Imagine – Leadership Updates

Joy

faithadmin Sep 4, 2024 0 Comments

One of my favourite songs in recent years has been by a band called For King and Country, entitled “Joy”. I have been privileged to attend several professional development activities over the past few weeks, focusing on quite different aspects of my role as a Business Manager, but a common theme for each has been finding the joy in all facets of life, including work. I guess this is not surprising, given what everyone has faced globally over the past four years with COVID, rising interest rates, cost of living pressures as well as the day-to-day challenges that life throws…

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Throw the tablecloth on tonight and see what happens.

faithadmin Aug 28, 2024 0 Comments

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about how we help children be the best versions of themselves and how, in one particular regard, we (as adults) do such a terrible job of it. I’ve been reflecting on how we generally treat behaviour differently than other aspects of childhood learning, like mathematics, reading, and music (to name a few). We do, but we shouldn’t. If we take mathematics as a familiar reference, we can all acknowledge that learning mathematics is a journey. It starts with learning numbers, then knowing that numbers have a value, and then learning that the values of…

Wellbeing Whole College

But I love you

faithadmin Aug 7, 2024 0 Comments

‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.’ John 3:16 This is the bible reading we used in chapel at our Primary School this week and every time I hear this beautiful verse I am struck by the overwhelming love of God. This is the love that we celebrate and live at Faith in all circumstances. One of my daughters regularly got into mischief. We would often say that trouble seemed to follow her and, no doubt, she sometimes sought it out. She has an outgoing,…

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I love music, the louder the better!

faithadmin May 1, 2024 0 Comments

I love intricate harmonies, both melodious and discordant. I am a true child of the eighties music era, can’t get enough of the synthesiser, fluro clothing and leg warmers. Growing up, I recall that people were often classified as being left brained or right brained. Left brained people prefer maths, logic, facts. Right brained people are those who are visual intuitive and creative. So, if you’re mostly analytical and methodical in your thinking, the theory suggests you’re left-brained. If you tend to be more creative or artistic, you’re right-brained. At school in the deep dark 20th century, my strengths were…

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Are we teaching the “love of” the the, or just the “the”?

faithadmin Apr 24, 2024 0 Comments

In my office, on a small desk covered with Wall•E minifigures, Astro Boy and a minion carrying bananas you will also find my grade four class photo. I'm the smallish blonde boy in the middle row, fourth from the left. At the other end of the row is Mrs. Paterson. She is the reason the photo sits on my desk forty-four years later. I don't really remember much about what I learned in fourth grade. Now, as a primary teacher of many years myself, I can guess what was covered, and while it might be interesting, it's not important. What…

Principal

NAPLAN: A Critique.

faithadmin Mar 22, 2024 0 Comments

  I have written similar pieces to this in the past, so bear with me if you have read this before. At this time of year I begin to become a little frustrated, and perhaps start to feel professionally compromised. What about? Good question. About how our field of service, our industry, education, has become compromised in our country due to the over emphasis on standardised testing and the imminent league tables and articles that will inevitably follow in the papers and online. Don’t get me wrong we will do okay.  As well as expected, probably a little better. Our…

Junior School Learning Whole College

Children as Agents in their own learning.

faithadmin Mar 13, 2024 0 Comments

‘Agency may be the most important factor in human happiness and well-being’ Johnson and Stixrud The Self-Driven Child (2018). We have been fortunate to have had Tonya Gilchrist working with staff, students and parents the past week, and to say we have all learnt a lot would be an understatement. However, for me, this idea of agency has been one of the most powerful reminders I have had in a while. But what do we mean by agency? In education, agency refers to a respectful and more empowered positioning of students to be active agents in their own learning lives.…

Principal Whole College

If they can almost do it … let them.

faithadmin Mar 8, 2024 0 Comments

On Wednesday night this week I was privileged to, once again, sit in the presence of Tonya Gilchrist. Tonya has been visiting our college this week and is working online with our team across the remainder of this year. An international learning strategist and a wonderful teacher she has been taking lessons and demonstrating best practice to our team when it comes to the face to face stuff of our work. The kids have loved it, that staff are being stretched and grown, the outcomes will be better for our learners. One of the amazing quotes Tonya shared on Wednesday…

Learning Secondary School Whole College

Togetherness

faithadmin Feb 28, 2024 0 Comments

In the dynamic landscape of education, fostering a sense of togetherness is not just a lofty ideal; it is the cornerstone of a thriving learning environment. As we embark on this academic journey together, it's essential to delve into what it truly means to be 'together' in a learning community and understand the profound impact it has on our children's educational experience. Togetherness goes beyond mere physical proximity; it is about cultivating a shared vision, fostering collaboration, and creating a supportive network that extends beyond the classroom walls. At Faith, we believe in the transformative power of a unified community,…

Junior School Wellbeing Whole College

Kids these days don’t know how to talk to each other!

faithadmin Feb 14, 2024 0 Comments

It’s normal these days to see a group of children, teenagers or twenty-somethings all sitting with each other in silence, heads down, eyes glued to a screen, captivated by the world within their devices. Simultaneous chats with multiple friends, voice messages, images, text, and videos. Communicating with animated gifs, adding stickers to images to create a message, snapping a short video, or capturing a few seconds of audio. This is the world of communication that our children, teenagers and “millennials” (and increasingly, we all) inhabit. But did you notice what was missing? Talking. There is very little talking! The most…

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