Principal Report
Principal Message Week 5 Term 2
Earlier this week we received confirmation regarding the resumption of school. As outlined by the Premier, this will be a phased return to school with Prep – 2 resuming face to face Tuesday 26 May and Years 3-6 Monday 9 June. Monday 25 May is a school closure and student-free day to allow teachers to prepare for this transition.
Whilst we have all been eagerly awaiting this news, it brings a new set of considerations, challenges and opportunities for our school. I don’t think I have ever felt so pushed and pulled nor have I experienced so many highs and lows as I have at the moment. I feel a little like those contestants on Ninja Warrior, we make it through one challenge and another presents itself.
But there is light at the end of the tunnel. Today I participated in an online professional learning day hosted by Dr. Ryan Dunn. Ryan works with Simon Breakspear and is a lecturer at Melbourne University. I found the following diagram useful to help me make sense of what we have just experienced and what we are or may be experiencing as a result of it and what is to come.
Ryan asked us to consider where we are at the moment and I would like to think we are in the adaptation phase moving towards the opportunity phase. We weathered the storm and we have adapted to remote learning and we will now need to adapt to returning to school, albeit in a very different fashion, but what excites me is the opportunity phase. We can’t have gone through all of this for nothing to change.
I love this idea that this is an opportunity for us to lead our school community towards something new and better, in fact, a new (better)normal. So, despite all the angst, frustration and sleepless nights I feel we have been enriched as a community because this experience created the circumstances for us to stop and reflect. It has also permitted us to ask ourselves what do we keep and what do we let go of?
For me, the experience of remote learning has radically shifted my thinking. Yes, who would have thought at the start of this that I might say this but it has certainly given me many new questions to ponder. Ryan stated a crisis reveals – Values, Culture, Capabilities, Connection. I couldn’t agree more. So, as we head into this next stage of living with COVID-19 and our new normal, rather than approaching it with trepidation I feel a renewed sense of commitment to our community and I can’t wait to harness the learnings we have gained from this experience and to see them become a part of our new reality.
Thank you
A very big thank you to Saskia for organising the lovely gift idea for our mums on Mother’s Day. It was wonderful that so many of you were able to collect these and then share the creative experience with your family at home.
Congratulations
Congratulations to our amazing Green Team and fabulous Sustainability Leader Stephanie Young on their nominations as ResourceSmart Schools finalists:
- Teacher of the Year (Primary) Stephanie Young
- School Volunteer of the Year St Columba’s Green Team
What a wonderful and special honour for a group of people who do so much towards inspiring our students to care about and for the environment and the world we live in.
The winners will be announced on June 5th 2020.