What you get

Qualified and experienced teachers

Each student will have their own teacher in a small (10-12 student) online classroom. Teachers will make weekly online content including lesson videos and online games and quizzes; they will provide investigation and projects for both individuals and small groups and run weekly Zoom classes and group challenges. Teachers will make ongoing assessments and provide an end-of-term report in collaboration with students and parents.

Lesson Materials 

The Pearson Science textbook, (including the e-book and interactive online components) are sent out to all students on enrolment and are included in the term cost. Pearson are the largest Science textbook publishers in the world. The Pearson Science textbook is used by the most exclusive online schools in England and America because of the up to date content and the quality of production. Guthrie Online Learning is affiliated with Pearson and the textbook is sent out directly from Pearson Australia on enrolment.

Lesson videos 

Your child’s teacher will provide 2 lesson videos every week of the 10 week term. The videos will cover the textbook content for the week and add explanations, examples, and context to the material. Every teacher will have their own style and add their own personality to the videos to make them interesting and engaging. The video lessons can include activities to do at home and will provide student choice, challenges, investigations and opportunities for them to go deep into their interest areas.  

Online Quizzes 

The online quiz has 2 main objectives. Firstly, so the teacher can see if the student has engaged with the lesson videos and assigned activities and questions. Secondly as a place for students to fill out their weekly self–reflection which encourages them to think about the best way they learn and assist them to plan their weekly learning activities.  

The quiz is a numerical evaluation of the student’s ability to memorise the lesson material. It is not a gauge of the student’s ability to synthesise the knowledge or use the new understanding to make connections and create something new. Parents can opt out of the numerical evaluation and chose a quiz which allows the teacher to gauge engagement without the score feature.  

The Zoom Classroom 

Video conferencing is an unnatural environment for communication so when we introduce students to the virtual classroom at the beginning of every term, we keep the activities short, challenging and fun. In fact, the zoom classes in first week of term are designed to create an atmosphere of trust by playing games which rely on team work, logical thinking and creativity. 

Certain personalities will thrive in the zoom environment and others will find it difficult, so we are constantly improving the way we facilitate communication and collaboration between our students. We have found that once students are familiar with the routines and expectations of the zoom classroom they relax and enjoy the social opportunities and the accelerated learning, which occurs when students collaborate positively and naturally. 

Taking Ownership of Learning 

Guthrie Online Learning focuses on progression towards student ownership of learning. This starts with student self-reflection on what they know already and what they want to know more about; this recognition gives them a handle on what they have learned and the realisation that they (not teacher or parents) are the one who benefit from learning. We don’t expect all students to get to the point of ownership of learning straight away – especially if school/peers/life have taken away the love of learning – but, in time, everyone can get to this point.