Head of Campus
With our powers combined…
"Jules Verne" teleconference
"Jules Verne" teleconference
We hope this newsletter article finds you in a steady place as we ride this rocky road together. Please always remember that we are ready to listen, understand and find solutions to support you through. Relationships are at the heart of our school philosophy, and we strive to ensure that everything we do honours this. The capacities technology offers us at the moment are a mixed blessing as we seek to balance our electronic existences with the here and now.
THREE-WAY CONFERENCES
... a new way of being together
By now we should be well into the throes of our very first series of Three-way Conferences held solely through videoconferencing. These were released last week via Compass, and the accompanying News Feed item included a series of instructions. If you missed the notification, all is not lost! The next available appointments are from 2pm to 8pm on Thursday 3 September.
The gist of the new format is that, instead of going to a separate onsite room for each teacher, you will ‘enter’ their online Personal Meeting Rooms; links for these Personal Meeting spaces have been made available through the Conferences booking system on Compass. Additionally, we have collated them in a Google Doc for easy access, which was sent out via the instructions last week. If you would like a reminder about where to find this document, just let us know.
Once you know your appointment times, attending is as easy as sitting down at your laptop with your child, clicking the link next to the name of the teacher you have an appointment with, and waiting in the Zoom ‘Waiting Room’ for the teacher to admit you. The ‘Waiting Room’ ensures all online spaces are secure and safe, guarded by the discerning clicks of our teaching staff.
As with all things, please reach out if you’re concerned about how this works; our students we’re sure will be more than happy to be a digital guide as well. What we used to dream about in 80s sci-fi flicks are now the fundamental resources we draw on to navigate our way through a global pandemic. I imagine our gratefulness is tempered by Zoom fatigue, although there are some interesting resources being developed for how to adapt to these new conditions.
"Back to the Future" teleconference
"Back to the Future" teleconference
... a precious partnership
The research into school-family partnerships is well-documented and continually refreshed. Schools are uniquely positioned in the community to play a critical role in student wellbeing, and while we don’t want to oversell the capacity of schools to take sole responsibility, we likewise do not want to miss opportunities we have to provide a platform for flourishing support networks.
Never before has the benefit of parent engagement been so widely appreciated and understood. Even under ‘normal’ conditions, we know that when parents are able to be engaged, adolescents are more motivated, more resilient, more positive about learning, and have higher self-efficacy. Never before have parents had such a ‘window’ into their children’s school experiences. As parents, we have an incredible opportunity to discuss observations we have made ourselves about the way our children learn as they sit next to us at home. What a gift!
Communication between school and home is so common, continual and critical, that our Three-way Conferences are able to serve a much more constructive purpose: we celebrate the achievements of the past and look to find opportunities for growth in the future.
Our teachers can’t wait to speak to you. These conferences are an opportunity to boast about some of our favourite people – students. I know our teachers are already scheming about ways of building their students’ confidence through these meetings.
MYP... Interdisciplinary Units
Another exciting opportunity in the School is our upcoming Interdisciplinary Units (IDUs) in Years 7 and 8. These teams of educators, led by Natalie Kunst (MYP Coordinator), Phuong Tran (Year 7 Coordinator) and Chris McDuff (Year 8 Coordinator), have organised an exciting opportunity for students to synthesise the learning from multiple disciplines into a self-led, inquiry-based research project.
Year 7s will be exploring the question ‘How do experiences in time, place and space contribute to the development of identities and connections?’, drawing from knowledge and skills in five of their current subjects: Language & Literature (English), Language Acquisition (French), Individuals and Societies, Health and Physical Education, and Drama.
Year 8s will be using the disciplinary knowledge of Music, Design, and Individuals and Societies to explore the question 'How can applying a design cycle help us to creatively develop and communicate an artistic intention?’.
We are so excited to see how our students engage with this innovative approach to learning, and that we are truly prioritising student agency, self-expression and self-determined understandings of achievement.
Dan Symons
Head of Campus