Assistant Principal's Report

Student / Parent/Guardian / Teacher Conferences

During remote learning we continue to provide feedback to students and families. We continued to hold conference via WebEx and again received positive feedback about students’ progress and identify goals with their learning.

These conferences were a valuable opportunity for students, families and teachers to reflect on the individual’s learning over the semester so far as well as establish goals and develop strategies to achieve success for the remainder of the semester. This also allows families to be proactive with future learning and be able to continue to work with your child’s teachers to ensure your child makes the most of their learning opportunities.

When considering the information at the conference I would strongly advise that in discussions with your child you consider a growth mindset – people with a growth mindset appreciate anyone can build themselves into anything they want to be. They recognise that people aren’t ‘smart’ or ‘dumb’, that there are no talented geniuses; only hard-working people who have chosen to take their abilities to the next level. We encourage students to have a growth mindset.

8 tips for promoting a growth mindset:

1. Help children understand that the brain works like a muscle that can only grow through hard work, determination, and lots and lots of practice.

2. Don’t tell students they are smart, gifted, or talented, since this implies that they were born with the knowledge, and does not encourage effort and growth.

3. Let children know when they demonstrate a growth mindset.

4. Praise the process.

It’s effort, hard work, and practice that allow children to achieve their true potential.

5. Don’t praise the results.

Test scores and rigid ways of measuring learning and knowledge limit the growth that would otherwise be tapped.

6. Embrace failures and ‘missteps’.

Children sometimes learn the most when they fail. Let them know that mistakes are a big part of the learning process. There is nothing like the feeling of struggling through a very difficult problem, only to finally break through and solve it! The harder the problem, the more satisfying it is to find the solution.

7. Encourage participation and collaborative group learning.

Children learn best when they are immersed in a topic and allowed to discuss and advance with their peers.

8. Encourage competency-based learning.

Get kids excited about subject matter by explaining why it is important and how it will help them in the future. The goal should never be to get the ‘correct’ answer, but to understand the topic at a fundamental, deep level, and want to learn more.

Orion Night – Date and Venue TBA

Please be aware that we intend to conduct Orion Night this year. Depending on restrictions, this might be similar to last year with awards presented to students at school in smaller groups with a final product released to students and families at the end of the year.

Details will be confirmed in Term 4.

Mr Chris Knight

Assistant Principal