Deputy Principals

LANCE RYAN

Deputy Principal -

Teaching & Learning

Another Grammar News within another COVID-19 lockdown and the multitude of responses are more varied and personal than ever before. Here at Oakleigh Grammar, we are proud of our response to the Covid crisis. Keeping each and every student’s academic, pastoral, spiritual, and physical well-being is at the heart of all we have done and will continue to do through this pandemic.

Our remote learning and teaching programs, informed and supported by our widely recognised Oakleigh Grammar Teaching and Learning Model, is seen as setting the benchmark for other schools in their response to our current crisis. Every student has access to their regular teachers in the normal timeframes and methodologies, bar for the fact of being on campus. This has been our position from the beginning, and only now many other schools are realising, that having the teacher in front of students in an online environment is as important as being in person at the physical school. The continuation of positive and supportive relationships and immediate interaction and feedback is vital to help students connect and be engaged as much as possible.

We must remember, however, that like our students, teachers are also suffering isolation, exhaustion, and stress. Many are taking care of their own families and children’s home learning whilst providing special care and attention to our students. They remain passionate about bringing about the best learning outcomes possible but understand that remote learning is not as effective as being in the physical classroom.

Our teachers are yearning to have their students back onsite, in the classroom, and focussed upon learning the knowledge and skills they need to flourish as young people. In the meantime, they continue to invest their time and energies in reinventing and improving their online learning experiences.

There are no teachers anywhere who were initially trained to deliver online learning to non-adults. It is a skill we are constantly developing and I am particularly proud of the exceptional work our Oakleigh Grammar teaching team has delivered in these unforeseen circumstances.

This is a time of great challenge for families, students, and our community. The anxiety we all feel around isolation, wellbeing and the academic outcomes for our young people is real and palpable. So, I encourage us all, to take a moment to reflect on the incredible work our teachers are doing in the service of our students and quietly offer a prayer of thanks for their dedication, care, and resilience.

PETER DICKINSON

Deputy Principal - Operations

Acts of Kindness and Generosity

By enhancing the lives of others, you are in fact enhancing your own life.

During the past 18 months, there have been numerous examples of individuals, families, and communities that have responded in the most heart-warming, generous ways to support others or to help uplift their family, friends, or neighbourhoods. These acts of generosity, consideration, or concern for others, are performed without the expectation of praise or reward. In many of these situations, the act may have seemed quite small but to the recipients, it made a huge difference.

Last week, I was fortunate to be the recipient of a couple of random acts of kindness that came from unexpected sources that certainly lifted my spirits. The timing of these last week was quite serendipitous as I had spent the previous weekend arranging and sending some care packages to members of my family and was not in the world expecting anything in return.

Small acts of kindness can have enormous power for both the person being kind and the recipient, whether that’s a stranger or someone in the same family. Many studies have found that kindness, compassion, and giving are associated with:

• improved happiness
• good mental health
• a stronger immune system
• reduced anxiety, stress, and depression
• improved relationships
• a longer life

Research also shows that the happiness people get from giving to others creates a ‘positive feedback loop’. The more you give, the more positive you feel. This, in turn, fuels greater happiness. By enhancing the lives of others, you are in fact enhancing your own life.

It may be a little harder at the moment with restrictions in place, but, as I encouraged our SRC members on Monday in their meeting, so I encourage every family and student to think about what act of kindness you could do in the coming days that may lift the spirits of someone else. It is the smallest of gestures that can have the deepest impact.

I am often reminded that when we tune into kindness happening around us, the day seems a little bit brighter. The week seems a little more manageable.

Take care.