Care, commitment and curriculum

I feel the semester has kicked off bigger than the Olympics! We have had four very big weeks.
 
I know many have struggled with illness this term – and there have been so many of our community impacted by some very nasty bugs.  Thinking of you and wishing everyone the speediest of recoveries.
 
This week is National Science Week.  We will be running experiments and investigations over the course of this week to celebrate science.
 
Last Tuesday, we welcomed Jo Loiterton, our new Academy Director and Diploma Coordinator, to our community.  Jo (and Mark) are settling and there is an opportunity to listen to our International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme on Wednesday 21 August, after 5:30pm at SCU in TC1.  I would invite anyone interested in knowing more to come and say hi.  I know Jo is excited about meeting our community.  And moving into the IB DP is a big move for our startup.  With Jo’s expertise and experience, I know we will come to respect the IB’s depth, breadth and scope!!  I share with you below a conversation I was having with a teacher regarding the Diploma Programme DP (and the subject Global Politics GP):
 
“Caring is incorporated in the content of the GP course, and in IB pedagogy writ large (through ATLs and ATT). The descriptor in the Guide states that “We show empathy, compassion and respect. We have a commitment to service and we act to make a positive difference in the lives of others and in the world around us.”  In GP, students explore sensitive topics and learn about the variety and diversity of political experiences across time and place. Such a broad scope can encourage compassion and mutual understanding which are central to caring, global citizenship. The course includes voices that traditionally have not been heard in mainstream discourse. In terms of pedagogy, there is a focus on differentiation, contextualization, and collaborative activities to develop the ability to ‘listen to oneself and others’. CAS* connections provide opportunities for students to take positive and caring action in the local community. I do note, as with other IBDP courses, that a student can be successful on assessments without developing this attribute. That being said, the focus on ‘caring’ provides a worthwhile opportunity for teachers to promote compassion in their students.”
– Yvan Zebroff, Vancouver
*CAS is a core subject called Creativity, Activity, Service.
 
It highlights the network of thinking we are now connected with from our home in Lismore; and the common thread – Care – which feeds the growth of the IB pedagogy.
 

Care? Commitment?

 
But what is care?  Is care in the moment – or is there a professional care we must reserve for the child as an adult, as a teacher?  This care is not familial – but it is purposeful.  Living School’s raison d’etre is to grow good people to grow good future communities.  That means we have to care with high expectations.  We have to act responsibly for the individual as a good human and the system as a culture of quality.  Do we really care for what’s best – or what will placate the immediate? Do we tolerate or educate? 
 
And do we have a community that cares?  Caring is giving – that must mean before we can care we must have (or develop) empathy and open-mindedness. And there are different opportunities to give at Living School.  The benefits are not always immediate but look at what we hear when our parents join our Jabay kitchen with Anna and Mylee:
 

“ Volunteering a day @Jabay is about as pure a Living School Experience you can have without being a student. Anna runs the place more like a day club than a kitchen – funky beats, tasty treats and smiles for miles. Dad’s don’t hesitate, get in there now before your children think its uncool for you to be at  their school. I love it, so will you.”

– Saul (Maeva, Y3)

“Volunteering at Jabay is a delightful experience filled with laughter and connecting with the kids. Being a dad amongst all the cool mums adds a fun dynamic, brightening up both the kids’ and parents’ day.”

– David (Leon, Y3)

 
We really do need to build on our current opportunities for parents and the community to be involved in growing our culture.  We are the role models of what a ‘good’ community looks, sounds and feels like.  Our investment in time and support are fundamental.  I know not all can give owing to constraints but – if you can – please do.
 
Advocate and wholebeing support is a key foundation of our care – and we do care!  To this end, we are planning before we implement but we have a lot of support via Rob, Jake, Jo and a new advocate system in the Academy: all students nominated a teacher to be their small care-group advocate.  With Jo’s input, we will refine our support offering.

Tolerate or Educate?

A key concern for us – and all schools, governments and parents – is social media and mobile phone access.  As a community we have to unite around supporting our expectations.  Every ‘rule’ at Living School is based on a wisdom – and researched!
 
Mobile phone use concerns are steadily entering the media news cycle. And social media on connection and moral development – Hugh McKay interview.  And they are concerns backed with emerging data – just google to see.  And it is a global issue – DW report.  I respect a family’s right to set their parameters; but I also expect families to respect our parameters, too.  Please try not to communicate with your child while at school – it is happening widely in all schools, and the impact that has on a child is over-dependence, distraction and a knowing that parents support the student to ‘break’ the rules of school.  It also makes us over-anxious about our child.  I do know this – as a dad – but I keep coming back to something my late father-in-law stated once:
 
“a parent’s responsibility is to encourage your child to climb up and walk across the tightrope of life; and to be the net when they fall.” – David Moeller
 

Our phone policy is:

Students who have phones from Kindergarten to Y10 must hand in their phones IF they bring them to school.  We would love to encourage no phones be brought to school at all.  But that’s not realistic – so we base our parameters on trust.  And we do have a lot of our Academy students hand in their phones.  We are also pretty good on the whole – if you drop in over a break it is rare to see our students head down and death-scrolling.  Students in Years 11 and 12 MAY have their phones on them if used appropriately – but this is a privilege and can be revoked if inappropriate use disrupts our school-day – or our school reputation.

Curriculum

We have settled in with our teaching and learning programmes around Civilisation – six weeks goes by very quickly!  I love seeing the scope of offerings at Onland – and the new electives during the week.  The commitment of all of our teachers to offer these programmes every Friday is incredible and it is this effort that generates so exciting learning experiences.
We also have settled in with our teaching and learning programmes – six weeks goes by very quickly!  I love seeing the Middle School scope of offerings at Onland – and the new electives.  The commitment of Emma – and the long hours – are incredible and the new programme under development is really exciting.
 
What’s also exciting is our submission of the Brown and Jolly DA goes in next week.  Plans can be viewed here.  Hmmm… I think I said that last time!!  But this time, honest!!
 
NAPLAN letters are coming home this week.  There is much to say about NAPLAN but we won’t ignore some key markers – we can celebrate our upper Writing results; but we need to consider our Maths and grammar.  We have to be careful, though: we are not wanting to be so content oriented it changes our vision – we are focused on teaching explicitly, but making sure we place these pieces of knowledge in context, connecting with big ideas.  Our brain is a neural network – with more connections than stars in the galaxy!!  It is also connected to a living, emotional and social being: the character of a learner knowing ‘how’ to learn is more important than getting things right.
 
As teachers, there is a lot of professional development – especially for our Academy Diploma teachers for next year.  All these teachers are undergoing training courses over the next four weeks – on top of their teaching loads (and family needs).  However, I can say this training opportunity is incredible – we are connecting and collaborating with other IB teachers from around the world.  I am having conversations with a principal in Senegal, a teacher in Israel, another in Austria, and teachers in Israel, USA, Brazil, Costa Rica, Guinea, Guatemala – and many more!!  We are all discussing the DP subject – Global Politics.  I can say, the IB is a very rich and broad programme – and so globally networked.
 
Currently, we are working on the setup of our Classter School Management System.  Debbie and I have been setting this up for the past four weeks – and there is still a lot of data and updates to develop.  But it is a great system, and it will organise and manage our communication, programmes and practice in one central online environment.  There is a portal for parents, a portal for students, and a portal for teachers.  The system has a lot of scope – and is world class (it comes from Greece!).  It will roll out from next term. We will notify you with support.  

Communicate

Good communication has been in the past a key strategic area we want to address – and improve.  I think we have come leaps and bounds – with lots of effort from lots of invested people.  We have tried to improve our delivery – and make things manageable.  Below is the outline of who you should see when you need to discuss matters.

Please understand email is NOT the best delivery system for a sensitive matter, but our busyness makes it appear the most efficient.  A chat, and interview, a phone call – are so much better for resolving a matter.  

If you do deliver an email –

  • please copy in people you want to have awareness.
  • the person as listed below, will respond in the first case
  • we will try to respond in 48 hours – unless urgent.
  • if you don’t get a response – don’t be concerned about nudging.  Email trays suffer avalanches of new messages.
  • if urgent – add URGENT in the subject line and we will strive to address asap.
  • please phone before 2:00pm if there is a pickup/bus change or need.  Our office reception is (like the rest of the school) very busy – politeness and patience are virtues.
  • Respect our teachers have lives and need their space.
  • Schedule emails if you need to send over the weekend – it is just a courtesy for our staff not to get pinged on a Sunday.
  • Please read what we share – there is a lot but that’s because we do a lot.

Celebrate

We do offer so much and this take a lot of energy.  As any athlete, the crowd’s support lifts spirits and achievements.  So let’s celebrate some of this term thus far – at least some of the things I can remember…

  • Trial HSC Examinations – this week!
  • Lantern Parade – and our key role
  • Whole school photographs – what a huge undertaking! Hailey – you are a brilliant star!
  • Kindergarten 2025 interviews – so grateful for the interest but such pangs – as we have limited numbers.
  • Bus management – continual 3D chess logic
  • Crazy Hair Day – raising funds for CF
  • Onland Offerings – surfing, canoeing, fishing, archery, climbing, constructing, LaunchPad, exploring, investigating.
  • Updates to timetable and programmes for MS/Academy
  • New support focus and pathways
  • Whole school athletics carnival – great family spirit
  • Middle School in Greenpeace article – emphasis on Halveit.
  • Writers’ Festival attendance – Y9/10 
  • LaunchPad excursion to Minyon Falls
  • “Hydrology” investigation with Ahmed and his boat: classic!
  • SEED programme – to prepare for the IBDP – Y9/10
  • Gardening with Tiff and Aidan
  • Commencement of four weeks of IB professional development for our Academy teachers in key subjects.
  • Continuation with the documentation needed for our candidacy to commence the IBDP.
  • School Production of Shrek rehearsals – K-12 whole school!
  • Staff tour of our Academy prospective campus – Z Block, and now some early designs of layout (exciting!!).
  • Whole school introduction of Consent2Go excursion/trips risk management system.
  • Maths PD with Dr Dave – Middle School
  • Primary excursions with Delta 
  • Brewster’s Coffee competition – 3rd by one point
  • New Middle School/Academy Assemblies

I know I have missed some people and events – my sincere apologies and please nudge me to remember better.  What this shows is the energy we need and the scope of what we offer.