Learning & Teaching

St Martin de Porres is a student centred school.  We value our students and want them to develop confidence, have a high self-esteem and be responsible for their own learning. We encourage this through the building of authentic and collaborative relationships, contemporary approaches to teaching and learning and open communication between students, families and staff.

We ensure a personalised approach to our student's learning based on their strengths, challenges, interests, talents, experiences and background.  We do this to encourage our students to become independent life-long learners who think creatively, have a love for learning and become responsible citizens.

The Learning and Teaching programs at St Martin de Porres are guided by the Victorian Curriculum.

Learning & Teaching Statement

At St Martin de Porres we believe in meeting the needs of all students and educators through a developmental and contemporary approach to learning and teaching.

We commit to working collaboratively to ensure learning is personalised and explicit by reflecting on our practice and using evidence to plan purposeful experiences.

We ensure learning and teaching evolves from learners' needs and interests and promotes critical and creative thinking.

We aspire to educate the whole child and develop lifelong learners who embrace diversity in an ever-changing world.

Visible learning

St Martin de Porres is a Visible Learning school.

Learning is front and centre for staff and students. In 2018 our school embarked on a supported and strategic three year journey in partnership with Corwin Visible learning Plus.  Called ‘Visible Learning’ this model is the result of the research undertaken by Professor John Hattie to understand what provides the most success in learning. It is evidence based relying on over 68,000 studies and 25 million students.

Visible Learners are students who can:

• Articulate what they are learning

• Explain the next steps in their learning

• Set learning goals

• See errors as opportunities for further learning

• Know what to do when they are stuck

• Seek feedback

We aim to implement evidence based, high impact learning and teaching strategies based on to the most important characteristics of learning success.

Maximising learning opportunities by focussing on the that which makes the most difference  and ensuring learners can articulate what they are learning and why they are learning what they are learning. 

We aim to ensure learners know what is needed in a task to make them successful. This is the reason we teach using learning intentions and success criteria.

Families can support their child/ren in this joint enterprise by asking them:

• What did you learn at school today? (rather than what did you do?)

• How did you learn?

• Were you successful - how do you know?

• What do need to do/know next?

SMDP Learning Powers: Building learning power is all about helping students learn how to learn. It involves building and developing skills and habits of mind so that they are better prepared as lifelong learners. 

At St Martin's our six learning powers are:

• Resilience - Resilient learners bounce back when challenges arise and learn from mistakes. They are flexible, look ahead, never give up, learn, keep going, are determined, have courage, think long term, are prepared for the ups and downs and focus on what is within their control.

• Motivation - Motivated learners take responsibility for learning.  They are positive, passionate, focus on their strengths, set goals, make plans, use supports, are organised, make good choices, have energy and manage distractions.

• Collaboration - Collaborative learners listen, converse and work together with others to achieve a goal. They Listen, encourage others, includes others, respect differences, show patience, take turns, try their hardest, share tasks, communicates, shows sportspersonship, is a team player, contribute fairly to the group and value others’ opinions.

• Creativity - Creative learners approach learning using a variety of strategies. They use your imagination, are spontaneous, innovative, explore the unknown, find multiple solutions to a question, problem or challenge, think differently, are curious, think outside the box, are interested in the world, ask useful questions and see things from other points of view.

• Reflection - Reflective learners think about what worked well and how learning can be improved. They stay calm, consider others, listen to different options, learn from mistakes, find ways to be better, see mistakes as opportunities, link new learning to what they already know, identify, explain, and address their strengths and weaknesses, plan to make sure learning is clear, ask why take on board feedback, set their own learning goals, do extra reading or finding out to learn more, describe their learning, and ask themselves: What? So What? Now What?

• Curiosity - Curious learners are eager to explore the unknown. They explore, ask questions, seek new learning experiences, love learning, apply out-of-the-box thinking, investigate, are patient, read, search for answers, have lots of interests, are passionate about their learning, ask why, what if and how, are positive, tinker with materials, ideas, concepts, are playful, have a sense of humour, are open minded, work hard and are successful, listen to others and what they have to say, see problems as puzzles waiting to be solved.