From the Assistant Principal
Culture embraces learning for students. Strong values, staff professional development and student-centric improvement practices create a collaborative culture. This begins with shared beliefs, values, and norms that shape interactions for learning relationships and decisions for positive student outcomes as well as quality teaching. In essence, the Mercy values of St Aloysius College along with the embedded practices of both learning and well-being.
To strengthen learning in our classrooms, from Term 1 Week 1 onwards, all lessons in the school are structured with a Do Now activity for the first 5-10 minutes, specifically for the impact of learning otherwise known as retrieval practice. Students are challenged to think hard, effortfully reconstruct knowledge, to strengthen memory. Retrieving information leads to better long-term retention than re-reading, highlighting or passive review. Furthermore, a common misconception is that regular quizzing may harm students' confidence or attitudes to learning. This view often arises when the low-stakes nature of retrieval practice is not well understood. Research has repeatedly shown that retrieval practice can support both learning and well-being. Retrieval practice is not simply a teaching technique to improve memory. When implemented thoughtfully and consistently, it can also reduce test anxiety, build resilience and boost student confidence. For teachers, this dual impact makes retrieval practice a powerful approach, supporting both learning and wellbeing (Clark, 2026; Gruenert & Whitaker, 2024; Liggett, 2024; Jones, 2026).
As a school, we emphasise the importance of the development of metacognition for student learning. This approach also promotes the importance of punctuality to lessons. Interestingly, 5 minutes of lateness to class everyday leads to 3 days of lost learning across a year. To extrapolate this further, 10 minutes per day equates to 6 days, 15 minutes per day equals 2 weeks whilst 30 minutes results in 19 days of lost learning per year. Furthermore, all classes at St Aloysius College, employ a seating plan that is teacher directed. This is a powerful instructional strategy that strengthens classroom culture and academic outcomes due to increased focus, self-regulation as well as purposeful student collaboration when the pedagogical approach dictates.
Chris Needle
Assistant Principal, Professional Culture