It has been a great joy to commence as the Deputy Head of Junior School - Operations & Welfare and I look forward to getting to know more of the College community as the year goes on. I am thankful for the helpfulness of students and have been greatly impressed by their servant hearted nature.
At the heart of what we seek to do as educators is to prepare students for life beyond schooling, equipping students to be life-long learners who seek to grow and develop a mature wisdom throughout their lives. This is not always easily done. Learning is often messy and complicated. One of the ways that the College has sought to achieve this goal is by instituting a positive learning framework, aimed at fostering a safe, supportive and productive learning environment. The five aspects of the framework are:
- Engage We all actively engage in our learning
- Value We all value the learning of others
- Respect We respond and respect the teacher’s instructions
- Manage We all manage our distractions
- Persist We all persist through our challenges
It is important to recognise that the language used in the framework is inclusive of the whole community - students, parents and educators. A successful school is reliant on these three groups working together effectively. Trust is pivotal in these relationships, as we strive to work together to maximise learning outcomes for our students.
The first aspect that I wanted to draw out in more detail is persistence, otherwise known as resilience. This is the ability of students to be able to “stick it out”. Students who show persistence excel at moving forward despite dealing with current difficulties. This is important, not only in the short term, but are skills and habits that will support them in managing the many changes that they will encounter in adolescence and later in life. I give you with this thought from an expert in the field of student resilience:
“as much as talent counts, effort counts twice.” Angela Duckwork, Grit
I am pleased to announce that we have been able to once again secure the services of Colleen Hirst to share with us the latest research on this topic and how best we can support our children to develop these essential skills. In her talk she will explore resilience in young people as she presents to us how we can both challenge and encourage our children. Colleen is a clinical psychologist and family therapist who has worked in the counselling industry for over 30 years and I look forward to having her share her expertise with us.
I encourage you to explore developing persistence in your children this Term.
God bless,
Mr Luke Sale
Deputy Head of Junior School - Operations and Wellbeing
