Nurturing Engagement Through High Impact Teaching Strategies

As a Catholic school, we are called to educate the whole person — mind, heart, and spirit. Our mission is not only to impart knowledge but to foster curiosity, critical thinking, and a deep love for learning in every student. This commitment aligns beautifully with the use of High Impact Teaching Strategies (HITS), research-based approaches that promote student engagement and improve outcomes across diverse learning environments.

At the heart of these strategies is a simple but powerful truth: students learn best when they are active participants in their own learning. Whether it's through setting clear learning goals, using explicit instruction, or giving timely feedback, HITS encourages a dynamic classroom where students feel known, supported, and empowered.

Student engagement grows when learning is meaningful and connected to their lives. HITS helps teachers design learning that is both challenging and supportive, ensuring that all students, regardless of background or ability, feel they belong and can succeed.

In Term 1 this year, the Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong released and shared a very important document called the “Faith, Learning and Wellbeing Framework’. Here at Mount Carmel College, we use this document to further guide us to ensure all students have continual growth in faith and improvement in learning.

In classrooms across our school, we prioritise HITS in action and monitor authentic student engagement. As a staff, we continue to explore and refine these strategies, knowing that effective teaching is not just about delivering content, but about igniting hearts and minds.

If you are interested in finding out more about how this occurs in our classrooms, how we monitor student engagement and how our staff professional learning prioritises this, please come along to the upcoming P&F Meeting on Tuesday 19 August (Week 5).

Stay safe, keep well, go gently.

Ms Samantha Giles

Assistant Principal