Our programs will take your literacy and numeracy teaching knowledge, skills and practice to the next level, and our alumni agree.
What teachers value about our programs
Hear from our teachers who encourage you to participate:
The program has wholeheartedly changed my teaching practice; everything that I do now is as a result of the Orbis learning when I am teaching literacy. I think it’s something all teachers need to do, what you gain is invaluable!
– Caitlin Taylor, Heathfield High School.
Through the Orbis program I was able to engage with relevant research to identify the importance of oral language in the early years as a precursor to comprehension. As a result, I designed and implemented a daily, explicit oral language program. The results showed significant improvement and were extremely positive, which will increase student achievement and engagement well into the future.
– Christina Munro, O’Sullivan Beach Primary School.
The Orbis learning really makes you think, am I doing this the best way I can, how can I change my practice to be more effective? If you like to be challenged about how to make your teaching even better, Orbis is for you.
– Lesley Peters, Grange Primary School.
The opportunity to undertake a project at Orbis gives us scope to continue our learning and contribute to our schools, our students and the wider academic community. This is taking professional learning to the next level and will ensure that the course can contribute to improvement in our schools, as the projects are linked to our school’s Site Improvement Plan.
– English teacher at Woodville High School.
Take the plunge and be brave! What you get out of the Orbis professional learning is beneficial for your career, your self-development and your students’ learning.
– Claire McLachlan, Marryatville Primary School.
I wish I could have done this program 5 years ago when I started teaching – to understand working with SSOs, working with families and at system levels. What is being delivered lives up to the pitch of world-class, university level teaching and learning.
– Kaitlyn Hawking, Riverdale Primary School.
Transcript
Hayley, high school teacher, Loxton High School: For me to be looking at and improving my own teaching practice actually gives me a lot of enthusiasm and I think that that's really exciting.
Trent, primary school teacher, The Heights School: All of the sessions being quite hands-on it's given me a lot to take straight back into the classroom and work with the kids. I guess it's fortunate to sort of be able to work with colleagues from just different sites, you don't usually get that opportunity and when you do it might just be for the one day whereas knowing that you're working as part of a team and it's ongoing it's really beneficial.
Hayley: Every teacher has a lot to offer in these conversations so I think it's great that there are a group of teachers and already there's some wonderful conversation and some really interesting perspectives.
Trent: It felt quite personal as well because it wasn't a huge group of people it wasn't like you're sitting in a lecture theatre and just getting spoken to. It is really hands-on, there's a lot of group work and you get that opportunity to work with different people where even those off-the-cuff discussions around how they do things that their school.
Hayley: The facilitators and the leaders are genuinely interested in our answers and I think that they are watching and absorbing and taking everything on board.
Trent: You just thought about something or you've tried it in your class then you can easily contact any of the tutors and they'll get back to you. The difference with Orbis is that it's ongoing, there's a lot of things to take away from the course in particular the overall project.
Hayley: It's exciting to be on the ground level of a really innovative and effective literacy program.
Trent: Yeah that really has allowed me to then go okay well I value this, this is what I've learnt from the project and I can take that into my class, I can take that and bring that to other staff as well as I saw the changes in my students. I couldn't have anticipated it going any better.
Hayley: Orbis is designed to be that central place certainly for literacy and numeracy development but I'm sure that there's lots more potential as the as the programs are all out.
Trent: It's basically the subject that I wish I actually got in uni, I wish I had that hands-on experience, most definitely recommend it to other staff.
What leaders value about our programs
We know that education is a team effort. That’s why we encourage teachers and leaders to enrol together. This way they can support each other to create real change.
Hear the key takeaways for school leaders completing our programs:
The Orbis Instructional Leadership program has got me thinking sharper about how we measure the impact on student learning. It's given me clarity around what I am trying to do, confidence in what specific things I need to do, and a renewed excitement.
– Nigel Gill, Principal, The Heights School.
The intensive training in the Instructional Leadership program to date has been the most challenging opportunity my team has ever embarked on to look at our work closely and identify how we impact on teachers work, and ultimately student outcomes. The team at Orbis and the University of Melbourne are inspirational, challenging and focussed on supporting our work towards world-class!
– Byron Stuut, Principal, Adelaide North Special School.
Not only did I like the powerful messages in the Orbis Thought Leadership episode, but it was short, specific and so useful. Ive shared this with my leadership team too. I look forward to future online sessions.
– Grant Small, Principal, Grange Primary School
The Orbis Instructional Leadership learning has not been an add on, it has strengthened and supported our School Improvement Planning through data inquiry, pedagogy and action research. Very relevant in our improvement journey.
– Belinda Krollig, Principal, Waikerie Primary School
Transcript
Nigel Gill, Principal of The Heights School: By completing the program I'm going to be exposed to the up-to-date approaches and strategies around educational leadership and help target more deliberately the work of my leadership team, people's roles, the work of teachers and connecting teachers work to our overall site improvement plan.
Jennie-Marie Gorman, Principal Sheidow Park School: For me the opportunity to be part of the instructional leadership course was a great opportunity as a beginning principal because it's a chance to see if what I'm doing is what I need to be doing. I feel like it's making me think deeper and that's the thing that I knew I needed help with. So things like data I was okay with data but not great but I feel like now I've got some skills to be able to actually dig deeper and actually think about what I'm doing and how I'm using that.
Nigel Gill: Probably the greatest influence has been on the development of the improvement plan for 2020 in terms of identifying what key things are we going to go after. What key things are we going to be asking our teachers to get better at? This program has got me thinking sharper about how we measure the impact of student learning so we do a lot of things in schools but this program has really been challenging in terms of what's making the most difference and how do we know. But to be coming to these days over a period of six to nine months and constantly revisiting your improvement work at school and then having homework and challenge projects that we can connect to the improvement work has helped drive it.
Jennie-Marie Gorman: I always knew that the principal had a lot of influence in what was going on in school but now it's me and I'm the one that's doing that. It's made me have to be more strategic and especially knowing the direction that I wanted the school to go in so those sort of things have been brought home to me during the program.
Nigel Gill: Its greatest leverage will be through the leadership team's ability to deliver on our SIP, on our improvement outcomes. We were looking for something to get every teacher involved in because if we can all work together on something then we can make the most difference. This program provided the space and the thinking and the range of high yield strategies that can make a difference to kids learning and therefore we chose feedback.
Jennie-Marie Gorman: My key takeaway for the program is that I've got lots to learn and that it's okay to challenge myself. That actually being out of my comfort zone and learning new things and that you're, you're always a life-long learner so that's been really good for me.
Nigel Gill: The value for this Orbis program for me is that it has given me clarity around what I'm trying to do, confidence in what specific things to do, and renewed excitement.