The Anchor

Junior School 

From the Head of Junior School

The learner attribute in-focus this week is ‘confidence’. 

 

In my mind when I picture a confident student in a Junior School setting, I’m picturing the following:

  • A confident student approaches tasks with positivity, energy and enthusiasm
  • They seek out new experiences and put themselves forward when opportunities are presented
  • They feel confident because they themselves feel competent, well-prepared and of course, valued
  • They understand mistakes are part of the process of learning, and an opportunity to develop and improve
  • A confident student seeks solutions for themselves but is also comfortable asking for support, knowing that we all need help at times
  • A confident student enjoys the world around them, and their place in it

Of course, we know ourselves that we’re not always confident. Confidence varies depending on the context, and can be developed, but also eroded. This is where another learner attribute could be discussed, ‘resilience’, but we’ll save that for another time. 

 

In a school setting, we design our classrooms, playgrounds and learning programmes with confidence developing experiences in mind. Organising materials where students can access them independently, playground activities for a range of interests and abilities, learning experiences that encourage students to explore new concepts and skills, and providing opportunities to nominate themselves for different activities. 

 

Student led initiatives (student voice) is another key component of confidence building we value.  Just this week, our Year Six students wanted to organise lunchtime activities for other students to enjoy. They brainstormed the kind of activities students of different age groups might enjoy, prepared sign-up boards, then advertised the initiative to students. The activities will probably be a lot of fun, the students will no doubt learn a range of new skills (social and technical), but they will also grow in confidence when they see their ideas come to fruition. Student voice is recognised in subtle ways also, through suggestions and questions students raise to teachers and their peers for example. Honouring those moments of student voice demonstrates that we value student contributions, fostering their confidence building.

 

If developing your child’s confidence is a particular focus for you, we are always happy to support families with suggestions or complementary strategies between home and school; please feel comfortable speaking with your child’s classroom teacher, Miss Claire Hard – Early Childhood Coordinator, Mrs Leah Field – Assistant Head of Junior School or myself. 

 

It is a joy to see confident children interacting with others and stretching their abilities. Everything becomes an opportunity for them to explore, and enjoy.

 

With warm regards, and thanks

Mr Ken Raven | Head of Junior School

Year One Excursion

 

On Tuesday, 18 very excited Year One students (and four excited staff!) set off on their first school excursion.

 

They visited the Museum of the Great Southern first and, as part of their Science unit on Minibeasts, they took part in a range of practical hands-on workshops entitled ‘Incredible Insects’. The highlight of this experience being the handling of a huge stick insect, at the end of the workshop.

 

The next part of the excursion covered the HASS and Design Technologies topic of ‘The Features of Parks’. Year One students reinforced their understanding of natural, managed and constructed features of parks through their visits to the Albany Peace Park, Eyre Park and Emu Point playground. 

 

Here, students classified different features, drew labelled diagrams and took photos using their iPads of different playground equipment. They will use these in class to learn more about the design process of such equipment and will construct their own 3D models to replicate these.  However, the labelled diagrams could not be properly drawn without some very important hands-on exploration of the equipment first!

 

The excursion was summed up by one student who was heard to say “This was the best day of my life!”

 

Thank you to Mrs Carlene Webster, Miss Claire Hard and Ms Elinor Couper for joining us on this fun-filled excursion!

 

Mrs Fiona Gouldthorp | Year One Teacher