Dear Parents & Guardians,

I am mindful that over the last two weeks of term we will enter into another new phase in our relationship with parents, parent/teacher meetings to discuss student progress via a phone conversation.  In addition to this, a new reporting format that focuses purely on effort and engagement of students, simply because to provide an academic grade at this time has huge challenges, especially concerning equity.  Not every child would have received the same amount of support at home, obviously because of each parent's differing capacity to support their child in this way.  I’m sure many parents have reflected deeply on the remote learning experience and have come to realise that teaching children is a higher order skill that not everyone has.  I have my car serviced by an expert every 10000 kms simply because I don’t have the expertise to do it myself, the tools, nor the time. Teaching children requires some higher level training and if you were working from home as well,  I’m sure most of you would have become considerably time poor.  Thank goodness everyone is back and life has begun to resemble a certain degree of normality.  Please note that if you would prefer a face to face interview, we are happy to accommodate, however,  restrictions about social distancing still make this a challenge to do for the whole school.

I have noticed the children over the past two weeks become more confident in returning to school, especially those in the infants school.  Thank you to the parents who have obviously worked very hard to support your child’s return to school. It has been a very emotional time for some children.  Over the past two weeks, we have just focused on getting routines back in order, keeping disruptions to a minimum and rebuilding those caring relationships that underpin student learning.  Whilst you, the parent, are the critical source in this ( orienting your child’s view of the world at a challenging time, co creating with your child the values and attitudes they uphold), our pastoral care, from the time each child walks through the gate, should be an extension of the home formation.  It would be my wish that this has been your direct experience as you have unfortunately had to drop your child at the school gate and not enter the grounds each morning. School and home need to continue to keep this the focus as fully as possible during this time of transition back to normality.

I must admit, this whole experience over the past five months has thrown up more questions than answers to what education, partnership with parents  and pastoral care for our students will look like in the future. This rapidly changing world has challenged me to consider and anticipate some of the directions needed to prepare children for the world of tomorrow. The future will probably be very different from the contemporary world. It is clear that due to COVID19 there will need to be a concerted reaction against the super industrial model of the workplace and how people engage in their work. We are already seeing this with earth consciousness, new creative ways to use our leisure time and I’m sure for many, the quest for wholeness in the meaning of life.  It is this quest for wholeness that needs to be affirmed by the pastoral care in the school. How do we instill in the children and inspire and motivate them to contribute to the community as a place of peace, love and respect, to carry at least some vision forward beyond the school that reflects this.  All of a sudden, NAPLAN was cancelled because of a world event, largely out of our control. Will the new world of education move towards a rebalancing of the place English and Mathematics have in the curriculum? Whilst literacy and numeracy will always remain crucial to our school’s effectiveness, pastoral care will surely wish to help the children of St Paul’s to carry beyond our school community a vision of what might be for a better world as COVID19 has emphasised how small and connected the world has become.

Just maybe, for some, and especially for me, this has made me focus on a term written about most in the gospels, love.

Love for me is: 
The sharing of something of myself to give life to another.
That was what we tried to do with our “Friday Online Assemblies” during remote learning.

As you can see, my mind has been working overtime.  Even if my thoughts have somehow made you stop and think about the true meaning of education for our  young people, even fleetingly, then that is a good thing.

Go Gently,

Michael Reardon
Principal

Teaching and Learning

It’s been a huge sigh of relief for the students and teachers as they have now been able to re-commence explicit small group instruction. I have been able to be part of some excellent lessons this week during Words Their Way and Letters and Sounds and I can certainly say that nothing is more rewarding than seeing the learning connecting between student and teacher.

What makes these lessons so excellent?

1. Clear focus. This is provided by the teaching developing a Learning Intention and Success Criteria for which the students can direct their learning.
2. Explicit instruction. This is being succinct and direct and telling students what they need to know and then showing them how to do it. This is done through a carefully sequenced and planned lesson.
3. Giving feedback. Descriptive feedback allows the teacher to give specific feedback that can initiate the next level of learning (Sharratt and Fullan, 2012). By referring back to the Learning Intention and the Success Criteria both teacher and student are able to highlight what is right and wrong about their work in a way that helps  direct where to improve.

Congratulations

A big congratulations to Ruby Fuller and Ella & Maddison Maycock who cut their very long hair for a good cause! Their hair was donated to local charitable organisations and wig-makers who will use it to contribute to wigs for children suffering from Cancer & other hair loss medical conditions.