[Text on screen reads, 'We recognise the Ongoing Custodians of the lands and waterways where we work and live. We pay respect to Elders past and present as ongoing teachers of knowledge, songlines and stories. We strive to ensure every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learner in NSW achieves their potential through education.']

[Text on screen reads, 'Aboriginal nations and languages in NSW. Adapted from Aboriginal Languages and Nations in NSW and ACT © Reconciliation NSW'.]

[Screen shows a map of NSW which attempts to represent the language, social or nation groups of Aboriginal Australia. The map zooms to show the East Coast of NSW with a marker to show Sydney and the South Grafton school emblem appearing on Gumbaynggirr Country.]

[Text on screen reads, 'Schools across the state are implementing explicit teaching'. ]

Peter Hickey – Principal, South Grafton Public School

I actually really love working at South Grafton Public School. It provides me with an ever-evolving school of complexity, as it goes throughout the years. It's been a passion of my life, my whole education life. The consistently good results we get across everything is part of our school culture. That's an expectation that that's what will happen for any of these kids. The vision for New South Wales public education, which is obviously explicit teaching, is a key component of that.

Daniel Zacek – Deputy Principal, South Grafton Public School

It's the first time that we've probably delivered something K–6 that actually applies K–6 but also applies to all KLAs (Key Learning Areas).

Kayla Walters – Deputy Principal, South Grafton Public School

Learning intentions and success criteria was something we'd already done a lot of work on and was embedded into our teaching and learning. If you walked into any classroom and said to the students, what are you learning today? They could clearly articulate that. If you ask them, how do you know? They would refer to the success criteria so that was something that we worked really hard on.

[Screen shows teacher standing at a board pointing to the learning intentions and success criteria as the class watches on.]

Daniel

The further that we've delved into the explicit teaching resources, the more that we start to understand it's something universally that teachers can take straight back into their classrooms and use as a tool across a range of different lessons.

[Screen shows an image of the ‘Explicit teaching strategies’ graphic with small groups of teachers sitting at round tables engaging in professional learning in a school library.]

We were very keen to get into the feedback module. In terms of the feedback module, I think stages, with the support of what we've done from a professional learning perspective, are experimenting with sections in their program that might provide opportunities for differentiated feedback.

[Screen shows teacher sitting at a round desk with two students. The teacher is giving verbal feedback to the students on their cardboard rocket construction.]

Emily Ryan – Teacher, South Grafton Public School

I'm currently on Year 6. I've been really trying to make sure that I'm referring back to that learning intention success criteria when we're providing feedback, giving group feedback, peer feedback.

[Screen shows Emily giving feedback to a student, who is has written work on his mini whiteboard.]

If you are looking at your learning intention, so "We predict that our design has been well ..."

Student 1

Created.

Emily

Yeah, well created. Well planned to … you've got to 'to' something. To do what? So, you're missing the second part of your sentence there. I want you to finish that first sentence.

At the beginning, I probably wasn't getting around to as many students as I was hoping, but now that I've implemented a certain circulation pattern, I've been able to get to more students. I'm really trying to focus on making sure my feedback starts with a verb. It's to the point. No waffling and short, sharp sentence, what needs to happen, and then they know that they can improve on that.

"Our group predicted that our rocket will reach a height of 3 metres." You could change that to a 3.5 metres. "We think that the chemical reaction from the Aspro Clear tablet ..."

[Screen shows teacher giving feedback to different groups of students in the classroom.]

Student 2

And water.

Emily

" ... And water ..." will do what? So, you've got to finish that sentence.

Student 2

Yeah.

Emily

What's a better word for maybe? "... thrust our rocket ..."

Student 3

Probably.

Emily

Yeah.

As I'm walking around the room, if I'm going around to a few groups and I'm noticing a misconception and I've seen it a couple of times, I know that that's my time to give feedback to the whole class.

So, as I've circled around the room I've noticed a couple of things. Some people are not using the learning intention and success criteria in their prediction.

[Screen shows teacher standing at the board pointing to the learning intentions and success criteria.]

Bobby, do you have your first sentence still?

Student 1

Yeah.

Emily

Can you read it out for us?

Student 1

We predict that our design has been well planned.

Emily

Did that give us really any information in terms of how our force is used and how our rocket's launching? So, with the feedback that I gave you, can you tell us what you've added?

Student 1

We predict that our design has been well planned enough to thrust us enough power to launch as high as 2 metres.

[Screen shows student reading the response he has written on his mini whiteboard.]

Emily

That's better. So, you've finished off that sentence and you've tried to link it to the learning intention.

Daniel

I think timely feedback is something that we've generated some really good discussion about as well. So, knowing what feedback to give at what particular time of the learning. And as the modules suggest, in terms of if the learning is new and complex, the teachers are best off suited to give that feedback.

Emily

Think about the size of the engine compared to the size of the rocket. What could they improve? Yeah, so same design but half the size.

[Screen shows teacher holding a small rocket made of cardboard, sitting with a small group of students.]

All right guys, we are up to our rocket launching stages. Ellie's group, you're up.

[Screen shows a small cardboard rocket launched at the front of the classroom. The rockets lifts about 10cm off the ground and the class laughing.]

Daniel

There's been some really good modelling happen around that to make sure that the peer-to-peer feedback links directly to the learning intention success criteria.

Emily

So those are the things that we are going to try and word our feedback around.

[Screen shows teacher at the board, pointing to the learning intentions and success criteria.]

As their schema is more developed, the feedback can move into self-feedback or a bit of group or peer feedback.

[Screen shows students sitting in small groups at tables giving each other peer-to-peer feedback on their rocket designs and constructions.]

You have received three pieces of feedback from the groups around the room. What was one piece of feedback that you were given to improve your rocket?

[Screen shows teacher standing at the front of the classroom asking students questions.]

Daniel

I think for staff to actually see that we're all moving together as well has been really powerful. We've also spent a lot of time talking about cognitive load and student schema as well, in the sense that if we're providing feedback, the importance of the routines, not only within your own class but also across stages as well.

Bronte Winmill –Teacher, South Grafton Public School

I'm currently on Year 2. We have been trying in our classroom for the students to recognise their feedback and be able to apply it in increasing their recognition and understanding of what feedback looks like.

[Screen shows teacher sitting next to a student, pointing to the student’s work and giving teacher feedback.]

Why is feedback important? And everyone's going be thinking of an answer. What do you think? Lacey, why is feedback important?

[Screen shows students sitting on the floor in rows and teacher standing at front of the room asking students questions.]

From engaging in this explicit teaching professional learning and as a beginning teacher, I've noticed enhanced motivation for all students to one, want to receive feedback, seek further opportunities to how they can improve their work and have that improved responsibility and accountability to actually apply it.

What should you then go and do with that feedback?

Student 3

Go apply it.

[Screen shows students sitting on the floor in rows, teacher stands at front of the room, in front of the students.]

Kayla

If you walked into the classrooms, teachers would be giving considerable amounts of feedback during the whole lesson.

[Screen shows teacher sitting next to a student, giving feedback.]

And the next step for that was just making sure students were able to name that, identify that and apply that, which I think they're on track to doing.

[Screen shows teacher standing at the board next to a student. Teachers points and gives feedback to the mathematics equation student has written.]

We've been really strategic in going quite slow and doing it well and making sure that what we're implementing is consistent, no matter what room you walk into.

Peter

Explicit teaching, with that management of the classroom, is basically what our kids will flourish with. And that's why we've embraced it a hundred percent obviously since the journey's begun at the beginning of the year.

[End of transcript]

The department acknowledges and thanks teachers and leaders from South Grafton Public School for their participation in this video.