How we teach
To create Amazing Learning experiences, we use an inquiry-based approach, which allows students to be actively involved in and responsible for their own learning. Inquiry allows each student’s understanding of the world to develop in a manner and at a rate that is unique to that learner and supports them to move from their current level of understanding to a new and deeper one through:
- experimenting with possibilities
- making connections between previous learning and current learning
- making predictions and acting purposefully to see what happens
- collecting data and reporting findings
- clarifying existing ideas and reappraising perceptions of events
- deepening understanding through the application of a concept
- building and testing theories
- researching and seeking information
- taking and defending a position
- solving problems in a variety of ways
How we assess
Assessment at Westlink identifies what students know, understand, and can do. The main purposes of assessment are to:
- Monitor student progress
- Determine what each student knows, understands and can do, both academically and in terms of the learner profile
- Provide feedback to students, parents and teachers
- Assist in planning future teaching and learning
Westlink uses two types of assessment, each of which has a specific purpose.
- Formative Assessment: This is known as Assessment to support learning and is embedded in the teaching and learning process. It occurs every day. Its purpose is to inform students and support them to become better learners. It also assists the teachers to plan the next stages of learning.
- Summative Assessment: This is the more traditional form of assessment as it informs students, parents and teachers of what a child, knows, understands and can do. Summative assessments may include formal end of semester tests, or quizzes, speeches and other tasks at the end of units of inquiry or work.
In addition, all students will undertake the MAP testing program each year to provide an external benchmark to measure student progress.
