1st place Oxley - 419 points
2nd place Flynn's - 387 points
3rd place Shelley - 266 points
4th place Lighthouse - 240 points
Dear families
Welcome back to school for Term 3. During the school holidays our staff group undertook some preparation for this term’s learning. This included two days of formal professional learning focused on the implementation of our teaching and learning approach: the Student Formation Framework. One of the goals of this framework is to build the skills and character of our students so that they are highly capable as students and become great adults. We call the acquisition of these capabilities ‘Deep Learning’ and our approach to this ‘Designing for Deep Learning’. Our teaching and ancillary staff have been growing in their understanding about how to best effect this in their classrooms.
This Professional learning has been ongoing over the year: in our staff meetings and with professional input from the Association of Independent Schools (NSW). It is very exciting seeing our staff model an approach to learning that we want to see grow in our students. The best teachers are those who love to learn; our teachers really love to learn!
What does this mean for our students? Well, as they start to engage in developing competencies in critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity, character, and citizenship we would expect them to improve in their engagement in learning, to improve in their understanding and thinking and expression of ideas and to improve in how they understand the problems of the world and different ways to solve these issues. In short, they will become excellent as adults.
We are similarly focused on ensuring that they are well-prepared for the public examinations that are part of the New South Wales educational landscape. I am pleased with the direction that our teaching staff and students are facing regarding their education at the school.
Of course, at our school, we hold all of the above in its rightful place under the sovereignty of God. Our students are being taught to be highly capable students of Christian character ready to serve and enrich the community. Our teachers see the interconnected and holistic nature of student formation to include Christian faith and academic progress intertwined, after all our motto is ‘Faith and Knowledge’.
At home, my encouragement is to start asking your children about the competencies I’ve listed above (we call them ‘the 6Cs’). Ask about what they understand of them, it’s early days now, so please be understanding as they grow in their use of this language. And ask them about ‘One more thing’ they could do to improve in the Competency they are working on. Encourage them that learning with courage takes effort and that giving their best is all they have to do.
It is my expectation that the language surrounding Deep Learning will come to permeate our school learning culture and will help shape our shared desire that we provide excellent and authentic Christian education for our children and their families. Thank you for partnering with us in this.
I’m praying for a rich term of learning.
Matt Cohen
Principal
