Banksia House

Our key learnings as a Banksia House Community

Term 2 will certainly be a term to remember. Through adversity however we learn and grow and this is certainly the case in Banksia House and across the school this term.

Our time remotely has taught us the importance of being grateful, appreciative, reflective and patient and we have developed a deeper understanding of self, as well as the needs of others. We have learnt, as echoed in the reflections of our students and staff, that we are resilient, courageous and strong and together we can achieve anything. Curiosity has been incredibly high and together we have explored new ways of teaching and learning, new platforms for collaboration, new ways to give feedback and new ways to implement the ‘phases of the lesson’ and our Design for Learning to ensure students become independent learners and can apply what they have learnt, working together with their teacher to check for understanding. We certainly have developed a deeper understanding of who we are as people, learners, Leaders and as a community during this time.

I am incredibly proud of our staff and students and how they have navigated this challenging time. Everyone has been positive and calm and now with our students and staff together, you can feel the positive energy across the House and school. I cannot thank our parent community enough for their support during this time, as students grappled to learn concepts remotely. We hope our partnership with our families continues to strengthen to ensure the learning success of each student in Banksia House and at Dandenong High School.

Well done everybody and we look forward to working with you all, closely, in Term 3. It has been a very special term to say the least!

Some reflections from our community

I learned that I am so grateful to have chosen the teaching profession because I appreciate how much I enjoy movement, seeing students light up when positive praise is given and that gives my life meaning because I feel like I am changing things.

I learned that I could do my work by myself and also have fun while doing my school work.

Connections with people are so important and can change your mood drastically. I will try and keep that in my mind in interactions with others.

I want to hold on to that experience that I have from working from home and the connections I made through remote learning.

Thank you so much for all of your hard work and the effort that you put into supporting us. Even though we may not always show it, we are extremely grateful.

I learnt that I could do anything if I put my mind to it.

I am grateful that we are able to have a safe return to school, especially with the pandemic, and that we're all safe and sound, following all the health rules.

I have learnt that even though I think I am a very grateful person, there are still some things, such as being able to come to school, that I may take for granted. Experiencing remote learning has helped me learn that sometimes you need to stop and reflect, and really appreciate all that you have!

Something nice I would like to tell my teacher is thank you for helping me through a difficult time. I have learnt that I'm getting better in my learning. I'm grateful for going to school and having nice teachers that help me during my learning.

I would like to thank all the teachers from school who are my second family; despite all these difficulties, they are still trying to support us. I was missing my teachers a lot - I can't really express my feeling but I'm really happy because we're back at school.

I learnt that I shouldn't take life for granted, that I should enjoy my life while I'm still alive - especially when there's a lot of time on your hands.

I'm really proud that I'm one of Banksia's students. I'm very grateful to those teachers who support me to reach my goals.

Thank you for supporting me through remote learning. I have learnt that I'm responsible enough to be in control of my learning.

I'm not too old to learn new ways of teaching. How attached I am to my students!

I appreciate all the hard work teachers put into helping students have a successful online experience.

We understand how much work goes into teaching us!

Thank you for always checking up on us through this difficult time and making sure that we will get through this together.

Kelly Krieg

Banksia House Leader