Acting Head of Campus - Arlington

Active & Challenging Learning!

"As global citizens we encourage an awareness of world issues and encourage effort to make a positive difference... small actions provide Preshil children and other young people with the feeling that they are powerful and can help those less fortunate than themselves."

Courage document, p. 29

These words are especially pertinent this term through the planned learning experiences for our Arlington students. Whether in the upper primary school in the 10s & 11s where they will have the opportunity to inquire into  their responsibilty for taking action on sustainability issues at Arlington and beyond, to the delivery of blankets to the RSPCA by students in the 6s & 7s and indigenous plantings in the Pines by students across the whole school, this term promises to challenge us all to put our skills and knowledge into action to make positive change in our world.

The upcoming school camps for the 8s & 9s (next week) and the 10s & 11s (week 4) also provide opportunities to take responsibility for themselves and others as they work in teams in a new and challenging learning environment.

This term will also see the continuation of the 'Playworlds Project' in the 4s & 5s, where they engage in the development of abstract concepts through play with Oriana and Rebecca. The 6s & 7s have begun a science program with Adam, our IT boffin, in which they travel to the secondary school multimedia space to engage in learning about rocket science through computer game-based play. The 10s & 11s are also heading to the secondary campus every Tuesday to participate in the Electives program, to deepen their interests and challenge their understandings in fields such as 3D printing, coding and arduino. A similar STEAM-based elective program is also being established during this term for all of our Upper primary students.

We look forward to seeing how the students accept the challenge to put their learning and experiences into action and supporting them to continue to become more powerful agents of change in their world.

Powerful Learning

Our thoughtful teachers engaged in their own action during their first day back this term. They were very fortnuate to have the opportunity to work with Edna Sackson, an Educational Consultant, who led explorations to establish clear 'Learning Principles' for learning at Arlington.

Her reflections on the intense and challenging sessions can be viewed on her most recent blog. We look forward to continuing to identify how these beliefs are put into practice to continually develop and challenge the growth of our students.

Anthony Cavagna

Acting Head of the Primary School