A new school year is full of new opportunities. Students have had a week or so in their new classes with new teachers undertaking new learning. If you are also new to the school you may well be craving something familiar! Fresh starts can be daunting for some and exciting for others. When I ask people how their year is going the response ranges from “It will take a bit of getting used to” to “Great! Loving it”. I pray that your children are loving the new year and if they are not that they will adjust quickly and settle in well.
I was reading the results of an OECD study recently, which identified that Australian students experience higher levels of stress than many of the other countries who participated in the study. Much of this stress is related to the pressure to do well in their assessment tasks, the need to feel a sense of community and friendship or wanting positive relationships with teachers. The pressure to do well at school is a very real challenge for many students. However, it is worth remembering that whilst all students want to do their best there are many pathways to success for students and they are never defined by their test scores. As a new year begins we encourage students to embrace the challenge of learning, no matter what the level, because all students have the ability to learn and improve.
As a school, we are engaging in teaching and learning strategies to assist students on their learning pathways. A focus this year on differentiation and classroom routines is aimed at providing a classroom environment which creates the opportunity for all students to learn well. The outcomes and recommendations of the OECD study point us to one of our school value statements which is “Everyone wants to learn and everyone wants to belong.
The writer of the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible identifies an important component to both learning and what the OECD call “life satisfaction”. In Ecclesiastes 4:9 – 12 its says, “Two people are better than one, because they get more done by working together. If one falls down, the other can help him up. But it is bad for the person who is alone and falls, because no one is there to help. If two lie down together, they will be warm, but a person alone will not be warm. An enemy might defeat one person, but two people together can defend themselves; a rope that is woven of three strings is hard to break”. No matter what our circumstances our lives are designed for community.
I pray that your child will thrive in their learning this year and that they will be able to find and be a friend to others in the school.
