Over the past 12 months, the Ivanhoe Girls’ Curriculum and Learning team has developed a bespoke, evidence-based K-12 Teaching and Learning Toolkit that outlines our teaching and learning vision and purpose, as well as eight principles of good teaching at our school.

This Toolkit is an important resource to help us articulate a shared understanding within our school community of our approach to teaching and learning, and what learning looks like in our school context. The Toolkit also provides the opportunity for our teachers to reflect on what we teach, why we teach it, and how we teach it, ensuring alignment with our School's Values and culture, while also equipping students with the knowledge, skills and 21st-century competencies needed for success in a rapidly evolving world.

Traditional measures of school success are typically focused on what students know about a subject, or what they can do in high-stakes exams under time pressure. But to thrive in our modern world, students need to be able to demonstrate much more than that.

Students must be collaborative, build and sustain connections, act ethically, think critically, be entrepreneurial, and be reflective. While measures like the ATAR remain important and relevant, simply ranking students by a single number sadly fails to capture their full range of rich and varied strengths, and the depth of their learning experience.

Our Purpose
At Ivanhoe Girls’, we foster a culture of thinking and learning that equips our students with the essential knowledge and complex competencies needed to thrive in a rapidly changing world. We acknowledge and value that learning extends beyond the classroom and understand that learning is underpinned by meaningful relationships. Engaging, varied lessons connected to real-life experiences ignite students’ passions and curiosity, supporting a strength-based approach in which every student can experience personal growth and success.

Our Vision
Our vision for teaching and learning at Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School is to create an active classroom culture that nurtures deep thinking, student agency, collaboration, reflection and critical thinking. We recognise that learning must be purposeful and authentic. We are committed to a differentiated and inclusive learning environment and hold high expectations for every student in our care. Our teachers are experts in knowledge, curriculum design and pedagogical practices, serving as effective communicators and facilitators who model and build strong, positive and respectful relationships with and among our students.

We look forward to using our Teaching and Learning Toolkit to further shape our approach to education, particularly as we continue to design and develop our new Years 7 to 10 empowerED learning program.

Ms Catherine Spurritt
Director of Learning and Innovation