Over the past few weeks and across our most recent break, I spent a lot of time reading about the effect of home learning and our current world situation on our students’ mental health – with a view to ensuring our students are coping and managing and adapting to our new situation. Some of the articles I read articulated that living in the present can be a present in itself, but during a global pandemic, when the world is in crisis, reflecting only on the 'now' may lead to frustration because much of the current situation is outside our control.

Solutions were varied, but one that fits with our focus on mindset is if we consider adopting a journey metaphor for getting through COVID-19. 

Success is not a box to be ticked on our bucket list and forgotten thereafter, rather, we can consider it a journey. This alternative notion forces us to reflect on the steps that brought us achievement or failure in the past, and to then apply those lessons in the future.

As we think about navigating COVID-19 and its impact, a focus solely on the destination may result in frustration, because if a problem is not solved right away and we fail at reaching our destination, all may seem to be lost. It's really easy to think that way in 2020 when everything seems to be going south and the only thing we're holding out for is a vaccine. Despite everything happening in the world, we might be able to cope with it better if we change our mindset slightly and stop looking for a solution.

The journey mindset is about acknowledging our past meaningful successes and failures and continuing that trend to our present moment and into the future, and the consequent understanding that success does not exist in isolation – it is often bounded by failure that propels us forward.  

So how do we achieve a journey mindset? During this pandemic, many of us are connecting more with friends and family, reacquainting ourselves with hobbies, and finding more creative ways to work… even from home. Being grateful, meditating, keeping a gratitude journal, writing down goals and feelings can help refocus on our journey through, rather than solution to. Success, after all, is not all about goals; it's also about growing, learning and changing… It’s about our journey. 

This week I had the good fortune to visit our Prep students as they reached a significant milestone in their schooling journey – reaching 100 days of Prep. Our Prep students collectively celebrated their journey; their wins, their growth (I got taller, I can ride a bike and I can make my bed) and so importantly, the learning they are still looking forward to achieving (tying their shoelaces and losing their front teeth). At the other end of the College, Senior School students have parent teacher interviews – an important pause in their educational journey – a time for reflection, but also goal setting.

Instead of trying to look for happiness in the final solution, we need to focus more on finding meaning in the entirety of the journey we travel.

Joanne Sheehy Principal/Head of College

A wise woman once told me “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” Last week, you will have seen your child’s Semester 1 report published. This provides an important opportunity for families to reflect together about the learning and achievements from the year so far and most importantly, to make plans for the next steps in your child’s learning. Goal setting is an important part of any learner’s journey, whether they be children or adult learners. When setting goals, it is important to consider the strategies that will need to be put in place, the important stepping stones, that will help your child to achieve success.

When engaging in reflective conversations with your children, particularly after a reporting period, I encourage you to consider the recommendations from your child’s teacher regarding the goals and strategies in order for continued growth to occur. Learning goals should always consider both academic achievement and work habits, as improving both will lead to greater outcomes in the future. By this stage of the term, your child’s teachers will have set goals with each child during class time and I encourage you to speak to your child about their goals. 

During class goal setting lessons, we use the SMART model. This ensures that goals are:

• Specific, 
• Measurable, 
• Achievable, 
• Realistic and 
• Timely.

When setting SMART goals, teachers carefully model and guide students to set their goals. It is important for students to understand that, in order to set a Specific goal, it will need to focus on a particular skill, understanding or behaviour.

We would never encourage students to focus on the outcome (for example: a grade, a reading level or being placed in a particular maths or reading group). All too often, I hear children say, “my goal is to get an A in maths.” By setting a goal based on an outcome, children have not identified what they need to improve and therefore, cannot implement appropriate strategies to achieve success. It is important to remember that grades improve as a result of an improvement of skills, knowledge or understanding. For example, if a child’s goal is to infer meaning and make connections with their own experiences when reading, this will improve their comprehension. As a result, this may lead to the child achieving a higher reading level.

When speaking with your child about their goals for the term, ensure you also ask your child about their goal to improve their work habits, as these are equally important and are the building blocks for success in the future. Knowing how to be resilient, persevere, show initiative, focus and manage time wisely are all skills that adults need draw upon every day in a multitude of situations. Developing these skills, along with good study habits, will help enable your child to become a lifelong learner.

I thank you for supporting your child by continuing these conversations at home and helping your child to reflect upon their learning.

Rebecca Taylor Deputy Head of Junior School: Teaching and Learning

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 Jeanette Maxwell - Head of Pathways

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (early 2019-20 summer holidays) I was one of 16 Years 10-12 students from across Australia chosen by United Nations Youth Australia to tour the U.S. for the American Political Tour.

This tour sought to educate participants from an objective viewpoint on the complexities of the unique bilateral relationship between Australia and the U.S., so that we can improve political discourse and decision-making as future leaders.

Although the trip was jam-packed with a myriad of lifelong memories and phenomenal consultations, the educational highlights of the tour across New York City, NY, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco, CA, were that we:

• attended private International Politics and Global Economics lectures at Columbia University;
• learnt about Australia’s role in multilateralism from the Honourable Mitch Fifield, Australia’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, as well as visited the United Nations NYC Headquarters;
• consulted with Australia’s Political Ambassador, Paul Myler at the Australian Embassy, to learn of his role in protecting Australia’s interests within the dynamic U.S. political environment;
• were educated on macroeconomics and Australia’s current and future impact in the global economy at the International Monetary Fund;
• consulted with non-profit global policy think tank, the RAND Corporation’s Vice President, International, Charles Ries, a veteran U.S. Ambassador and senior U.S. foreign service officer himself, to learn of the impact of the institution’s objective analysis and research on national legislation;
• toured the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defence, where we were educated on Australia and the U.S. combined military history and allyship;  
• were guided by ‘The New Yorker’ journalist, Jason Chatfield, assessed the impact of Fake News and Truth Decay on dissemination of information in the U.S., Australia and the world, and how to combat it.

I am forever incredulous about how amazing this tour was from both educational and social perspectives and am extremely grateful to have been afforded this opportunity. In an increasingly polarised world in which new geo-political tensions arise every day, I look forward to using the knowledge and skills gained to assist in the future global governance and combatting fundamental challenges that threaten democracy, multilateral and bilateral cooperation and peace.   

Jodie Down Year 11 Student   

You can read more about Jodie’s experiences with United Nations Youth Australia, and Queensland Youth Parliament, in the upcoming edition of Vision Splendid – out September. 

• 

  How do scientists classify minibeasts
• How can we describe the appearance of minibeasts using detailed vocabulary and scientific terminology?
• What distinguishing features do insects and other minibeasts have?
• How do minibeasts protect themselves against predators in order to survive in their environments?

These are just some of the questions students of Year 1 have posed as part of our minibeast living creatures studies this term. 

In Year 1, we have entered the magical and intriguing world of minibeasts as part of our Science (understanding living creatures) and English (exploring information reports) units. We will enjoy finding out important facts about butterflies, bees, ants, praying mantises and stick insects, to name just a few. 

There are interesting ways to depict these creatures using WOW words and phrases within descriptive sentences and we will continue to explore these during our literacy lessons this term. We have been doing this with the help of our VCOP (vocabulary, connectives, openers, punctuation) friends who encourage us to add extra sparkle and flair to our written work. 

The beautiful, colourful butterfly came zooming across the amazing blue sky and it’s coming straight towards me. Phew! That was close! Oh, look at the amazing tricks that it is doing. Fantastic!  Kobe Yep, 1D

The green praying mantis is hopping from plant to plant with its long legs.  Elsie Hardy, 1K 

The most beautiful butterfly flew smoothly across the bright blue sky. Then it landed softly on my smooth arm and it was very tickly! Ivy Sun, 1D

The dangerous scorpion used his sharp claws to defend himself from the magnificent snake.  Jude Higgins, 1K

The hairy baby spider was black. I was eating my delicious fruit salad until… BOOM! The little hairy spider ate all of my delicious fruit salad! But there was one more thing spiders like to do …. BITE ME! Bite, Bite, Bite, Bite …. “ouch!”.  Victoria Challinger, 1D

The fast and scary wasp was chasing me around the lush, green oval.  Darius Arian, 1D 

The beautiful butterfly flew extremely high into the blue sky. The bright butterfly flew across the shiny green trees. Have you ever seen a bright butterfly fly before?  Lucas Hu, 1D

The camouflaged praying mantis is sneaking up on its prey. The toxic ladybug is eating delicious bugs that damage the crops.  Jayden Huang, 1K

The shiny, green grasshopper sprinted along the lush, green grass. Have you ever seen a grasshopper? The slimy caterpillar was slithering along the leaves and munching on them. Have you ever seen a caterpillar munch before?  Alexis Walmsley, 1D

Year 1 students continue to be captivated by the study of entomology and will regularly engage in rich ‘Big Talk’ discussions and ‘Big Write’ sessions covering the following areas when studying a particular minibeast:

• Classification
• Description of appearance
• Habitat
• Diet
• Other interesting facts

Here are some factual statements about some of our favourite miniature creatures:

All caterpillars have different colourful skin. They walk slowly and eat nice, fresh, juicy, green leaves. They make a cocoon and take a nap. Then they turn into a beautiful butterfly.  Evan Yao, 1L

Bees use their stinger to protect themselves from dangerous predators.  Leo Zambolt, 1B

The stripy, colourful caterpillar eats fat, big, green leaves to turn into a brown cocoon and into a beautiful butterfly.  Wenxi Shang, 1L

Spiders have eight legs and can be coloured brown or green. Sometimes they can be fuzzy and hairy. To protect themselves they have a venomous bite!  George Hu, 1B

Caterpillars eat lovely, tasty, big, green, juicy, crunchy leaves.  Benjamin Jiao, 1L

 Ants are tiny creatures and they can bite. Some are even poisonous. Ants can carry 50 times their size in weight!  Adam Corrigan, 1B

Year 1 students look forward to future Science and English lessons this term, where we will continue to explore this marvellous world of minibeasts together, using our growth mindsets and demonstrating the character strengths of curiosity and a love of learning.

Georgina Burrows, Trent Davis, Jana Kubaska and Jade Lucy - Year 1 Teachers

100 Days of Prep have been marked with a fun and exhausting day of celebrations and activities for our exuberant, resilient, bright, happy, inspiring, determined, remarkable Preps, and their amazing teaching team!

Our Preps got into the spirit of the occasion by parading in their extraordinary T-shirt designs – a big shout out to the creative geniuses who wielded hot glue guns, coloured pens, double-sided sticky tape and sewing needles to produce those fashion masterpieces! Wow!

The 100 Days celebration was capped off by a special visit from Principal/Head of College, Joanne Sheehy, and a surprise appearance by that mysterious ‘0’-loving caped counting crusader, Zero the Hero!

Congratulations to our Preps and Prep families – what an incredible ‘100 days’ it has been!