At Willow Grove Primary School, our staff work collaboratively as a Professional Learning Community to ensure all students learn to high levels.
 
A Professional Learning Community (PLC) is a group of teachers who work together using an Inquiry Cycle to focus on a specific area of their teaching, to improve student outcomes.
 
An Inquiry Cycle involves our teachers meeting in teams on a weekly basis to address the following critical questions:
 

• What is it that we want our students to learn?
• How will we know if they have learned it?
• How will we respond if they don’t learn?
• How will we extend the learning for those who already know it?

These PLCs focus on Reading, Writing and Numeracy. We also have a strong working relationship with other rural schools in our area as a member of the Moe Small Schools Cluster.
Our strong focus on Literacy and Numeracy is shown through our commitment to deliver 5 hours of Reading and Writing and 6 hours of Numeracy each week. Our staff use the workshop model and the Gradual Release of Responsibility Instructional Framework to ensure a consistent approach to teaching and learning across the school.

We are also proud to offer MiniLit, a targeted reading intervention program designed predominately for Grade 1 students, as well as other students who need extra support to improve their reading. MiniLit stands for Meeting Initial Needs in Literacy and is delivered to small groups of students, no more than four at a time, for an hour a day, four times a week. It is based on the research and development of Professor Kevin Wheldall from Macquarie University. For more information on the MiniLit program visit: http://www.multilit.com/programs/minilit-program/ or watch the video below.