Following some preliminary work last year, our teachers further developed their understanding of SOLO Taxonomy during our Teacher Only Day on 26 January.

Your children may have been talking about SOLO Taxonomy at home, so below is some brief information to guide your understanding. They might have mentioned some of the SOLO levels or talked about the hand signals and symbols that are being introduced at school. 

What is SOLO Taxonomy?

SOLO is a model of learning. The acronym stands for Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes. This model of learning was developed by university academics, Biggs and Collis in the 1950s after researching samples of students’ thinking in many different subjects and across many different levels.

The SOLO model makes the learning outcomes of an activity, unit, or programme clear to students and teachers. It can be used for both knowledge-based and performance-based learning.

SOLO levels, symbols and hand signals

How we have begun using SOLO at Westburn Te Kura O Hereora

This term our students and teachers are using SOLO rubrics to assess ball skills in physical education, such as throwing and catching, hitting a ball with a bat, or fielding during game play. In Week 10 this term, the physical education rubric will be shared with you on Hero. It will show both your child’s self-assessment of their ball skills and also the teacher's assessment.