Assistant Principal
Students and staff have started 2021 with great energy and our capacity to adapt has already been on show as we swiftly pivoted in (and out of) remote learning. Whilst this may have been an unwelcome event it was heartening to see the way students and staff immediately supported each other and adapted so quickly and pragmatically. Our flexibility, resilience and compassion for each other has been evident every day.
Students have settled into their new academic year and have been hard at work. A walk through Compass lesson plans reveals the many exciting activities in our classrooms: from understanding how fire behaves and how it ignites in Geography, to City field trips, musing on what is actually real in Philosophy, and analysing Black Panther in Literature. Powerful learning happens when we embrace the possibility of being wrong and do something unexpected. Below is a joyful example of this type of creative approach where the learning, in this case, how insulin regulates blood sugar levels, becomes memorable and fun:
Bang! Pop! Whizzle! Crack! Betty took another mouthful of popping candy. This was her 17th teaspoon and it was no surprise her glucose levels were rising fast. “Not another 8 year old birthday party!” exclaimed Isabella Insulin. She certainly had her work cut out for today, and despite her best efforts, it was clear that she and her crew were never a match for such colossal candy consumption. “We need secretion, and we need it fast!” thought Barry the Beta Cell (in reality, Barry the beta cell did not think anything, nor did Isabella Insulin say anything, Barry and Isabella just did what Barry and Isabella do).
… Rory the RNA Polymerase was lurking around chromosome 11, searching for a certain promoter sequence with transcription in mind. Binding to the promoter sequence he began zooming along the gene. 3 prime to 5 prime he read the template strand, and 5 prime to 3 prime he joined Aiden Adenine, Georgia Guanine, Sally Cytosine and Uncle ‘Uzziah’ Uracil - who was a bit of a different unit compared to Theodore Thymine, but still got along with Aidan Adenine, his DNA counterpart. It all happened very quickly; condensation reactions were going off!
The staff too are embracing changes in their work with two new programs in 2021: the Tutor Learning Initiative (TLI) and Professional Learning Communities (PLC). Both programs involve teachers and students in the quest for improved learning growth and confidence. TLI will step into classrooms this week and involves tutors working alongside classroom teachers to help students build their literacy and numeracy capacity. Whereas the PLC program involves teachers as researchers of not only their students’ work but of their own lessons. The energy evident in these meetings really show our staff’s dedication as they rethink and review teaching approaches. At this stage, like our students, we are unsure of what the final product will look like, but we know that we learn better together. RSC looks forward to making this program and process a natural part of school helping improve the teaching and learning programs across the school.
Parents have also been busily adapting and changing to another school year from parents of year 7 students at the Music Recruitment Night or through the loving support for young people as they try to balance external sport and work commitments as well as study deadlines! Currently the PCTA, Music Association and the Chaplaincy programme are looking for more members. Interested parents are encouraged to email agatha.fedrizzi@education.vic.gov.au
Agatha Fedrizzi
Acting Assistant Principal
On behalf of the Assistant Principals
Maria Allison and Matt Tucker