is also for me to get more confident at reading, writing and backing myself.”

 “Learning Plus is to support us with all our subjects and all our spelling needs, it helps us with our organisation, concentration, editing our work and rereading what we have written and checking over it. It is not just for reading, spelling and writing it helps with everything…”

Perhaps the girls’ responses reflect a window into redressing the disconnect with School and learning. One thing is for sure St Catherine’s is doing all it can for the students who often are lost in the educational system.