Media Response Regarding Redesigning Learning for 2024

Statement in response to media regarding Chevalier College redesigning learning for 2024

In 2024, Chevalier College plans to implement a new and innovative educational approach that empowers students and redefines learning. Future Facing will change the way Chevalier students learn, creating a contemporary educational experience with Knowledge, Capabilities and Self-development at its core. By using time more effectively to maximise engagement and personal growth, students connect more deeply with their learning, acquiring complex capabilities and greater self-awareness to help them flourish in a rapidly changing world.

Recent media has inaccurately reported on the initiatives being implemented at Chevalier College in 2024. Please see below for corrections and further information.

1. Incorrect: Chevalier is running a 4-day week for Years 10-12. Correction:

Chevalier is not moving to a four-day week for any year group.

Students in Years 10-12 will be invited to learn from home on some Mondays and only if they meet certain criteria.

All students in Years 7-12 will be required to complete a detailed and thorough micro-credential course which takes approximately 3-4 hours to complete. Only students in Years 10-12 who complete the course will have the opportunity to learn from home on some Mondays, meaning those students need to earn the right to do so.

The first step will be the attainment of the micro-credential.

The second step will be that their parents attend a workshop on-site at the College to understand how learning from home will work, before they give permission. These sessions will also include information for parents about keeping students safe online in the home environment.

The third step will be an assessment by the parents, guided by the College, of the space in which the student will be working at home.

The fourth step will be parents granting permission, through a formal process, with a clear understanding of how the College will facilitate and direct learning.

2. Reporting that parents are ‘outraged’ by this proposal.

The College has conducted extensive consultation with staff, students and parents around this proposal since March of this year.

Whilst we have overwhelming support from the majority of our parents who have engaged in our consultation processes, we are aware that a small number of our parents are not happy with these developments. In response to this, we can provide the below facts:

• Four families have indicated the reason for leaving the College at the end of this year is because they believe we will run a 4-day week and they have concerns around flipped learning.
• Furthermore, our enrolments will increase from this year to next. With enquiry levels as they are, we are at capacity for three of our year groups from Years 7 – 10 with a waiting list for two of those. Our Stage 6 classes of Year 11 and Year 12 will be slightly increased in 2024 as compared to 2023.

We acknowledge that this change is not going to sit comfortably with everyone. However, the suggestion that many parents are outraged is incorrect. There is a small group, around 4 that we are aware of, who have been vocal with their concerns and have approached the media with incorrect information.

3. Incorrect reporting that there has been a lack of consultation with parents.

Consultation began in March 2023, where we dared to ask the question, “What could education look like at Chev 3-5 years from now?” Our parents and community were heavily engaged in this conversation, and from there we hosted parent forums on:

• 15 March 2023 – What schooling at Chevalier might look like into the future
• 4 May 2023 – Best Use of Time
• 21 June 2023 – 2024 Timetable Proposal
• 19 September 2023 – Best Use of Time – Flipped Learning (online)
• 19 October 2023 – Launch of the Flipped Learning Micro-credential
• 15 November 2023 – Year 12, 2024

4. Why does Chevalier think this is a good idea?

The current education model was designed for an industrial world, with key features emphasising standardisation and uniformity to produce a large number of workers with the same basic skills. This included core subjects with few connections between them, and little development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

The world has changed, and education needs to move with it. This requires a more flexible, adaptable and personalised approach to education, one that emphasises creativity, collaboration and lifelong learning. We need to broaden the measures of success and allow time for:

• consistent face-to-face teaching with fewer interruptions
• more interest electives = student choice
• collaborative projects = real-world learning
• reliable and valid capabilities assessment = required post-school world
• students to understand themselves better:
  • Strengths, Interests and Motivations = Purpose
  • Embedded Wellbeing time = weekly sequenced learning for Years 7-12
  • assist with the development of a Learner Profile
  • allow space and place for students to develop competencies, particularly Learner Agency.

Chevalier strongly believes this new iteration of teaching and learning will better prepare our young people for their life beyond school and support them to flourish, and answer three critical questions:

Who am I?

What can I do?

What problems do I want to solve?

By responding and engaging with these challenging questions, questions that will never be on an examination paper, they will better understand their purpose and how they can find their place in the world.

5. What are the benefits of some students learning from home on some Mondays?

Students who are invited to work from home on Mondays will be self-directing work set by a teacher. The focus of activities set during this time will consolidate learning from the previous week and plan for the week ahead.

Face-to-face learning (F2FL) with a teacher in a classroom is the single biggest determining factor that contributes to student learning growth. It is fundamental to educational achievement. Our strong commitment to minimise disruption during Tuesday to Friday supports this stance and also ensures greater continuity of learning from Tuesday to Friday.

For Years 7, 8 and 9, normal face to face classes will take place each Monday with a minimum amount of flipped learning set on a Monday.

Flipped learning will focus on two key aspects of learning. Firstly, it will allow time for students to slow down and consolidate recent concepts of learning. Secondly, it will be designated time for students to prepare for the week ahead by engaging in ‘surface level’ tasks, so that there is more time for deeper learning with a teacher when they engage in F2FL each Tuesday to Friday. This approach will be enhanced by a learning cycle that allows for better preparedness for lessons, with fewer interruptions and disruptions throughout the week.

A key piece of this initiative is the significant reduction in disruption. Most Mondays there will be flipped learning, and on other Mondays, we will plan for events, retreats, and externally-run programs that currently ‘stop learning’ or take students out of the classroom. Therefore, there will be very few disruptions during Tuesday – Friday learning.

We are firm in the belief that when students are ready (evidenced by achieving the micro-credential) they should be given the space to truly exercise learner agency. One aspect of self-regulation is choosing where one learns. That means allowing students the choice to participate in self-regulated flipped learning from home, but only if they are in Years 10-12 and have completed the flipped learning micro-credential, and have parent permission after parents have attended an in-school workshop. This is how they will better develop learner agency that will serve well in their post-school lives.

Information will be updated further in the weeks ahead as we confirm 2024 arrangements before the end of this year.

Media contact: Simone Wilson – wilsons@chevalier.nsw.edu.au – 0404 008 046