Head of Learning & Teaching- 28 March
Learning & Teaching-Jon Tracey
Focused Learning Cycles in Primary
At St Laurence’s College Primary, we adhere to the Australian Curriculum guidelines regarding the delivery of content and skills across Learning Areas. Additionally, the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) articulates recommended time allocations for each Learning Area as a starting point for decisions about timetabling.
English and Mathematics are both taught daily in Year Five and Six. However, in other Learning Areas, we condense learning experiences into shorter cycles across the term. This enables our boys to engage with content in richer, deeper, and more meaningful ways.
These Focused Learning Cycles (FLCs) operate for approximately three weeks a term, in the Learning Areas of Science, Religion, and Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS). For example, if the current FLC is for Science, students would engage in English, Mathematics and Science lessons (along with their timetabled Specialist classes each day) for that approximate three-week period. If they were to then move into a HASS FLC, students would engage in English, Mathematics and HASS lessons for the next three-week period, and so forth.
We have found that the FLC approach better supports boys with time management, as they’re not juggling multiple assessment deadlines at the end of term. It also enables our boys to engage in deeper conceptual understanding.
Jon Tracey
Head of Learning and Teaching (Primary)