The Mitchell and Murrindindi Network of Schools hosted its common curriculum day last month, giving educators a chance to improve teaching and learning outcomes for students.
The Network of Schools consists of 20 schools from across the Mitchell and Murrindindi shires and is designed to allow primary, secondary and specialist staff to work together to improve teaching, learning and wellbeing outcomes for their students.
The common curriculum day, hosted across Wallan Primary School, Wallan Secondary School and Kilmore Primary School, featured seven different presentations and was attended by more than 600 staff from all areas of education.
Kilmore Primary School principal Neil O’Sullivan, who is also Network of Schools chair, said the day was well received by all who attended.
“It’s meant that we’ve been able to get common messages and common learning happening across our 20 schools,” he said.
“We have been able to provide our 20 schools with some of the best educators in Australia and there’s a common message about strategies for improving the learning and wellbeing of our kids.”
Presentations covered topics including mathematics, literacy, leadership and culture, while representatives from Headpsace also attended to provide information on student wellbeing.
Mr O’Sullivan said the event was unique in the sense that it was one of the largest common curriculum events organised by any network of schools.
“The feedback around the day has been enormously positive, lots of our smaller schools have said that they were able to access presenters that were far beyond their normal scope,” he said.
“Our teaching and education support staff learned about mental health in school settings, they learned about evidence-based teaching in literacy and numeracy, as well as strategies for engaging higher achieving students.”
Another common curriculum day is planned for 2024, while the Network of Schools will continue to connect educators with schools across the two shires.