Waking up children to what they have inside them requires the cultivation of curiosity and boundless opportunities for students to joyously engage with what they are doing … to think about the how and the why and not be rushed to a final product or an answer straight away. Our teachers carefully engineer tasks, provide explicit instruction and opportunities for students to learn with, and from each other. Students are guided to critically evaluate their work by focusing on one aspect at a time and encouraged to apply feedback to produce a higher quality of work.

It is no surprise that this empowering begins with our youngest students in PreKinder. The welcoming, nurturing, captivating and inspiring environment encourages our students to wonder using their strengths which in turn fosters creativity, self-confidence and a ‘can do’ attitude.

The idea of ‘I can’t do this yet’ allows our PK to Year 6 students time to ponder, seek clarification, share their thinking with their teacher and peers, trial, and test their solutions. What they can achieve is dependent on what they are exposed to. When students are challenged, they are engaged and interested. They become better people and better learners because they own their learning and become a resource for others.  Exploring the possibilities and discovering something new, or another way of doing things, moves learning forward and connects learning. The evidence of learning is the motivator and helps build resilience and self-efficacy.

Peeking into any one of our classrooms you will notice a hub of activity. Students at their desks, on the floor, writing in their books, drawing on their whiteboards, and researching on their iPads. They may be working as a whole class, in small groups or individually. Work is documented orally, through art, music, in books, through photographs, on sticky notes and on glass just to name a few. It is not a linear process and there are many twists and turns that serve to consolidate and propel learning. The joy for us as educators is the growing confidence and the discerning eye of students who can critically evaluate their work against the criteria and offer suggestions for where to next. Students are making gains with every new task they undertake as they apply previous learning.

We are pleased to share with you some of our joyful moments from last term. We hope that these inspire conversations with your child/ren about how they are becoming better people and better learners.

Aristea Synesios
Head of Primary