Learning

At Georges River College Hurstville Campus, we are committed to ensuring every student makes strong progress in their learning. Our teaching practices are informed by evidence, strengthened through partnerships with educational experts and supported by a consistent whole-school approach.

We provide a balance of explicit teaching, targeted support and extension opportunities so that every student can achieve their personal best.

Our teachers work together to understand each student’s learning needs, monitor their progress and provide the support or extension needed for success. Through regular assessment, feedback and goal setting, students are encouraged to reflect on their growth and take ownership of their learning.

We are proud that our value-added results are among the highest in NSW, demonstrating the strong progress students make during their time at Georges River College Hurstville Campus.

Teaching & learning at our school

Literacy in Subject Areas (LISA)

At Georges River College Hurstville Campus, literacy is everyone's responsibility. In partnership with Dr Trish Weekes, we have implemented Literacy in Subject Areas (LISA) as a whole-school approach to strengthening reading and writing across Years 7–10.

LISA is an evidence-based approach underpinned by Systemic Functional Linguistics and the Literacy Teaching and Learning Cycle. It recognises that every subject has its own language and literacy demands, and these need to be explicitly taught.

Through the Literacy Teaching and Learning Cycle, teachers:

build students' knowledge and understanding before introducing complex reading and writing tasks;
unpack high-quality examples so students understand what successful work looks like;
explicitly teach the vocabulary, language and structures required in each subject;
model thinking and writing processes;
construct responses with students, providing guidance and feedback; and
gradually reduce support as students become more confident and independent.

This means literacy is taught across the curriculum, not only in English. Students learn how to explain evidence in Science, construct arguments in History, interpret information in Geography and communicate mathematical reasoning in Mathematics.

LISA has strengthened our whole-school culture of explicit teaching, high expectations and consistent classroom practice. This work is reflected in our strong student growth and writing outcomes, demonstrating the impact of explicitly teaching students the language they need to succeed across the curriculum.

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Building assessment capable learners

At Georges River College Hurstville Campus, every student is known as a learner and every student’s progress matters. We work with internationally recognised educator and researcher Dr Lyn Sharratt through the Clarity Framework, an evidence-informed approach to strengthening teaching, assessment and student achievement. Teachers use evidence of learning to understand where students are, what they need to learn next, and when they need additional support or greater challenge.

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The Assessment Waterfall - making learning visible

The Assessment Waterfall brings together the key elements of effective assessment so that students understand what they are learning, what success looks like, how they are progressing and what they need to do next.

Rather than seeing assessment as something that happens only at the end of a unit, assessment is integrated throughout teaching and learning.

This includes:

Learning intentions – making it clear to students what they are learning and why the learning is important.
Success criteria – helping students understand what successful learning looks like and what they need to demonstrate.
Descriptive feedback – providing timely and specific feedback that helps students understand their progress and identify their next steps.
Peer assessment – students learning to use success criteria to provide constructive feedback to one another and deepen their understanding of quality work.
Self-assessment – students reflecting on their own work against clear success criteria and identifying their strengths and areas for improvement.
Goal setting – students using feedback and evidence of their learning to set meaningful goals and identify what they need to do next.

Learning Walks and Talks – the five questions

Through Learning Walks and Talks, school leaders and teachers visit classrooms and speak with students about their learning.

Students are encouraged to confidently answer five important questions aligned with the Assessment Waterfall:

What are you learning?
How are you going?
How do you know?
How can you improve?
Where do you go for help?

These questions help us see learning through the eyes of our students and develop confident, reflective and independent learners who understand and take greater ownership of their progress.

Case management and Data Walls – putting faces to the data

Our case management approach and Data Walls help us look beyond whole-class results and focus on individual students.

Teachers work collaboratively to examine student work, assessment information and progress over time. They identify students who may require additional support, intervention or greater challenge and determine the most appropriate teaching response.

For us, data is never simply a collection of numbers. Every piece of data represents a student, and every student has a learning story.

Recognised practice – supporting schools across NSW

Our work has been recognised by the NSW Department of Education and internationally through Dr Lyn Sharratt's work in school improvement. As a lighthouse school, we share our practice with schools across Metropolitan South and beyond, and our work is included in Dr Sharratt's publication Precision-in-Practice: The Voices of Evidence-Proven System and School Improvement.

These opportunities allow us to learn from others, share effective practice and bring new learning back to our classrooms to improve outcomes for students.

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High Potential and Gifted Education

At Georges River College Hurstville Campus, we recognise that high potential and gifted students require appropriate challenge and extension to continue to grow.

Our HPGE streamed class offers a targeted learning environment where teachers deliver challenging, differentiated learning. Students engage in higher-order thinking, inquiry, problem-solving, collaborative tasks, and extended projects alongside peers who extend their thinking. This approach keeps high-potential students engaged, nurtures their strengths, and supports their academic growth.

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Supporting different learning needs

Students learn in different ways and at different rates. Our Learning and Support Team works with teachers and wellbeing staff to identify individual needs and provide the right support.

This may include classroom adjustments, targeted literacy and numeracy support, small-group or individual intervention, and programs such as MacqLit, Reading Renaissance, Maths Pathway, Education Perfect and our Homework Centre.

Our goal is simple: every student receives the support they need to progress and succeed.

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What students learn

Students engage with a broad and balanced NSW curriculum that develops essential skills, nurtures creative thinking, and prepares them for success in life beyond school.

Our subjects

English
Mathematics
Science
History and Georgraphy (HSIE)
Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE)
Music
Languages
Commerce
Work Education
Technology (7-8)
Industrial Technology Timber
Industrial Technology Engineering
Computing Technology
Agricultural Technology
Food Technology
Visual Arts
Photography
Physical Activity and Sports Studies (PASS)

Explore how we teach the NSW curriculum through key learning areas.

Special Religious Education (SRE)

At our school, students can take part in special religious education (SRE) classes. These classes are delivered by approved providers.

When enrolling your child, you’ll be able to choose an option from the approved providers offered at our school. Students not attending SRE or SEE are given supervised alternative meaningful activities.

At our school the following SRE classes are offered: