Jason Milner | Assistant Head of Junior School
Jason Milner has had 12 years of experience working in Primary Education. He has worked in a range of different school developing skills in classroom teaching, music, leadership, curriculum, agriculture, and technology. As an Apple Distinguished Educator, Jason has a passion for purposeful and innovative approaches to the integration of technology in learning. In his previous role as an integrator in the innovation and technology team, Jason’s focus was on utilising technology to enhance and reach learning outcomes, curriculum and assessment design, teacher professional learning, parent technology development and student and educator empowerment. Jason has joined THGS as the Assistant Head of Junior School and is excited to collaborate with staff, students and families to create lovers of learning.
Tamara Nahirny | Junior School Literacy Leader
Tamara Nahirny has been in education for over 20 years and brings to her role experience working in disadvantaged schools, mainstream classrooms, support classrooms and classrooms that cater for the needs of gifted and talented students. She has a passion for inclusive education that incorporates the latest research and technology to support the attainment of Deep Learning. Along with her qualifications in Education, Tamara also has a Commerce Marketing degree. She is excited about the changes that the new curriculum will bring and believes that with the use of rich literature with all areas of the curriculum students are provided with the chance to connect learning to real world context. Within her role as Head of 3-6 Tamara believes in the need to create a collaborative partnership between students, families and the community to ensure we are creating lifelong learners who are equipped to deal with the changing nature of our world.
Join Jason and Tamara for a three-part workshop designed and differentiated to assist both ‘beginners’ and ‘experienced’ technos!
Session Information
Please bring your laptop to these sessions
Each 1 hour course is NESA Elective PD.
Session 1 | Coding with micro:bit
In the Junior School, we are harnessing the power of micro:bit to enhance students' learning experiences in various ways. In this interactive session, we will delve into the world of micro:bit, exploring its functionality alongside the range kits and rovers we have at Hills Grammar. During this workshop you will learn to code micro:bit using block code as the students would be in the classroom.
Venue | Learning Lounge
Date | Term 1, Week 3A, Thursday 15 February
Time | 3.30pm - 4.30pm
Audience | K-6 Teachers
Session 2 | Using VR and AR technologies to boost student engagement
Come along and try out this technology! Using Co-spaces VR and AR (Tamara) Integrating virtual reality (VR) headsets into classrooms provides compelling advantages for subjects like English, History, Geography, and Science. The use of VR provides an immersive and engaging learning experience, capturing students' attention and encouraging active participation. It can be utilised to explore historical events, geographical landscapes, and complex scientific concepts in three dimensions, leading to better deep understanding and retention of knowledge. Incorporating this multisensory approach accommodates various learning styles, fosters critical thinking, allows for timely incursions, providing abstract concepts to be tangible and exciting. The technology's interactivity boosts motivation and language skills, benefitting subjects like English. While ensuring appropriate content and supervision is essential, VR stands as a powerful tool to augment education by bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and real-world understanding. By merging innovative technology with traditional teaching methods, educators can create a dynamic and enriching learning environment that sparks curiosity and deepens understanding.
Venue | Learning Lounge
Date | Term 1, Week 8B, Thursday 21 March
Time | 3.30pm - 4.30pm
Audience | K-6 Teachers
Session 3 | Coding with CoSpaces
In this workshop, we will be delving into the exciting world of coding with CoSpaces. Throughout this hands-on journey, participants will learn about what is possible with CoSpaces by explore its myriad applications within our educational setting at Hills Grammar. This course will not only provide valuable insights into how CoSpaces can be used in the classroom but will also teach you the fundamentals of coding within this platform. Staff will learn through experience.
Venue | Learning Lounge
Date | Term 1, Week 10B, Thursday 4 April
Time | 3.30pm - 4.30pm
Audience | K-6 Teachers