Weekly
news
Term 4, Week 4
Coming up this week
Date
Event
28th Octber
K2022 Transition
29th October
Team 6 Market Stalls
3rd November
K2022 Transition
MISSION STATEMENT
To work under God in partnership with parents to provide an inclusive, nurturing and high quality education for every student.
VIsion
Flourishing through faith, belonging and the pursuit of excellence.
From The Principal
Contemporary Learning: Agency
One of the key ideas of contemporary learning philosophy is that students should have agency in their learning. It is important to understand what agency is and what agency is not.
What is agency?
Simply put, agency means that students have voice, choice and ownership in their learning. In last week’s article, we touched on ownership with authentic audiences. Students do not do work solely for parents and teachers. Rather, they do work that is meaningful to them and can make a difference in the current world.
In this week’s video, student voice is highlighted. In contemporary learning, we believe that even our youngest students are capable thinkers – and we often don’t listen enough or give them enough credit!
Picture a time you saw your child engage in a behaviour that was antisocial or that needed correction. You sat with them and carefully listened to their reasons for engaging in that behaviour. They surprised you. While the behaviour still needed correction, their perspective softened you and helped you see the world through their eyes. In the end, you and your child gained better understanding from one another. That is the power of agency, giving the child a voice.
Our Restorative Practices is one way we give students voice. It takes longer than a ‘one-size-fits-all’ consequence. The student voice helps both the students and the school avoid similar problematic issues in the future. Students realise that ‘making things right’ is often harder than taking a teacher/parent-chosen consequence.
What agency is not
Agency does not mean the students ‘run the school’ or ‘do anything what they want’.
Agency in Behaviour Management
We still have rules to keep us safe. In the video, we highlight that sometimes the government makes rules and guidelines. Schools and parents do the same. Within those parameters, students can still have a voice.
Most children, when they know the why behind rules, are willing to comply. When we give them some choices within parameters, they contribute to a solution. They feel empowered rather than policed.
Agency in Learning
Agency in learning doesn’t mean that students get to study only what they want. They will still experience the full New South Wales curriculum, learn to spell and learn to manipulate fractions. The difference is this: As much as possible, this explicit teaching will be in the context of larger, meaningful projects.
You may have read the recent article in The Age about Inquiry Learning. Peter Evans argues that “Inquiry learning prioritises the learner’s role in discovering information for themselves, as opposed to explicit pedagogy”. That is like saying, “A healthy diet proritises one macro nutrient over the others”. We know that a ‘healthy’ learning environment, like a healthy diet, is complex and dependent on the needs of the individual.
Inquiry learning gives students agency in some of the questions they explore within a curriculum-based topic. Once the viewpoint on a topic is chosen, there is explicit teaching on one or more of the following:
- research skills (so that they can find high-quality, reliable information)
- nonfiction reading skills (so they can understand what they’ve found)
- note-taking and synthesis skills
- critical thinking skills
- organisational skills
- time management skills (yes, those are explicitly taught as well!)
- presentation and technological skills
- relational skills (for giving and receiving feedback)
- editing skills
- Educators create conditions to allow students to authentically have rich input into the process of learning
- Students engage in authentic practice of agency in areas of school culture and community building
- Students develop and ask questions that begin to drive the direction of learning
Authentic audiences and student agency are two important components of Lutheran School’s contemporary learning philosophy.
Janet Moeller
Principal
Mark your calendars
Students Return (Years 1-6)
31st January 2022
Kindergarten Students
3rd February 2022
TEAM 6 MARKET DAY
Students in Team 6 have spent the past few weeks working in small groups developing their own businesses.
This idea came about in line with Australian Lutheran World Service (ALWS) as a way of showing the students some of the businesses that they help set up in developing countries around the world.
Our students will finish their unit by selling their products this Friday with all profits going towards ALWS.
The businesses include a range of games and products such as stress balls, squishees, bead chains, kinetic sand and more. Prices range from between $0.50 to $3.00.
We thank all families in advance for supporting this fundraiser for ALWS.
Principal's Award
Firstname Surname
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PRINCIPAL APPRAISAL
Dear Parents
A standard process in Lutheran schools is for Principals to undertake an appraisal, at regular intervals, during their appointment. The appraisal process is aimed to affirm and enhance the leadership capabilities of our Principal, Ms Janet Moeller, in the context of Lutheran education and our school in particular. It seeks to provide feedback and insights to the Principal about the quality of leadership as well as helping to determine areas for further professional growth and improvement.
Later this week, a random selection of families will receive an email containing some more details and a link to an online survey. The survey, which opens on 29 October and closes on 8 November, is also being made available to staff and Board members. Principal appraisal in Lutheran schools is a regular process in which school community members have the opportunity to give feedback on the work of the principal. We value your feedback and encourage your participation in the survey.
Yours sincerely
Johanna Stanton (School Board Chairperson)
Curriculum Matters
ICAS - Digital Technologies
Congratulations to all the students who participated in the Digital Technologies exam last term. All participants will bring home their certificate today. Special awards were presented to the following students.
Distinction
Harry Richards
Credit
Lance Palmer
Max Donaldson
Alex Miller
Kavin Mahendrarajah
Sophia Gooden
Maisie Hughes
Noah Amos
Merit
Liam Gentle
James Price
Maths Olympiad
Over the past two terms, a team of thirty mathematicians participated in the Maths Olympiad competition. There were a total of five rounds, with each student using a range of sophisticated strategies to solve challenging problems.
Special awards were presented to the following students.
Effort Award
Noah Thompson
Caspar Fang
Most Improved
Kaspar Szyndler
Highest Individual Score & Top 10% across Australia
Harry Richards
Top 20% across Australia
Samuel Pike
Kavin Mahendrarajah
Top 40% across Australia
Nikita Bhengra
Youlita Saleeb
Joe Stone
Lance Palmer
Top 50% across Australia
Hayden Earl
Karri von Mengersen
Curriculum Coordinator
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From The Sports Desk
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OSHC
Last week at OSHC the children enjoyed making balloon animals!
We had butterflies, dogs, monkeys, worms and an octopus. Some children opted for swords instead of animals and got creative with some role play, pretending to fence.
The children showed off their creativity with pride, smiling for photos. Everyone showed great respect for each other’s creations and shared the balloons around.
OSHC also spent time decorating bucket hats and practiced their fine motor skills with Lego creations and putting together wooden pencil holders to take home.
For outside play this week the main event was 50 meter races! Children got the chance to show off their competitive side as they took turns racing two at a time on the oval.
Melanie Woodbury
OSHC Coordinator
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Awards and Achievements
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Notable Achievement
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Notable Achievement
Firstname Surname
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Other Information
Notices
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Notices
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Lost Property
Please check lost property in the school office for misplaced items. Unclaimed items of clothing will be donated to the school’s second hand Uniform Shop.
Please label your child’s items. This practice helps us to return your child’s clothing, etc. Thank you.
UNIFORM SHOP
Orders are accepted via the e-form purchase request on the school app, or by phone call/text message to Tegan Peel
0401 665 640