TEACHING & LEARNING

Looking back over the past four weeks of Term 2, students have been involved in such a variety of activities and classes. ANZAC services, CSEN sports days, Year 8 and Year 11 camps, Outdoor Ed camps, Generations in Jazz Music camp, Year 3-4 swimming lessons, thletics carnivals, and a great array of classes and excursions across the whole school. An amazing effort by students, staff and parents!

I was in a Year 9 English class this week where students were working on a persuasive piece on a topic of their choice. Students were grappling with a task that didn’t necessarily come easy for them. There were questions being asked, ideas challenged, and conversations that encouraged critical and deep thinking. A lot of effort was put in by the students, and their piece of work was taking shape and becoming more persuasive. Great effort, students!

When we work on something that doesn’t come easy, the effort we put in is our superpower. That effort helps us to achieve things that we may not have been able to do previously. When you stop and think about that for a moment, that is actually pretty impressive. Can’t do something? Apply effort (whatever that looks like for the specific situation, it may require a lot of effort over a long period of time or a small amount of effort for a short period of time), and before you know it, you can now do something and have achieved something.

Learning isn’t about being ‘perfect’ the first time you try something. In fact, some of the best learning happens when you're slightly confused and can’t do it. If you can’t solve a problem, remember you just haven't solved it yet. Be proud of the draft, the practice session, the mistakes made, the questions you ask, and the effort you put in. Those are the building blocks of deep learning. 

Let’s keep celebrating the small wins and the big efforts.