There goes the saying 'practice makes perfect' but teachers at Sylvania High School prefer to inspire students by reminding them that 'practice makes permanent'.
It's a message that has proven to be successful in the making.
The Department of Education analysed schools that showed the most improvement in their 2023 HSC results. Sylvania High is among the state's most improved.
The Department used top two and top three band HSC data from the Centre of Education Statistics and Evaluation (CESE). Top two bands include bands 5 and 6 for HSC standard courses and E3 and E4 for extension courses, while top three bands include bands 4-6 (standard) and E2-E4 (extension).
Teachers across all subjects focus on traditional explicit teaching and other targeted writing strategies. It begins from Year 7-10, to ensure senior students are well prepared for the academic rigours of writing in the HSC.
Principal Renee Holz says the average course mark for HSC in the school is the second highest it's been in 14 years. She said teaching students how to write better, went beyond what was learnt in a typical English classroom.
"We analyse our HSC results every year. At the end of the HSC all the teachers unpack the data, look at specific achievement and put a narrative to it. That narrative, is that we have tailored writing in different key learning areas across not just English, but History and other subjects, that leads to the success in the HSC," Ms Holz said.
Teachers have focused on comprehension - getting students to grasp what they need to do before they put pen to paper.
"We have had a significant shift in the past two years, particularly in mathematics, in reading comprehension," Ms Holz said. "Students are given a paragraph of writing and then they have to apply their mathematics skills. The maths faculty have specifically been teaching comprehension so students can understand what they're been asked."
She said teachers, who collaborated with each other across each syllabus, worked on breaking down large and sometimes overwhelming chunks of content - for students' benefit.
"Teachers unpack the question - find verbs, and make links between content, and put it into dot point," Ms Holz said. "Students also practice writing by using memory retrieval - extracting information under what would be exam pressure."
Although the results are pleasing, Ms Holz said the school placed just as much emphasis on students doing well individually. "It's about growth and improvement, not just attainment,' she said.
