Jess McCarthy | Head Teacher of Teaching and Learning
Mosman High School

Jessica McCarthy is Head Teacher of Teaching and Learning at Mosman High School and a Visual Arts and STEM teacher. As well as teaching Visual Arts since 2005, Jess has taught Gifted and Talented students for 10 years and STEM for 7 years. She now leads these initiatives at her school. She has presented on numerous occasions at an array of conferences including Inspire Innovate Conferences, Unleash the Gifted Potential conferences, VADEA symposiums and internationally at ISTE and EdmodoCon about how 21st Century skills can engage students across the curriculum. Jess has been awarded the Ministers Award for Quality Teaching and has completed her Masters in Cross Disciplinary Art and Design. Jess has collaborated with teams within the Department of Education to write programs for career learning, photography, STEM and Visual Arts. Jess has a passion for teaching and trying new evidence-based approaches to learning. Jess has engaged students in Entrepreneurial Learning as well as driving the development and implementation of a "higher order thinking" course for Year 9 students. She is leading programming and professional learning at her school and helps teachers integrate project-based learning, future focused pedagogies, visible learning and differentiated curriculums into all faculties. Jess has been recognised as an innovative teacher who has used Virtual Reality, Project Based Learning and authentic audiences to leverage student engagement. Jess is a strong advocate for the role that creative thinking plays across the curriculum.