Learning together: Working Memory

Throughout 2026, an area of focus in our own ongoing development as educators is an appreciation of the role that working memory plays in learning. In our teaching teams and in wider conversations across the school, we will be consistently raising working memory as a key topic for discussion. For example, when making plans for our pastoral program, we will be reflecting on the knowledge that working memory is strengthened within relationships of trust and care. When addressing the challenge of student mobile phone use, we will be noting that environmental elements that divide our attention also diminish our working memory. And when trialing retrieval practices in our classrooms as part of our own action-research, we will do so with the confidence that information retrieval has benefits for both long term memory and working memory. This year-long conversation about appreciating the role that working memory plays in learning is one that we invite all families to take part in with us. As a starting point, you can find a helpful diagram depicting the relationships between environmental distractions and working memory via this link.

Senior School Learning Culture

As our Year 10s are beginning to experience, life in our Senior School entails a cultural shift, as our students take on more fully the attributes of young adulthood. There are many joys to be experienced within this shift, such as the changing dynamic of teacher-student relationships, and the greater access to choice and decision making in the direction of their studies.

Continuing to build a culture of learning that has a spirit of independence and initiative at its heart is the shared work of students, staff and families. Students who make a point of arriving at class on time, actively contributing to class activities and proactively seeking teacher feedback and advice position themselves well to experience success in their learning.

In the coming weeks of this term, we will be trialling some new approaches with our Year 12 students, in order to affirm their capacity for independence and responsibility. Beginning from the week following Year 12 Retreat, Year 12 classes where a teacher is absent for a lesson will not be staffed with a casual relief teacher. Instead, these classes will be provided with work for completion which can be undertaken independently in their ordinary classroom space. Year 12 VCE VM classes that have an absent teacher will continue to be staffed, due to the practical nature of these classes.

We will also begin to look at new arrangements for study periods that fall in a Period 1 or a Period 4, with Year 12 students to be given the option to conduct their study periods off site if they choose to. Further details about this item will be shared with Year 12 students and families before any arrangements are finalised.