Week 2, Term 2 update

The Surprising Truth About Learning in Schools

As part of the lead in to our Parent Information evening that we are holding in a couple of weeks time I have posted this TEDx talk for you to watch and consider. In it Will Richardson (a leading thinker and writer about the intersection of social online learning networks and education) takes his knowledge of how to help kids develop into powerful learners and looks at how school has tried, and how it needs to reconsider, how to make that happen.

It's a great watch and is quite confronting in the way that he explains how we (as parents) know a system and structure of school that is not appropriate for the time we live in and the world that our children will end up 'working' in. The vast amount of knowledge, the ease of access to that knowledge with digital tools means that we have to balance the learning of knowledge with the ability to know how to apply and use that knowledge - ie to think!

As a school we are working together and developing learning programmes that challenge our children to manage themselves; to participate and contribute in the learning programme, to relate to others in both learning and social situations and to develop their thinking. A curriculum and learning programme centred on the key competencies, with a foundation of enriching learning contexts, is what brings reading, writing and maths to life.
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Parent Information Evening - Monday May 23 @ 5.30pm

On Monday May 23 @ 5.30pm we're offering a parent evening for you to come and hear about the developments in our teaching and learning programmes. This includes the continued development of our collaborative teaching teams and the digital tools that are being integrated back into the learning programmes over Term 2. The evening will start off in the hall all together for an introduction and then we'll break into the different teams across the school where they'll share what each team (and the teaching teams within that) are up to. Bring your kids so you can both go to a different session as we'll have something organised for them. 

​We aim over time to give continued opportunities for you to stay connected with the developments of our teaching teams.

Developing Self-Directed Learning Fundamentals

Below is a short two and a half minute clip that gives a good example of the fundamentals that support the development of self-directed learning within the context of the different age and stage of our learners. Have a look and think about what this might look like for your child.

​Dr. Peter Gray is an evolutionary psychologist that studies how people learn.