Cessnock High School blueprint for million-dollar teaching model

The University of Newcastle has announced $4.3 million in grant funding to NSW government schools in communities with the least access to socio-educational advantage through its new Thriving Schools project.

The project was formed after a four-year partnership between UON and Cessnock High, when school principal Peter Riley saw the opportunity.

"I reached out to the university [because] I was at a school previously where I'd seen quality teaching impact. It was a higher socio-educational school so I wanted to challenge our school. Will quality teaching work?," he said.

Focusing on quality teaching and quality relationships with students, he saw an immediate difference in student engagement and learning outcomes.

"We're very proud of where we've got to. There's always work to do but we are making a difference in our school," he said.

In 2023, Cessnock High School ranked first in the Hunter region and 11th overall in the state for their growth in NAPLAN results from Year 7 to 9.

HSC results also improved by more than 50 per cent in 2022, a result that was replicated in 2023.

Student attendance and engagement grew by 7 per cent - triple the average across the state. Positive behaviour referrals were up 130 per cent in 2023 while negative behaviours significantly decreased.

"I'm really, really proud. Every child we have is capable of learning and we can help them achieve," Mr Riley said.

Cessnock High School history teacher Kelsey Kisina said she had enjoyed implementing quality teaching strategies in her classroom and felt she was collaborating better with other faculties across the school.

"When I first came here I couldn't tell you what the science faculty or the maths faculty were doing, but now I can see quality teaching not just within my faculty but in other areas as well, and we're sharing ideas and strategies," she said.

She hoped that students understood the hard work teachers were doing to invest in them.

"All of the hard work we're doing here is trying to better their lives," she said.

Over the next three years schools receiving funding will form research partnerships with UON's Teachers and Teaching Research Centre (TTRC) centred on Quality Teaching Rounds (QTR) programs.

The project aims to enhance teaching quality, support teacher wellbeing, and build positive school cultures, ultimately to lift student academic outcomes and improve equity.

Led by Drew Miller, the Thriving Schools project, is funded by the Paul Ramsay Foundation (PRF) with support from the NSW Department of Education.

Dr Miller said a whole-school approach to QTR enabled schools to keep a clear focus on teaching and learning.

"The core business of teachers is teaching and learning. However, in these more complex schools, teachers' energies are often channelled in many directions which limits the time they have to focus on high-quality classroom practice," he said.

"Our research shows that supporting school leaders with tailored whole-school implementation of QTR to suit their needs and providing additional support to teachers undertaking the program, can have dramatic effects on student outcomes as well as improving behaviour, attendance, teacher retention and wellbeing."

TTRC director Laureate Professor Jenny Gore said research showed that QTR offered a powerful, low-cost, and effective approach to achieving educational reform ambitions.

"The broad, positive impacts of QTR make it uniquely appropriate for tackling the challenges of lifting outcomes and promoting both equity and excellence in Australian education," she said.

NSW Department of Education secretary Murat Dizdar said Thriving Schools supported the wider objectives of the Plan for NSW Public Education.

"We hope this partnership will help us gather evidence and develop resources for our teachers to build on explicit teaching strategies that motivate, engage and improve learning for our students," he said.