SpiralsofInquiryCaseStudySackvilleStreetPublicSchool

SCHOOLCONTEXTSackville Street Public School provides acomprehensive and balanced curriculum ofacademic, sporting and cultural experiences.The school actively promotes its aim of'Opportunities for All' to include students,staff, parent-volunteers and communityhelpers,inaccordancewithourschoolmotto,a 'SharingandCaring'environment.Thehighexpectations of thewhole school communityarereflectedinthewelcomingenvironment,thequalityofstudentwelfareprogramsand academic achievement. Sackville Street, located in the South Western SydneyRegion,hasstrongtraditionsofqualityacademic,culturalandsocialprograms,whichcontinuetobeactivelysupportedbystudents,staffandparents.Thestaffismadeupofacoreofexperiencedteacherswhohavecontributedmanyyearsofservicetotheschool. Recent appointments have included several early-career and temporaryteachers who have displayed sound curriculum knowledge and effective studentmanagementstrategies.DEVELOPINGAHUNCHOurschoolhasseenquiteajourneyofchangeoverthepastfewyears.Executivestaffchanges, a transient school population and large number of staff in relievingexecutiverolesarejustafewofthesignificantchangestoourschoolcommunity.Theschoolhasaproudtraditionofplacingstudentsatthecentre.Ourschoolcultureandethos represents students as our core business. The development of school wideexpectations that teachers will enter data using PLAN for all aspects and for allgrades,ledtoaschoolwideshifttowardsformativeassessmentstrategiesbeingusedacrosstheboard.ItwaswidelyagreedthataneedfordeeperunderstandingandskilldevelopmentinFormativeAssessmentpracticeswasneededifanysignificantshiftinpedagogywastooccur.Students initiallyhad individual learninggoals in thewholeschoolfocusareasofWritingandReadingwhichthenprogressedtoteachershavingakeeninterestinwhatisreallygoingonforourlearnersinotheraspectsofliteracyandnumeracy.A fewmembersof staffhad limitedexperience inSpiralsof InquiryandthedecisionwasmadetolookmorecloselyatthestrategiesdevelopedbyKaserandHalbert.

PUBLIC

SCANNINGANDCHECKINGExecutive staff participated in a short professionallearning session to develop an understanding of theScanning and Checking stages of the Spiral. They thenattended a variety of schools and professional learningsessions to build their capacity in facilitating spiralssessions. The decision was unanimous that we shouldthrow ourselves in and ‘have a go’ at spirals. As anexecutive team, data and whole school practices wereinvestigatedandthedecisionwasmadetohaveawholeschool spirals focus. Based on PLAN data, stages thendecideonanareathattheywantedtoinvestigateduringspiralssessions.Teamsmeeteveryfortnight for2hoursduringschoolhours.

FOCUSSINGWhen we began with Spirals wehad one focus area school-wide.However, when the stages metand discussed their students andthedatagatheredtothatpoint,itwas quickly established that eachstage needed to have a morefocused area for their spirals.Each of the stage groups decidedonafocusareaanddevelopedanaction plan which drives thefortnightlysessions.

NEWLEARNINGOur school shows a significant commitment to professionallearninginSpirals.Allstaffattendedthe2dayNOIISymposiumatHomebushintheschoolholidays.Staffattendedandpresentedatteach meets and ignite sessions. Collective efficacy has been apleasingoutcomeofourschoolprofessionallearningculture.Staffareprovidedwithupdatedliteratureandallprocessesaroundthespiral are based on the literature and research of the creators oftheinitiative,JudyHalbertandLindaKaser.CHECKING–HAVEWEMADEENOUGHOFADIFFERENCE?

Teachers share their spirals journeywith each other during collaboration sessionsandonSchoolDevelopmentDaysthroughshortshowcasepresentationsbyallteammembers.Allstaffparticipateinthesessionsandpresentthroughouttheshowcase.Dataisdiscussedatallstaffinglevelsandacollectivedecisionismadeastowhetherwehavemadeenoughofadifference.Iftheanswerisno,discussionsfocusarounddifferent strategies to effect the desired change.Stages experiment with different strategies, suchas maths groups, numeracy vocabulary learningplansorwholestagewritingfocuses.TAKINGACTION–WHERETONEXTOurstaffhasbeeninvolvedinmultipleschoolvisitswithinourcommunityofschools.Wehavehadthebenefitofseeingspiralsinaction,collaboratingwithourcolleaguesandutilisingtheresourcestheyhavecreatedfortheirspirals.SackvilleStreetteamshavealsobeen involved inprofessional learningdays runbyNOIINSW.Our teamshave hosted other schoolswho visited for a‘fly on the wall’ session. The visitingeducators watched a spiral from start tofinishviaavideo link.Thenextsteps forourschool will involve more connection withotherspiralschoolsandacontinuationofourschool focuses of Formative Assessment,GrowthMindsetsandSpirals.Early in2018anumberofourstaffwillbevisitingschoolsinBritish Columbia, Canada to further developour knowledge and skills of the Spirals ofInquiryprocess.