Semester reports have been digested and parents have had an opportunity to receive feedback from teachers. This is the time for students to set new goals and take on the feedback provided by teachers via the various forums: formal report, interviews and classroom feedback. I would encourage parents and carers to consider how they might support their child in helping refocus their efforts for the remainder of the year. Good outcomes in the way of improvement is not an accident, but more an intentional, disciplined response that requires our collective effort. Let’s determine to do this together!
We enjoyed a wonderful Eisteddfod experience last week with some very entertaining and colorful presentations from each of the House teams. A very huge thank you to the teachers and students who helped to bring this event together. The final winner of the Eisteddfod was a very deserving Liddell. However, such was the standard of each of the House presentations that the separation of scores was the barest of margins.
Our special focus this Term is looking at the concept of ‘Service Learning.’ This has become a popular phrase and is almost a ‘buzz word’ in many independent schools. One key University defined ‘service learning as:
A form of experiential education where learning occurs through a cycle of action and reflection as students seek to achieve real objectives for the community and deeper understanding and skills for themselves.
This definition can be fleshed out a little more, but suffice to say that ‘service learning’ is central to our College Mission, ‘Growing and Nurturing Excellence in Wisdom, Learning and Service’. The ‘service’ component of this statement is aspirational and may be at risk of becoming a cliché if there was not a clear expression of service in action in our day-to-day College activities. Without elaborating too much there are some really fantastic projects in action across the Senior School which our community benefits from in many different ways. I will elaborate on some of these activities as we progress through the term.
Is there room for improvement in what we do in the ‘service learning’ space? Certainly! Is there some deficient areas of that require better resourcing and leadership? I think there are some important areas of improvement for us to tackle in the next phase of the College. Nevertheless, we may not fully appreciate what is going on across the College in a typical school day. Thank you to Mr Schrack and his Mathematics classes who have taken the time and effort to collect cans/ plastic bottles and taken them down to the recycling centre. Last term they collected over 4,000 empties and raised $400 for a designated cause. Wow! More importantly this small group of people have demonstrated how simple efforts can be made to both improve our response to the environment and educate our College community to better serve others. Well done on your consistent efforts here.
Over the remainder of the term we will have a critical look at new opportunities that could have a huge impact into our community and really support the life of the College and the outlook of our wider community. Have a great term!
