From Mr Coppin
“It took me a long time to develop a voice and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.”
We have had a momentous week as a school as there is much to learn from the courage of young “old girl” Chanel Contos. It is always such a powerful step to shine a light then keep the conversation/discourse going.
It is so important to acknowledge, believe and support young women from our schools who are coming forward and understand their reflections and insights.
There has been a huge amount of warranted media attention focused on the safety of women in our community. Education as always plays an important role. And whilst I feel it is time that we look at the messages our young men receive and go on to perpetuate, I do like to shine a light on the preventative measures we have in place for your daughters.
Since commencing here more than eight years ago, our suite of offerings in terms of personal protective factors and behaviours has continued to expand. Whilst as a school we never “rest on our laurels” it is important to be aware of where we are at in developing your daughters’ voices from a personal protective perspective.
Our URSTRONG Day of Friendship is a cornerstone for our students from Year 1 to Year 6 as it lays the foundation of our girls’ understanding and their understanding of what respectful relationships look and sound like. Whilst this may seem trivial to some, it forms the blueprint for them to understand what respect in a relationship looks like.
Additionally, we work on a nested set of experiences and learnings commencing in Hampshire House. The program is titled “My Underpants Rule” and the children also work on the Kids Safe Series. Further learnings are also explored through our Massie House Personal Development Program taught by Deputy Head Kate Moore.
In addition to the Personal Health and Development programs, from Year 4 to Year 6 we step matters up a notch in regard to personal and pubertal development and personal protective behaviours. We work with expert Judith Krause from Youth Related.
Judith Krause holds a Masters of Education in Human Resource Development from the University of Technology, Sydney, and a Graduate Diploma in Adolescent Health and Welfare from the University of Melbourne. In addition, she has a Masters in Behavioural Science and Sexual Health from University of Sydney. She also runs a private Sexual Health Counselling Practice.
Student sessions deal with boundaries, healthy and unhealthy touches, scenarios of appropriate/inappropriate touching, listening to your body, permission to touch, dealing with situations that make you uncomfortable (move away, say no, tell a trusted adult). This includes elements of the Daniel Morcombe Keeping Kids Safe program.
These student workshops are designed to coincide with our yearly parent workshops to support girls and parents engage in open dialogue. This work is also tied in with the work of Brene Brown linked to courage and shame resilience.
As I have mentioned previously, I am also a great proponent of the work of Elizabeth Broderick who is now the United Nations Rapporteur for Discrimination against Women and Girls in terms of the male champions of change movement. Similarly, I believe as central to this matter are also male narratives and dialogues.
Day of AI (Artificial Intelligence) - Friday 3 May, 2024
On Friday 3 May, Year 5 students will be immersed in a day of learning about Artificial Intelligence. Students will develop a clear understanding of what AI is, and what it is not. They will learn how machines gain intelligence and explore the three key components of machine learning: collecting datasets, training an algorithm, and predicting on new data. They will see this in action by using an online tool, Google Quick Draw, where a computer using AI will predict what each of the students are sketching even before the students are finished drawing their images.
Students will then learn about algorithms and try to write their own algorithm. The students will work with another online tool, Teachable Machine, to learn how to train a machine to recognise objects. They will train their own machine to be able to recognise and make a distinction between images of hands making rock, paper or scissors shapes.
In using Teachable Machines they will learn about algorithmic bias, an important and worrisome part of AI. Students will then learn about deep fakes, and will participate in activities and discussions that encourage them to think about how to use such powerful technology such as AI, in ways that are responsible.
The session will be led by Ms Olga Ibrahim, ICT Integrator, and Ms Ky-Lee Murphy, Director of Curriculum. The session will run from 8:30 am - 12:30 pm.
How do we teach Mathematics?
Split Arrays, Area Model, Levelling Strategy…what do these mean? The way that Maths is taught these days is very different to how we were taught ‘back in the good old days’. Join Ms Murphy, our Director of Curriculum, to find out how we teach the girls to :
- explore and connect mathematical concepts
- choose and apply mathematical techniques to solve problems
- communicate their thinking and reasoning
This Zoom Webinar will take place from 9am-10am on Friday 17 May. An invitation with the Zoom link will be posted in the newsletter next week.
ySafe - Cyber Safety Education Session for Year 5 - 8 Parents - Tuesday 7 May, 2024 - 6.00pm (please register)
Please see the below invitation and CLICK HERE to Register!
Junior School Mother's Day Breakfast - Thursday 9 May 2024 - 7.30-8.30am
We warmly invite our Preparation to Year 6 Mothers to the Junior School Mother's Day Breakfast.
** PLEASE NOTE - all students attending the breakfast are to wear full Winter Uniform including blazer and panama hat. If Sport/PE is timetabled on that day, please pack sports uniforms in Kambala Sports bag to change into.
Please CLICK HERE to RSVP.
Please see the next page for additional EVENTS coming up in Term 2!