From the Head of Junior School
After attending a thought-provoking IPSHA Conference last weekend led by James Anderson, one idea has resonated deeply: the concept of Learnership—a powerful framework for transforming how we understand and engage with learning.
In Anderson’s words, Learnership is the skill of learning. While we often focus on what students learn, Anderson challenges us to shift our attention to how well they learn—and how we can cultivate stronger, more self-aware learners. He argues that just as literacy and numeracy are vital, so too is a learner's capacity to engage with challenges, reflect, and grow.
Learnership is not just about mindset—though mindset plays a role. It’s about the intersection of disposition, skills, and choices. Students with high Learnership:
- Know when they are learning and when they’re just completing tasks.
- Actively seek challenges instead of avoiding them.
- Recognize effort as part of the learning process, not as a signal of failure.
Reflect on mistakes and adapt their strategies over time.
It’s a shift away from the idea that effort equals success, or that a growth mindset alone is enough. Learnership blends mindset with metacognition and real strategy.
One of the most impactful takeaways from Anderson’s session was the distinction between doing and learning. It’s possible to complete a worksheet or solve a problem without actually learning anything. True learning happens when we are outside our comfort zone—when we are challenged.
Anderson’s message was clear: The future of education isn’t just about content mastery. It’s about cultivating expert learners—students who can thrive in any context because they know how to learn, unlearn, and relearn.
In the Junior School work on a “Learning Playbook” has begun. Thinking deeply about our classroom practise, what we know about students and how they learn, and what students know about the learning process is our focus. James Anderson is right – the what of learning changes constantly, but knowing how to learn effectively is a skill for life.
Our school community learned this week that my time at BMGS is coming to a close. While I’ve got a lot of happy-sad feelings about the future, I know that our team will continue this journey of creating learners who will take Good Learning and Do Good With it. We’ve got lots on before I need to say Good-bye and there’ll be chances to reflect on how far we’ve come, and the next chapter for the Junior School at BMGS.
Rachael J Newton
Assistant Principal – Head of Junior School
Stage 3 Canberra Trip
In Week 2, Stage 3 Darani and Burrawang went on our biannual trip to Canberra. We went to Canberra for many reasons but one of the main reasons was to learn about democracy. We were given the privilege to have many hand on experiences with experts.
First stop was Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), where we were taken on a tour of the facilities and learnt what it takes to be an Australian Olympian. Highlights for us included the Netball and Basketball courts, as well as the huge Olympic sized pool.
Next we had a quick stop at the Boundless Playground, where it was heaps of fun with lots of unique play equipment that allowed our imaginations to fly.
Then we drove out to The National Capital Authority, where we learnt about the history of Canberra and how it came to be our national territory. We learnt about how Canberra is thought to mean meeting place and how the Indigenous Australians used this land long before white settlement. We talked about why Canberra was such an ideal place to live and how the landscape was moulded to fit the design of the city. We discussed the Parliamentary triangle and had the opportunity to work in teams to design our own Capital City.
After a long day of learning and fun we went and had nachos for dinner at our accommodation, Greenhills. This was followed by a trivia night run by Mr Forbes at the common room, with lots of question with subjects ranging from Maths to Disney Facts, it was really fun.
We woke up and had a breakfast at Greenhills, then rushed off to Old Parliament House, but not before driving round the Embassies. Daryl, our coach driver, was so knowledgeable about the Embassies and history of Canberra, so we learnt so many interesting things from him as we travelled around the city.
We learnt that Old Parliament House used to be The Parliament until 1988 and then it got too small for all the politicians to fit in. Now it houses a museum. We explored how we as the Australian people contribute to democracy. There were lots of inquiry questions for us to explore in the various exhibits, and we had rich discussions with our tour guides. We finished out tour in the original House of Representatives, sitting in the real chairs the politicians would have sat in. We also look at artefacts, including two replicas of the speaker’s uniform. The first from 1912 and the second from the mid-1980s. Turns out, a lot had changed over time.
After a morning tea we drove to the National Art Gallery. We were particularly interested in the pieces in the Art Gallery that reflected Indigenous Australian culture, including the tree carvings outside the gallery, the chalk board family tree, the dot paintings and the trunk sarcophaguses.
The Arboretum was out next stop, where we had so much fun undertaking an Orienteering competition to identify different rare plant species, while also looking over a beautiful view of Canberra. We were proud to hear that the Canberra Arboretum has the largest collections of rare forests in the world, protecting many endangered species from extinction.
We then played at the Acorn Playground at the Arboretum, before heading up to Mount Ainslie for afternoon tea. We were all excited to see the Parliamentary triangle from above and took turns identifying the different zones, including the Parliamentary centre, the military hub and the people’s hub. We then went to the War Memorial.
The War Memorial was such an incredible place to visit and we felt inspired by all the amazing stories we heard there, accompanying by rare and unique artefacts. There was an unexploded missal, a watch stopped at the moment the battle of Gallipoli began, a radio made out of a First Aid box and recreations of many iconic battles. But the most jaw dropping moment was entering the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and seeing all the incredible mosaics and stain glass windows that surrounded his resting place.
We drove back to Greenhills and had roast chicken for dinner, then we sped off to Questacon for our night time activity. Questacon was so fun to visit at night. We had full galleries to ourselves. The highlight was of course the anti-gravity drop, as well as the Earthquake room! We had so much fun learning about different scientific phenomena through practical activities, and of course we all enjoyed the gift shop.
On the last day of the trip it was out friend Michael’s birthday, so we made sure to sing Happy Birthday to him. We packed up at Greenhills after breakfast the went to Parliament House.
We couldn’t believe how huge Parliament House was and were in awe of all the amazing portraits on the wall, many of past Prime Ministers, as well as significant Indigenous politicians. We got to see the real Senate and House of Representatives Chambers, and made note of what was similar and different in these two spaces. We learnt about what our local members, Susan Templeman contributes to the Parliament and how a session in each house is run. To finish our tour we went to a role play space that was set up to look like the House of Representatives. We were divided into the government, the opposition and the backbenchers, and role played what it would be like to pass a bill in parliament. We were arguing whether or not their should be a tax on sugary drinks. This was the perfect activity to bring our trip to Canberra to a close.
We would like to thank the teachers on behalf of Stage 3 for giving us such a amazing learning opportunity by taking us on the trip to Canberra. We learnt so much from this incredible experience.
Our school would also like to acknowledge the assistance of the Government for approving the ‘Parliament and Civics Education Rebate’ which amounts to $30 per student. This scheme helps schools from across the country to visit Canberra and enrich student learning about Democracy.
By Hugo Courtemanche and Clare Tierney
With notes from Stage 3 Darani and edited by Mr Forbes