From the Head of Learning and Teaching
Spotlight on Professional Practice
Professional learning of staff is a key lever for school improvement, and it is a significant focus in the 2025-2027 Strategic Plan. At the time of writing, we are recruiting a Director of Professional Practice who will spearhead our Professional Learning Teams and instructional coaching of teachers.
We’re thrilled to launch our Professional Learning Teams (PLTs) initiative, which is an exciting step forward in our mission to provide the best possible education for MLC School girls. At its core, this initiative is about ensuring every girl in our school thrives, academically, socially, and emotionally, through evidence-informed, girl-centred teaching practices. Backed by insights from leading educational research, our initiative recognises that girls excel in environments where:
- Relationships and collaboration are central to learning
- Confidence is nurtured through encouragement, not perfectionism
- Learning feels purposeful, creative, and connected to the real world
Our PLTs bring together teachers across subjects to collaboratively explore what works best for girls, drawing on research, classroom evidence, and each other’s expertise. These teams engage in:
- Disciplined inquiry into teaching practices
- Experimentation with innovative strategies
- Sharing successes and learning from challenges
This week in the Senior School, teachers engaged in collegial professional learning workshops about strategies to foster active engagement in classrooms. According to Stanislas Dehaene, learning requires attention, active engagement, feedback and consolidation.
You can read about some of the highly engaging, evidence-informed workshops facilitated by our teachers below:
Tim Curry, Head of Department – English: Socratic Circles and Spider Web Discussions- Promoting student agency and thinking in structured discussions
Alisha Vigna, Teacher – Drama: Unlocking the Magic of the ADHD Brain – Active Learning for Students with ADHD in Year 7 – Year 10
Schools can be difficult places for young women with ADHD and one study suggested that students with ADHD receive up to five times more corrective feedback than their peers. This can lead to a decrease in self-esteem and ultimately disengagement in the classroom. This need not be the case. The ADHD mind is magical… If we know how to unlock its huge potential. This workshop focused on key strategies to not only engage students with ADHD, but to instil a love of learning and a chance to experience success in the classroom.
David O’Donohue, Teacher – English: What has Shakespeare ever done for us? How to activate prior learning and engage students through making thinking visible in a relevant and relatable way!
Dave O’Donohue demonstrated how to engage students with that perennial writer/offender on every English course; the Bard, William Shakespeare! Many students find this writer difficult, but Dave used a Harvard University technique combined with communicating his own ideas about relevance and the universal appeal of Shakespeare – yes, even to teenagers, to convince his audience of the enduring value of the playwright.
Did you know that ‘Macbeth’ is not (only!) about ambition and regicide? From a more humanist perspective, it’s about a loving couple who have suffered an unimaginable grief and then the loss of communication leading to the tragic breakdown of a once happy relationship? Our girls are very interested in relationship dynamics!
The teachers left with some new ideas and pedagogical tools for their toolbox… and perhaps even a new appreciation for and engagement with ‘… that old, dead white guy…!’
Joseph Pfeffer, Teacher – English: Complex Grammar for a Complex World: Developing Students’ Syntax for Expressing More Complex Relationships (Stages 4 and 5)
Complex Grammar for a Complex World: Developing Students’ Syntax for A More Active Expression of Knowledge. It was about transforming writing tasks in the classroom from a passive act of parroting, to an active space for thinking and contributing. In it, we experimented with replacing static questions with active prompts, which allow for student agency and are self-differentiating; and we discussed some syntactical options by which students can succinctly load detail into their sentences.
Bridget Kovats, Teacher – English: Differentiation of Writing for Stage 4 students
In Differentiation of Writing, teachers participated in one of several tiered writing activities from a student’s perspective. Each teacher was ‘grouped’ according to their ability level and engaged with a differentiated writing challenge. This was followed by a collaborative reflection on how tiered instruction models can meet the diverse student needs in our classrooms. The activity was designed to engage teachers with ensuring active engagement by meeting students where they are at, working to their ability level and understanding.
Marianna Carlino, Director of eLearning: Making thinking visible. Engage your students like never before and boost their critical thinking skills. It will encouraging active participation and reflection for more effective learning.
During the session, staff engaged in visible thinking routines like Chalk Talk, 3-2-1 Bridge, and Compass Points to explore their practical applications in the classroom. These activities fostered collaborative learning and critical thinking, providing educators with hands-on experience in facilitating student engagement. Participants left with valuable insights on integrating these routines to enhance classroom discussions and student understanding.
Amy Kirk, Teacher: Using a community of inquiry to stimulate deep thinking
Andrew Simos, IB Sports Science Consultant: Using warm-ups to activate learning
Danielle Rodrigues, Head of Department – Human Society and It’s Environment (HSIE): The 360 classroom: interval training to foster critical thinking and visible learning. Full class participation? Check! Student accountability? Check! Problem solving on the go? Check!
We look forward to keeping you updated on the progress and impact of this work, as we continue to evolve our practices in ways that best serve our girls.
Teachers as Researchers
As part of our Strategic Plan 2025–2027, we are striving to strengthen the research culture at MLC School. We won’t be just implementing research, we will be contributing to educational research. A number of our talented MLC School staff are already engaged in further study in a range of different areas relevant to the education of girls.
Congratulations to Linda Chui who has been selected to represent MLC School in the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools Global Action Research Conference. The focus for the 2025/2026 cohort is ‘Navigating the AI Frontier in Girls’ Schools.’ Linda will attend a conference in Philadelphia in June 2025 and she will present her paper in Toronto in 2026. Toby Duncan was the 2024/2025 representative. Toby’s research focused on peer-to-peer discussion in mathematics learning, aiming to build conceptual understanding and positive self-perception as mathematicians within the constraints of a prescriptive syllabus. We are delighted to have both Linda and Toby as research ambassadors for the School.
Congratulations also to Marianna Carlino, Director of eLearning, who has had a paper accepted for the AISNSW Digital Directions Conference. Marianna will share MLC School’s innovative approaches to integration of AI in teaching and learning, highlighting the School’s commitment to being at the forefront of the integration of technology in education.
I look forward to sharing some stories from our teacher-researchers in subsequent newsletters.
Staffing News
It is with mixed emotions that I share the news that Belinda Merrick, our Senior School Learning Enrichment Coordinator, has decided to resign from her position at MLC School to take up a position at Danebank School.
Belinda has been a deeply valued member of our School community, known and respected across Junior School and Senior School for her unwavering commitment to student learning and wellbeing. Her expertise, warmth, and genuine care have made a lasting impact on students, staff, and families alike.
We are incredibly grateful for the many contributions Belinda has made during her time with us and we wish her every success and happiness at her new school.
– Melissa McMahon
Head of Learning and Teaching
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