Back Together and Always Learning

It is strange to think that the last ‘newsletter’ article I put together was back in mid-February. But the way things have unfolded this year, perhaps not that strange. Since then my communications with our community have never been more continuous, however all via Facebook or email. There is something reassuring, at this time, about writing a ‘normal’ newsletter article because it foreshadows what we are all hoping for – a returning sense of normality.

It has been fabulous to have all staff and students return to school throughout this term. There has been a realisation of the importance of human contact and ‘real’ interactions (non-virtual) across our society and the value these contribute to our wellbeing. Ultimately time will tell what we all learn from this experience, but as a school we have begun to evaluate its impact on schooling.

Over recent years there has been an ongoing push in education for increased use of technology in learning.

Yet the remote learning experience has reinforced the importance of face-to-face connections in learning that cannot be replicated or replaced in the virtual space. Anecdotal classroom discussions tease out important concepts that reinforce or extend learning; classroom debates test the validity of arguments; demonstrating clarifies understanding; and humour, connections and relationships can never be understated. Technology provides many wonderful means to enhance learning. It cannot replace or substitute the teacher/student dynamic.

The schooling experience is also much more than that which resides in the classroom. The social interactions, sense of community, and opportunities for young people to explore and define concepts of self are equally important.

In our return to school we undertook an opportunity to debrief with our students and to listen to their experiences. Each student completed a survey that asked them about the positives and the difficulties they encountered while away from school. The results were varied, and this was expected. Some students excelled in the remote environment; others struggled with motivation; others found it difficult to understand online delivery of content without discussion around this. We had students who were able to focus more; for others there was an increase in anxiety; some benefited from being self-directed in their time and application; and some felt overwhelmed. As a staff we are looking closely at what our students have identified and drawing some conclusions about how these can inform our practices in both classroom teaching and as a school.

As a staff we have also looked deeply into our own experiences as educators and how these might inform us as a school. Schools are amazingly flexible, creative and innovative places – COVID has reminded us of this. We have learned a lot in this journey. We now have an opportunity to rethink aspects of our practices, and on a holistic level our operational structures – but we can do so from a more informed perspective. In debriefing the past months, I asked staff to discuss three questions as part of our own continual improvement;

What is important in the recovery phase of returning to school?
What do you think we should keep from this journey?
What big idea do you want to explore going forward?

As you can imagine an extensive array of ideas came forward with an emphasis on leaving behind the negativity and challenges experienced, and focussing on how what we’ve learned can make us better in what we do for students. A strong message on further prioritising and improving the access to technology across the school was consistently echoed.

Google classroom was identified as a resource that needs to be embedded in teaching practice to expand our range of tools that support students. Interestingly, many computer and software functionalities were identified as needing to be explicitly taught to students from Year 7 onwards, such as how to use email, Microsoft Word and Excel. Also identified for further exploration are ideas around a blended learning approach that delivers online content for students to work through in class and frees teachers to focus on individual student’s needs.

What has been really affirming in these debrief processes has been the focus on what we’ve learned and how these can improve what we do. Positivity as a school has always been evident in our culture, and it shines strongly in our return from isolation.

2020 Executive Conference

In March our executive team were booked to spend two days in our annual conference, however with all that subsequently transpired this needed to be postponed. Earlier this week we were able to reschedule the conference and spent two valuable days focussed on our school priorities and directions for the next couple of years.

On Monday 29 June our focus was formative assessment practices. School Services staff from the departments Central Coast office led our team in training around the importance of formative assessment, how it differs from other assessment practices, and how to embed it across the school in our teaching. Formative assessment takes the emphasis from assessing students learning at the end of the learning process, and places it on determining what students already know and embedding techniques that tailors learning to the students rather than an end product (such as a topic test). All teachers across the school will undertake training in formative assessment practices during the Term 3 School Development Day, and our conference gave our Head Teachers time to plan towards whole school implementation that will begin in Term 3 and be built upon in the next three years.

The focus for Tuesday 30 June was a close examination of our reporting processes and format. As a school our student reports address the learning outcomes of the curriculum, and they also look at what are termed attitudes of learning. The attitudes we currently focus on, such as homework, book work and cooperation, are not reflective of the skills our students will need to succeed in a world that is changing rapidly or those that future employers are looking towards. Our focus should really be on what essential skills do our students have beyond those reported on against the syllabus curriculum; skills such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity and citizenship. As an executive team our work at the conference was in not only identifying what we should report against, but in determining consistency and comparability in our understanding of each and how they look in learning. We also explored the concept of Learning Pathways, which would be a learning statement developed with each student that reflects their development within and beyond the classroom. Learning Pathway’s would provide each student with increased responsibility for identifying the skills that they are developing, and gives them input and ownership over an aspect of their school report. This concept will be unique to Henry Kendall High, and will be trialled later in 2020 with Year 12.

The conference provided for two busy days of training, development and planning that will set the basis for many of the directions our school will move towards in the coming years. It was also valued as a rare opportunity to undertake this work without the interruptions of the busy school day. I thank our executive team for additionally committing their own time and the hard work that went into the conference.

Year 12 Graduation and Extra Week of Learning

As parents and Year 12 students are aware, the Department of Education has extended the Year 12 learning period to include face-to-face teaching until the Thursday 15 October (Week One, Term 4), with the HSC examinations commencing the following Monday 19 October, 2020.

The Year 12 Graduation will remain scheduled as originally planned for the last Thursday of Week 10, Term 3 (Thursday 24 September, 2020).

At this time graduation ceremonies with families are not able to be held, however we will continue to plan towards this date in anticipation that restrictions will continue to ease. A final decision will be made during Term 3, however alternative options are currently being investigated in the event that we are unable to proceed as planned.

Year 12 students will have the opportunity to return in Term 4 for a week of scheduled classes that will provide for intensive preparation immediately before the HSC examinations commence.

Semester One Reports

Semester One reports have been published for all students via the Sentral Parent Portal. All reports from 2020 are provided online to parents, where they can be downloaded and printed as a PDF file if preferred. Any families unable to access their child’s report online, or who would prefer a hard copy version, may contact the school office and one will be provided.

Term 3 School Development Day 2020

Term 3 for staff begins on Monday 20 July with a day of professional learning focused on formative assessment training and planning for the teaching staff, and staff development for our support staff. Students return on Tuesday 21 July.

Term 4 School Development Days 2020

Throughout 2020 the staff will be completing additional hours of professional learning. This will be in lieu of the two development days at the end of Term 4, when the school will be non-operational. School will conclude for both staff and students on Wednesday 16 December 2020.

Mr Andrew Backhouse

Principal

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