Truly Excellent Teachers

In last week’s Blue Ribbon, I wrote about the Girls School Advantage and the ongoing excellence achieved by St Catherine’s.  

When writing that, St Catherine’s demonstrates excellence not just in academic achievement but across our range of programs, the question which comes to my mind is, “What is it about St Catherine’s that makes us an excellent school?”  

While there are a number of ways I could answer this question, one of the essential characteristics of our School, is the truly outstanding teachers. 

Over the last few weeks, I have been conducting enrolment interviews for prospective students and their parents. I always ask the parents, “Why do you want to come to St Catherine’s?” The responses are quite universal. They always comment on our culture and the way we care for the girls. Our School is routinely characterised as kind, generous, trusting, honest and exuding a gentle strength. One comment that particularly caught my attention this week was that we provide a “gentle carriage of the girls.”  That is a really interesting thing to say, and I think it sums up what we do. 

While parents routinely talk about our ‘kind and caring’ culture, there is always a comment made about the reputation we have for having truly excellent teachers. 

Quality teaching is an essential component of a high performing school. The Australian Council for Education Research (ACER) produced a document called the National School Improvement Tool (NSIT). The NSIT brings together findings from international research into the practices of highly effective schools and school leaders. The NSIT does not describe everything that effective schools do but focuses on those practices that are most directly related to school-wide improvements, and thus outcomes for students. The NSIT consists of nine inter-related domains. Domain 5 in the NSIT is An Expert Teaching Team. An expert teaching Team is described as;  

“The school has found ways to build a school-wide, professional team of highly able teachers, including teachers who take an active leadership role beyond the classroom. Strong procedures are in place to encourage a school-wide, shared responsibility for student learning and success, and to encourage the development of a culture of continuous professional improvement that includes classroom-based learning, mentoring and coaching arrangements.” 

At St Catherine’s we undertake continuous professional improvement. Under the leadership of Miss Kristy Forrest, our Head of Professional Practice, all teachers engage in a staff review process. Each teacher develops a reflective practice portfolio which is shared in conjunction with, and supported by, a Professional Learning Team comprised of their colleagues. The Reflective Practice Portfolio is designed to be linked to the everyday practice of teaching and is focused on two primary initiatives: 

• developing the thinking; and 
• improving the learning competencies and dispositions of our students (in line with the St Catherine’s Learning Framework). 

It is no accident we have excellent teachers at St Catherine’s. There is a deliberate and purposeful method we have in developing and supporting teachers to provide excellent classroom practice. We have a uniquely warm and collaborative culture amongst our staff. The renowned educationalist John Hattie says, “When a team of individuals share the belief that through their unified efforts, they can overcome challenges and produce intended results, groups are more effective.”   

We have a unified team of teachers at St Catherine’s. We are an excellent school as a result of careful planning and execution. We also happen to have a wonderful culture which enables our girls to thrive and flourish.