Learning Walks in the Early Years

At Bulimba State School, Learning Walks play a vital role in strengthening our whole-school approach to teaching and learning. Learning walks is an opportunity for school leaders to visit classrooms to engage with students about their learning.

These visits are not about formal observations or assessments, but rather meaningful conversations with students that help us understand how well our learners can talk about their learning journey.

During a Learning Walk, students are asked five key questions:

1. What are you learning about and why?
2. How are you going?
3. How do you know?
4. What is your next step and how do you know this?
5. Where do you go for help with your goal?

These questions are designed to help students reflect on their current learning, track their progress, and articulate the strategies they use to achieve their goals. In responding, students refer to a range of classroom tools, including the learning wall, goals folder, bumped-up exemplars, and feedback from their teacher. These resources provide clear visual and verbal cues that support students to take ownership of their learning and understand what success looks like.

Here are some samples of student voice during our recent P-2 learning walks:

What are you learning about and why?

Prep - We are learning to talk to people about our experiences because you can't see inside your brain so if you tell them, they will know.

Year 1 - We are learning to give an opinion and give reasons so others can understand my thinking.

Year 2 - We are learning to express a preference for a place and give reasons so we can convince the audience to go there.

How are you going? How do you know?

Prep – I’m going good, because I have 4 green traffic lights in my goals folder.

Year 1 – I’m going good. I am good at saying what I like and I can give lots of details.

Year 2 – I’m going good. I'm adding noun groups to make my talk sound more interesting.

What is your next step and how do you know this?

Prep - I need to work on making my voice a bit louder and putting things in the right order. It's highlighted in my goals folder.

Year 1 - I need to work on sharing an opinion because it's in my goals folder and it's not ticked in my goals folder.

Year 2 – I need to work on giving reasons for my preference. It's coloured on my goals folder.

Where do you go for help with your goal?

Prep - The learning wall. It helps us know what we are going to do. It has ‘first’, ‘next’ and ‘then’. We have to work on the 1 star, 2 star and 3 star.  The sound buttons tell you a 1 star, 2 star or 3 star sentence.

Year 1 - I go to the word wall or the front board that tells us about opinions. That's my 3 star writing about my favourite sandwich.

Year 2 - I can use my goals folder, the teacher and the bump it up wall. The wall has a 3 star with the introduction, details, describes reasons and it has the conclusion. I can use this to help me with my work.

It’s always a joy to hear children reflect on their learning and articulate how they can be a successful learner in the classroom.

School Opinion Survey

The School Opinion Survey closes today – Friday 22 August. Your feedback plays a vital role in shaping future planning and ensuring our school continues to grow and improve. Every voice matters.

The suite of School Opinion Surveys is undertaken each year by the Department of Education to obtain opinions about our school from families, school staff and students.

The surveys will help identify what we are doing well, and understand where we can improve. The survey invitation has been emailed and is titled School Opinion Survey for parents and caregivers, 2025.

Each school family will receive one email invitation from the Department of Education to complete the Parent/Caregiver Survey. The survey is anonymous, and the results are not reported in ways that an individual’s response can be identified by the school.