Newsletter, Term 1, Week 6 - Friday 5 March

Welcome!

As one of my first major projects since taking on the role of Principal last year, I have been working on introducing a new learning program called Deep Learning into the Scots classrooms.

I am passionate about the benefits it will bring to our students and staff - it will underpin all that we do in our classrooms by adding clarity and purpose to our curriculum.

We plan to run a parents’ information session and workshop called Design for Deep Learning (DDL) where we will explain the rationale behind the program and give you much greater detail.

The session will be on Tuesday, 27 April at 5.30pm, so put it in your diaries to save the date.

Designing for Deep Learning integrates academic skills with personal and social capabilities and gives priorities to those capabilities and dispositions that support whole-school learning and living. It doesn’t replace the NSW curriculum, it supports it.

The program helps school executives and senior teachers to incorporate six key learning competencies into their programs. The key competencies, known as the 6 Cs are:

Creativity
Having an 'entrepreneurial eye' for economic and social opportunities, asking the right inquiry questions to generate novel ideas, and leadership to pursue those ideas and turn them into action.

Critical Thinking
Critically evaluating information and arguments, seeing patterns and connections, constructing meaningful knowledge, and applying in the real world.

Communication
Communicating effectively with a variety of styles, modes, and tools (including digital tools), tailored for a range of audiences.

Character
Learning to deep learn, armed with the essential character traits of grit, tenacity, perseverance, and resilience; and the ability to make learning an integral part of living.

Citizenship
Thinking like global citizens, considering global issues based on a deep understanding of diverse values and worldviews, and with a genuine interest and ability to solve ambiguous and complex real-world problems that impact human and environmental sustainability.

Collaboration
Work interdependently and synergistically in teams with strong interpersonal and team-related skills including effective management of team dynamics and challenges, making substantive decisions together, and learning from and contributing to the learning of others.

I’m confident the program will enhance all areas of our teaching and learning; and encourage you to come along to learn more.

Meet the Learning Mentors

I was really pleased to see so much engagement from parents at our various Meet the Learning Mentors parent nights recently.

Learning Mentors will play a big role in your child’s life at school and they should always be the first person you contact for all information, concerns and celebrations for your child.

Sport

I love going to our swimming carnivals! They are always such happy occasions and are usually a feast of colour as students take the opportunity to dress in funky outfits in House colours.

I also like that swimming carnivals can be a serious outing for our competent and competitive swimmers, or a chance for a bit of fun and participation for the rest of the students. It’s encouraging to see students supporting each other at whatever level they are at.

We had a good number of students representing Scots at the RAS swimming competition this week - 27 junior swimmers and 47 senior swimmers - with 31 students from Years 3 - 12 who have now made it through to the Combined Independent Schools competition. There is a very clear line of progression for our talented students who progress from school to Region to State and National representation.

In other sport, we had 15 girls compete in the open age Tag Rugby competition and while we lost the first game, they played with great gusto and determination. Kinderkick got underway this week, too. Kinderkick is a program for our littlest students and focuses on their motor skills, hand-eye coordination and having fun. It’s run by the AFL development team and some of our older students help out.

Auskick, Net Set Go and Hoops, season 2, are being launched this week for Term 2. Football training starts next week for the four interschool teams in the U15 and Open categories of male and female competition. Over 70 students have signed up already.

Scholarships

We have now completed the current round of regional road trips where we delivered presentations to families about our Scholarship and Enrolment programs. Elsa Kilgour, Roger Barrows and I went to Leeton and Deniliquin; and Kelly McKay, Neale Poole and Sarah Rae met families in Deniliquin and Tocumwal.

We had a great turnout and it was a lot of fun to meet current and prospective families on their “home turf”. Stemming from these trips, we have an excellent pool of new students who have applied for scholarships. Scholarship testing is on Saturday, 13 March, and interviews will be conducted either that day or in the following weeks.

Year Parents and their roles

We have an amazing group of Year Parents who will be a conduit for other families in their respective year levels between home and the Head of Junior School or Senior School. The other roles of the Year Parent is to welcome new families, liaise with the Head of School on issues, concerns, ideas and resources; suggest workshop focus and arrange social events.

I’m very grateful to these people who have volunteered their time to carry out this important role: Kindergarten: Emily Dowling and Katherine Pilkington. Year 1: Emma Baird and Emily Staughton. Year 2: Heather Flynn. Year 3: Nicole Heinecke and Alice Gratton. Year 4: Julianne Toepfer and Laura Younger. Year 5: Puja Chowdhry. Year 6: Sophy Sirr. Year 7: Lisa Nicolson. Year 8: Tracey Woodhouse. Year 9: Catherine Burke and Claire Ritchie. Year 10: Jacquie Brooksby and Sonali John. Year 11: Jennifer Hodges. Year 12: Lou Newman and Anna Watson.

Camps

Students in Years 8-12 will go on camp in Week 10. Senior Leaders will be providing information soon on the App and Parent Lounge.

ALL students are expected to attend camp. Students not attending will be marked absent from school. Camps are an amazing way to learn about oneself, stretch capacity in many ways, experience new things and different places and learn things that are not possible to learn within the four walls of a classroom. They even give parents a break! 😊

Year 8 will be going to Cape Otway, Year 9 to the Grampians, Year 10 will go scuba diving and bushwalking near Merimbula, Year 11 will be at Anglesea and Year 12 will head to Melbourne for university visits.

Teacher Expert Network (TENs)

Two of our staff were selected from a very large pool of well credentialled candidates to represent the region in writing curriculum for the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA). This is part of NESA’s plan to revamp the curriculum framework over the next three years.

We are proud that Mr Agar and Ms Byrt will represent Scots, and all teachers in NSW, in this significant task.

7 New technology skills of the future

Schools, like many other institutions, are constantly trying to keep up with the next craze and whizz-bang piece of technology to ensure our students are engaged and have the best chance of success in their chosen career paths. A common question on school tours is: "Do you teach technology at Scots?" And the answer is an emphatic YES, but not always in the way people expect.

Using the SAMR model for inspiration, the Primary Years Program inquiry approach to learning at Scots ensures that teachers are always striving to redefine the use of technology in the classroom. This may mean focusing on technology as an opportunity for communicating our learning, using it to apply our learning in a practical setting or as a creative tool for design and performance.

Coding and robotics are also part of the equation, with students engaging in opportunities both within and outside of the classroom on this vital skills. However, much research has been completed into the types of skills the workforce of the future will need to cope with and effectively utilise these tools. These seven ‘competencies’ include:

devices and software operations
information and data literacy
digital content creation
cloud computing
digital communication and collaboration
digital problem solving, and
digital security and ethics.

At Scots, we look forward to working with students and our community to continue to develop these innovative learning opportunities for tomorrow's workforce and leaders. Read more about this research HERE:

The Big Crunch

Get ready for The Big Vegie Crunch! On Thursday, 18 March, at 10.00am our school will be joining hundreds of schools across NSW to break the record for the most students crunching vegetables simultaneously. But we need your help to make it a success!

On Thursday, 18 March, please pack your child a container of vegetables (not fruit this time) for them to crunch on. Need some ideas?

carrot, celery, cucumber – cut into sticks or left whole
capsicum – cut into sticks or wedges
corn – raw baby corn spears or a cooked corn cob
broccoli or cauliflower florets - raw or lightly cooked to keep their crunch
tomatoes – small cherry tomatoes or a large tomato that can be eaten like an apple
beans or snow peas - raw or lightly cooked to keep their crunch
mushrooms – sliced or left whole
if fresh veg isn’t possible, try canned or frozen vegetables instead

If you need more information on The Big Vegie Crunch, please contact the school.

Junior School Prefects' Update

This week’s learning update is from Year 4:

What inquiry unit are you doing right now?

Reggie: We are learning how to keep the brain healthy and identifying different parts of the brain.
Smyan: Our unit of inquiry is "an understanding of the self can contribute to successful learning".

What lines of inquiry are you looking into?

Smyan: What different parts of the brain do and how our brain keeps us alive.

How are you demonstrating your learning?

Reggie: We have been reading books on Epic and summarising the information we’ve found.
Smyan: In pairs, we took it in turns to lay our heads down on paper and trace around them. Then we cut open our heads to show the brain and wrote three responses from the books on Epic.
Reggie: We have created brains out of playdough using different colours to highlight the different parts.
Smyan: We discovered that the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body and vice versa.

What questions do you have about this inquiry?

Reggie: What do the sides of the brain control? and: What do the lobes control?

On Monday 8 March, we are hosting a breakfast with our students, parents & alumni in celebration of International Women's Day.

International Women's Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality.

IWD has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. Today, IWD belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. IWD is not country, group or organisation specific.

IWD 2021 campaign theme: #ChooseToChallenge

A challenged world is an alert world. Individually, we're all responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day, every day. We can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. We can all choose to seek out and celebrate women's achievements. Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world. From challenge comes change, so let's all choose to challenge.

Guest Speaker: Kim Hawley - Class of 2004

Kim is one of the owner/directors of Townsend Vets which she opened with close friend and Veterinarian Dr. Shelley Wiltshire in 2017. The practice was recently awarded the prestigious "Hospital of Excellence" accreditation, one of only 13 in New South Wales and 56 in Australia. The centre is the only accredited practice between Melbourne and Canberra.

Kim has a Bachelor of Animal Science BAnimSc and Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing.
She grew up in Albury, studied Animal Science at Melbourne Uni and worked for 10 years in a number of clinics, including specialist and emergency hospitals. She undertook further study in Emergency and Critical Care nursing and recently studied pet rehabilitation, aiming to decrease recovery times post surgery. Kim is now completing a Graduate Diploma of Veterinary Acupuncture through the College of Integrative Veterinary Therapies.

Kim will address the International Women’s Day theme of #choosetochallenge encouraging women to challenge themselves and the way they think.