iServi News | 11 December 2020 | Term 4, Week 9
As we come to the end of the school year of 2020, I would like to take the opportunity to reflect on the academic year we have experienced together. When we commenced the year, none of us had any idea of what was just around the corner. By about half way through Term One, it became apparent that we needed to prepare for the inevitability of a lockdown due to COVID-19. I am in awe at the way our Servite staff came together as a learning community to problem solve, up-skill, re-think, re-design to develop a robust and engaging remote learning program in a matter of weeks. I am also in awe of our students who adapted quickly to remote learning with its different routines and structures. We witnessed the agility of the whole community in adapting to new ways. Mistakes were made and learned from, growth happened, and as a learning community we thrived together.
As the year progressed, we placed a strong emphasis on our Servite learning skills. Teachers have been making the skills (critical thinking, creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, and entrepreneurship) visible around the College, through the language we use, noticing and highlighting when students are using these skills and specifically including them in programs and assessment outlines. These skills are transferable across any form of work and industry and are what our young people need to help them ‘thrive in a time of rapid social and technological change, and complex environmental, social and economic challenges’ (Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration, 2019).
As the year draws to a close I would encourage you to take some time with your children to reflect on their academic year. Have they noticed their learning skills developing? Did they achieve their goals? What are their new goals for 2021?
Finally I wish you all a wonderful and blessed Christmas and I hope that you spend time enjoying the company of family and loved ones. Have a relaxing break and I look forward to seeing you all next year.
Mrs Monica Maxwell
(Acting) Deputy Principal Teaching and Learning