Learning and Teaching 

2021.....and the Learnings

As the year draws to a close, 2021 will more likely be looked upon again as a year ‘interrupted by the pandemic’. Whilst this is a fair assessment, it is also a good time to look at the year from a learning perspective; to make sense of it, to think about how we have grown as people, and to ensure that we capitalise on our individual and collective experience.

With an interrupted start to the year a sign of things to come, we endured a number of lockdowns whereby we had to switch at short notice to remote learning. Although not a popular switch to make- and rightly so- our capacity as learners to make adjustments, show resilience and persistence, and to remain focused on what we were trying to achieve continually came to the fore. The level of independence required in students increases markedly off site, and yet the significant majority of students and the community were certainly able to meet the challenge. From a learning perspective, we were able to explore the best way to do this, making us more adept to other modes of learning that will be required in the future.

Transitions and change often present many challenges, and for some of us, our desire to make or embrace change may be minimal. Nevertheless, you only have to watch the nightly news, visit a University or access material online that looks at what the future may hold to see that the world is rapidly changing and will continue to do so. We are educating our students for a world that doesn’t yet exist. What does remain, in spite of change and uncertainty, are elements of us as people that have seen us through difficulty and allowed us to evolve as a society. Our relationships with others, our faith and spirituality, an open and yet critical mind, a willingness to explore and learn, and indeed a commitment to bettering ourselves in spite of the obstacles placed before us will always remain valuable. 2021 has required all of these, ’future-proofing’ us for what lies ahead, which is good learning indeed.

‘And where to from here?’, you might well ask. It is certainly been the topic of much discussion, especially considering that many believe that interruptions to the school year may not be over. The discussions at St Bede’s have largely been around having high expectations as the students and broader community rebound from what has been a difficult time. We are well aware that in some cases, those expectations won’t always be met, however when they are, it is cause for acknowledgement and celebration. It too shows that we are learning and opens our minds to what we are perhaps capable of. What happens in classrooms is a significant part of the education that St Bede’s College provides, however developing our young people to not only survive, but to thrive into the future means developing them as complete individuals with a disposition to learn their way through. It’s certainly been done in the past two years, and there is no reason as to why it can’t be done again, whatever the context.

We are grateful for the support offered by families over the course of 2021; we know it has been difficult however have been heartened by your willingness to support both the school and students with their learning and growth as young people. We live in hope that 2022 will present better times for us all, however whatever happens, please know that we walk the journey with you. Have blessed Christmas and holiday season and we look forward to seeing you in the new year.

Brenden Mair

Deputy Principal - Teaching and Learning