Future Leaders 2017

l Secrets to success

l Lessons from Finland

A guide to education in Sydney

l Battling bullies September 2017

Wentworth Courier l Manly Daily l North Shore Times l Mosman Daily

High flyers Top HSC students share their study tips and hopes for the future

The classrooms of tomorrow

Potential is given.

Ideas are nurtured.

Learning to collaborate and innovate, to solve problems and to provide experiences that engage and inspire is a priority at Barker College.

The School has introduced several initiatives that focus on service partnerships both in the School and that will help to develop the leadership skills of our students for a life beyond Barker.

With the aim of building stronger connections between Barker’s students from the Senior, Junior Schools and Darkinjung Barker on the Central Coast, The Triangle Effect, was established. Students from each of these campuses participate in a peer mentoring program which focuses on three areas - leadership, mentorship and fellowship.

This service partnership involves a fortnightly mentoring program where Senior students interact with Darkinjung students through a range of student run activities.

The Social Justice Captains also help to develop a greater focus on service partnerships in the School. Service Partnerships is a school-wide approach to service learning that provides all students with opportunities to partner and serve both within the school and beyond. There are many service learning programs at Barker that offer leadership opportunities for all.

This year they have included:

Hampers For Hornsby Now in its fourth year, Barker’s Middle School leaders have established a partnership with St Peters Anglican Church in Hornsby.

Students encourage all members of the Barker community to donate items for hampers that will be given to St Peters, for them to distribute to people in need in the local community.

Timeout Timeout is a student run basketball program for children with a disability. Time Out aims to help students from Barker and the local community to grow in character and friendship, whilst also giving parents an opportunity to relax and unwind, hence the name Time Out.

Service & Leadership in Timor-Leste This leadership and service opportunity is in partnership with Rotary Australia, who have established long term connections with local Timor-Leste communities. Barker students are involved in teaching English to children in the local communities, as well as supporting the running of the Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment (RYPEN) - a Youth Leadership Conference coordinated by Rotary International.

S.E.A.L Week In the final few weeks of the school year, Year 10 students participate in a three day leadership program with a focus on service and leadership. S.E.A.L Week an acronym for Serves Humanity with Enthusiasm,

Action & Leadership offers students a unique opportunity to plan and produce a fun interactive and engaging workshop for a group of Junior School students. The workshop is focussed around a lesson of ‘leadership or character’ where senior students have the opportunity to teach valuable leadership principles to the Junior School students.

Clarke Road Once a fortnight, Year 11 students visit Clark Road School for students with a disability.

Students learn, work and play alongside the students from Clarke Road and in doing so develop empathy and meaningful connections with each other.

Red Shield Appeal Barker has for many years supported the efforts of the Salvation Army annual door knock appeal. Student volunteers in partnership with Pennant Hills/Cherrybrook Rotary club door knock and collect funds that contribute to a range of community services provided by the Salvation Army. This program fosters connections between the student community and local volunteers and cultivates a sense of social responsibility within the Barker community.

Barker’s approach is to prepare its students to become confident leaders in a changing world where complex problems will need creative solutions.

www.barker.college

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Future leaders 2017 t

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Flexible learning New age classrooms

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Co-ed versus single-sex The arguments for and against

Secrets to success Boosting NAPLAN results

The Finnish model Education that leads the world

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High flyers Top students share their tips

Positive parenting How to help your child

Sense of purpose Building up learning skills

Adding up Learning to like maths

Bullying behaviour

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How to respond

Schools of tomorrow Education has come a long way

Sweet dreams The importance of sleep

Eating disorders The early warning signs

32 Artwork & design: Mark Nulty Sub editor: Chris Cordina Product manager: Daniel Lane Advertising manager: Olivia Beringer Cover photographer: Daniel Munoz

Leadership skills Old school lessons

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hances are that the type of education you received at school was very different to that of your children. Parents might remember traditional classrooms set up with rows of desks all facing the teacher and a blackboard.

Children were expected to sit upright and pay attention to the same prepared lesson.

Today there is a shift away from these types of formal learning environments to more flexible spaces, some even designed by the children.

In this publication, education expert Greg Whitby explains why a one-size-fits-all approach no longer cuts it. He says students need critical thinking, creativity and communication skills to succeed in the workplaces of the future.

We look at the Finnish model where teachers stress grades as little as possible yet the country consistently scores highly on international league tables. The ability to teach children good learning habits becomes just as important as set skills in an ever-changing and uncertain world.

But while some things change, others remain the same - and bullying continues to be a concern.

Wenona School principal Briony Scott urges us to take a good look at ourselves and explains how parents can work through this difficult issue with their children.

UK learning expert Phil Beadle shares his top five tips for being a successful parent. He says the pressure on kids to grow up too quickly is all encompassing but parents can help by providing a sense of security.

And some inspiring young future leaders who scored exceptional results in the HSC last year share their experiences and hopes for the future.

Cathy Morris editor

Future Leaders is a special advertising supplement included in selected editions of the Wentworth Courier, Manly Daily, Mosman Daily and North Shore Times in September. Published by NewsLocal Newspaper Group. This supplement does not imply any endorsement by these publications.

No part of this supplement can be reproduced without the written approval of the publisher.

For additional copies of Future Leaders or to advertise, call 02 9288 3507 or email display@newslocal.com.au.

uFuture leaders 2017

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Classrooms to inspire Schools are ditching desks and chairs for flexible learning spaces and reaping the rewards.

By Bruce McDougall

t progressive and innovative schools across NSW the future already has arrived. Students as young as nine are turning traditional notions of education on their head, taking charge of their learning from the start by designing their own classrooms. At the coalface of change, principal Michael Tonnet says the hands-on involvement by Year 4 children building their own learning spaces is a lesson in itself.

“There is a lot of mathematics, collaboration, communication and critical thinking happening to select the most appropriate furniture,” says the principal of St Andrews Primary School, Marayong.

So heavily involved are the primary students in the fitout of the new classrooms at their school that they email principal Tonnet requesting budget details. It now accepted that the days of the traditional “box-like” school classroom with students sitting at desks neatly arranged in rows with a single teacher at the front of the room are over.

Schooling across all of the education sectors - independent, Catholic and government - is being turned upside down as educators embrace technology and new ways of engaging children.

The head of Catholic schools in the Parramatta diocese Greg Whitby says the real education revolution is all about “agile learning” and making learning spaces much more flexible.

Change has come not just to what is taught but to where learning happens. Cafestyle work booths, soft lounges, wave chairs, cube chairs, amphitheatres and even standup learning are rapidly becoming the norm in new and renovated schools. “Borderless learning” is changing the way that students work and creating a template for others across the state.

Some classrooms now look more like the Star Trek ship Enterprise than a traditional school setting, allowing children freedom to move around and morph into smaller and larger groups depending on the learning activity. Unlike traditional classrooms, flexible spaces allow students to work on individual activities at their own pace or in small groups. They can accommodate large numbers of students of all levels of ability and several teachers.

It is redesigning education around children’s passion and engagement, according to one principal. But the new spaces catering for up to 100 students at a time are nothing like the barn-like “open” classrooms of the 1970s. In the digital world teachers have the ability to personalise learning for every

Future leaders 2017 t

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Left to right (clockwise): Anzac Park Public pupils enjoy their non-traditional classrooms; St Andrews Primary School pupils design their own classrooms and St Catherine’s School pupils make the most of flexible spaces.

student. Many educators are now well advanced in evolving modern-age learning setups which include new classroom layouts and furniture to go with the tablets, laptops and electronic smart boards.

The new school designs are emerging across the independent and government school sectors. At St Catherine’s School, Waverley, Year 4 teacher Katharyn Reid describes her students’ learning space as more like a “lab” than a classroom. There is no teacher’s desk and the children do not have assigned seats or name tags.

Instead, there is flexible seating that can include stand-up desks and whiteboard tables. “Everything in and around the classroom is there to spark interest, encourage questions and empower students to think differently and creatively,” Ms Reid says.

A 3D fish tank sets the tone for the room tranquil and calm. Most of walls are floor-toceiling glass allowing in natural light and the room is dominated by a huge glass cabinet filled with artefacts including vintage books and Edward de Bono’s thinking hats.

Ms Reid says: “All work on display is the students’ work and every item in the room is a step in their thinking process. Their ideas are documented using post-it notes and visual representations. As their teacher it is my responsibility to set up their thinking space and design their learning experiences in a way that is relevant and meaningful to them, constantly considering the world in which they are growing up.”

Not everyone likes the idea of turning classrooms into “creative learning hubs” and some critics have expressed concern about noise and students’ concentration

Designed for the future l Flexible spaces allow students to work on individual activities at their own pace or in small groups. l Spaces offer privacy but not secrecy with an intentional absence of traditional corridors and identical desks. l A family learning table features a dozen seats typically embraced by students as a quiet place to learn. l Hot colours are designed to encourage creativity.

levels in the larger spaces. But educators allay parents’ fears, saying modern teaching and student management techniques will ensure they work. They say children are better motivated by learning in more varied and enjoyable surroundings.

Primary schools that have banished traditional desks and chairs and remodelled classrooms around beanbags and booths report a dramatic lift in academic results.

International education guru Stephen Heppell has been in Australia helping to reshape schools with the aim of producing a new generation of smart students who

are creative and critical thinkers. Professor Heppell, a global expert in learning spaces, has written a manual for the new arrangements: spaces that offer privacy but not secrecy with the intentional absence of traditional corridors, rows of identical desks and chairs, a teacher zone and closed doors.

Walls and even the teacher’s desk have disappeared in some cases. In many schools, according to Prof Heppell, they have been spectacularly successful with greater engagement, better learning, improved results and more enjoyment. He says: “If you want to know the secret of discipline then give kids tasks that are engaging and make them want to learn. I have never seen a kid on holiday reading while sitting upright on a chair like those they had in schools.”

Protocols for the learning spaces are laid down covering the purpose of each zone and the behaviour required. Educators say these work more effectively when the students are a “major part of the conversation”.

In science spaces students may start a project exploring the ambient temperature, light and sound levels and other aspects of the environment.

“Learners love to do this work and are always amazed by what it reveals about their existing learning spaces,” Prof Heppell says.

Other areas may include a “family learning table” offering a dozen seats typically embraced by students as a place to work quietly alone. The guru likens them to a gym “where people work alongside each other without conversation”.

Then there is tiered seating for whole group instruction and important material that the teacher does not want any student to miss.

The new, large spaces may also have “attention squares” allowing the teacher to address whole groups, quiet reading zones, collaboration/conversation tables and writeable surfaces on walls, desks or windows so students’ work can be captured as a digital photo and saved for revision. Teachers provide feedback directly onto the wall, desk or window. Debate rages about pen writing versus new technologies but progressive educators say writing on surfaces and capturing the work digitally with a tablet or smart phone combines both.

One principal says: “The kids find the atmosphere very calming and they are very engaged in their learning. In many ways you have to be even more structured (than in a traditional classroom) ... the students problemsolve, they think about where they work and who they are working with.”

Hot colours are a key feature of new classrooms, designed to encourage creativity.

Orange chairs have been a huge hit along with purples, blues and lime green. Early adopters of the classroom redesign such as Quakers Hill Public in Sydney’s west report “astronomical” results.

While supportive of greater flexibility in classroom design, the NSW Primary Principals’ Association has been wary of adopting a “cookie-cutter” approach to learning.

Veteran principal Geoff Scott says: “What we know is that kids don’t all learn in the same way. So I think this has to be done with flexibility. It is very much a not one-size-fitsall. You have to be a bit wary of following fads because the reality is beanbags don’t make the learning a lot better, it’s the quality of the teaching.’’

Let Your Light Shine

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At Redlands, the rich and balanced education program is aimed at developing well-rounded, confident and compassionate young adults who are prepared to make a natural transition into life beyond school and embrace the challenges and new opportunities that lie ahead.

A Real World Education The inclusive co-educational Preschool to Year 12 learning environment encourages a healthy respect between girls and boys and develops emotional intelligence and maturity, all critical attributes for life in the 21st Century.

In Years 11-12, students have the flexibility to develop their own individual pathway to academic success with the choice of studying the Higher School Certificate or the International Baccalaureate.

Girls and boys learn with and from each other and share a rich diversity of ideas and experiences to broaden their perspectives and strengthen their academic performance.

Redlands has offered the International Baccalaureate for more than 25 years, longer than any other school in NSW. Today, more than 100 Redlands students are enrolled in the IB course, studying an extensive range of subjects under the guidance of specialist IB teachers.

“Our top students demonstrate that both girls and boys achieve academic excellence in a co-educational environment, the same environment in which they will live their future lives,” said Redlands Principal, Dr Peter Lennox.

Leaders of Tomorrow The Redlands model of leadership sees girls and boys standing together in a range of leadership positions right throughout the School and leadership is nurtured and developed in students from the very youngest years of schooling.

Students participate in a range of Pastoral programs to develop life skills such as leadership, team building, commitment and resilience, both in and out of the classroom.

They are mentored by business and community leaders from Redlands diverse parent body, who share their international leadership expertise in programs such as Australian Business Week.

There are external opportunities to develop global perspectives on leadership. Taking part in the UN Evatt Competition provides an opportunity for students to debate for the rights of the various countries they

represent and participating in the School for Effective Leadership in Hong Kong helps students develop leadership skills with other students from around the world.

Leadership at Redlands is infused with a sense of purpose. The Service program encourages students to use their leadership skills to make a positive difference in the world through a wide range of service activities.

“At Redlands we provide extensive opportunities, not only to enable each student’s light to shine brightly, but to shine for the benefit of others and make their own unique contribution to the world around them,” said Dr Lennox.

To arrange a tour of our School please phone Mrs Kate Carey on 9968 9856 or email registrar@redlands.nsw.edu.au

Redlands, Sydney Church of England Co-educational Grammar School 272 Military Road, Cremorne, NSW 2090 Australia Phone: 02 9968 9856 Web: www.redlands.nsw.edu.au

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uFuture leaders 2017

The case for co-education One of Sydney’s oldest boys’ schools, Barker College, is making the transition to become fully co-educational from 2018.

By Barker College head Phillip Heath

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fter careful consideration of the success of our existing co-education model and the emerging academic research on co-education, it is clear that the rich resources and experiences available at the school should be open to boys and girls in all years.

The world has shifted and school education is not immune to these changes. The world of work, the world of education, the world of employment and the world of leadership has shifted considerably in the 21st century. In response, more than 80 per cent of the world’s great schools have transitioned to co-ed. It is becoming the norm in most cities of the world.

Life is co-ed. We want to prepare young people for much more than an ATAR or even for life at university.

A person’s gender is no longer the determining factor in their life choices. We need to work together to make a respectful and inclusive national culture.

The purpose of education is to inspire transformation in the hearts and minds of our students. This is greatly enhanced by the differing perspectives offered by young men and women respectfully learning together.

For more than four decades Barker has enjoyed an outstanding senior co-educational experience for students in Years 10 to 12.

The time is right to complete that story and introduce girls all the way from Pre-K to Year 12.

We know the purposes for which schools were once established have now changed dramatically.

Students once went into predictable careers in a world that was generally unchanging. But now we know that gender is far less of an accurate predictor of a student’s

Learning to work together for the future Phillip Heath says his school’s transition to co-education recognises the seismic social changes that have occurred since the college was established in 1890. vocational choice. We have considered carefully the nature of the research into how students learn and we are certain that we need greater inclusion and greater diversity among the experience of our students.

We are also certain that including the minds of young men and women together will make them future-minded and able to

make a valuable contribution to society. Students of the school welcome the opportunity to have their family in the school together.

By bringing boys and girls together from Pre-Kindergarten it allows them to grow up together without sensation, without challenge, so they can understand the minds of each other.

Behind the scenes much work is being done to prepare for the girls who will join us in Pre-K and Kindergarten in 2018, from Year 3 in 2019 and from Year 7 in 2020.

As we move towards co-education, we have evaluated our existing well-regarded pastoral systems. We will be enhancing these to provide a more varied experience for our students with further opportunities for them to engage with other year groups.

Given the increasing number of students, we have already expanded our sports choices to include AFL, girls’ rugby 7s, boys’ dance and touch football. Our focus is on providing

the best possible co-curricular programs to complement the learning that occurs in the traditional classroom setting.

Construction will shortly commence on our new Junior School classrooms. This exciting development will bring the youngest members of the Barker community within the fold of the Junior School. The building captures the essence of a future-focused teaching and learning space; light and open with makerspaces and areas for groups to gather together.

Plans are also with Hornsby Council for our Sports and Learning precinct. This stateof-the-art, purpose-designed and built facility will provide five court spaces, gym and exercise spaces, rooms for dance, general purpose teaching areas, a cafe, viewing platform and parking for more than 150 cars.

With the commencement of girls in Pre-K and Kindergarten next year we will introduce updated and refreshed prep uniforms.

The uniforms have been designed by renowned couture designer Jonathan Ward and are fit for purpose. Mix-and-match options for boys and girls will be available, allowing parents the ability to choose the items best suited to their child.

Barker’s co-educational plan builds on an environment that embraces diversity and equality. It offers students the opportunity to experience a broad range of personalities, activities and lessons and provides positive peer role models who are male and female.

The overwhelming evidence from past and present families is that co-education provides an outstanding preparation for the real world that lies beyond the school gates.

Surely this is the proper concern of any good school.

Future leaders 2017 t

Why single-sex still has a place Single-sex schools can tailor every aspect of teaching and learning to meet the needs of the girls or boys in their care.

By Alliance of Girls’ Schools Australasia executive officer Loren Bridge

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ith so much uncertainty about the future of work and the skills our children will need for career and life success, how do we ensure they reach their potential and are prepared for the world after school?

Proponents of co-education argue that our world and specifically our workplaces are mixed gender, therefore our schools should be mixed gender.

But the reality for women is that our world and workplaces, while mixed gender, are a long way from being gender-equal.

Research into gender bias shows that girls as young as four perceive themselves to be less powerful than boys and that, by the age of five, children are well on their way to learning gender stereotypes.

High school girls are more likely to view their maths ability as “below average” and there is a significant difference between girls’ and boys’ subject choices, with fewer girls doing STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and fewer boys taking creative and humanities subjects. Once in the workplace, women are not represented equally in senior roles. They earn on average 19 per cent less than male counterparts and are impacted more by childcare responsibilities and caring for aged parents.

One of the major hurdles to boosting the number of women in senior leadership positions and STEM careers is giving girls the motivation, self-belief and resilience to disrupt gender bias. This is happening in girls’ schools where girls are more likely to reject gender stereotypes and are bucking the trend when it comes to studying STEM subjects.

Girls’ schools are sending their students on to study business, law and STEM degrees in record numbers - it is these areas that are tout-

Helping girls reach their potential Loren Bridge has worked in co-ed and single-sex learning environments and has a keen interest in women’s empowerment and gender equality.

ed as the lifeblood of emerging knowledgebased industries and jobs of the future.

Studies have shown that a girl’s environment plays an important role in explaining why she chooses to get involved and compete at school. Girls from single-sex schools behave more competitively than do co-educational girls. They are more assertive, willing to take risks, ask questions, make mistakes and participate at higher levels in sport and

physical education – skills that are advantageous for leadership and life success.

Vitally, girls’ schools provide a safe space for girls to learn to combat the gender bias and sexism that still exist within universities, workplaces and our broader communities — so that when girls leave school they know they are absolutely equal to their male peers and will accept nothing less.

Girls, too, are increasingly subjected to unrelenting pressure from traditional and social media over body image. They are often the victims of unwanted sexting, sexual harassment and exposure to pornography. The rise in anxiety, depression and self-harm in girls and young women in Australia is a major concern, with a 2016 Mission Australia report finding that nearly 30 per cent exhibited symptoms of a serious mental illness.

As specialists in girls, girls’ schools are uniquely focused on supporting students through these complex and difficult issues.

In contrast to co-ed schools, single-sex schools can tailor every aspect of teach-

ing and learning to meet the needs of the girls or boys in their care.

Many co-ed schools are trying to replicate the benefits of single-sex schooling with the introduction of single-sex classes.

At a student leadership conference this year the girls told a familiar story – their all-girls school was a place where they could be themselves, feel supported and confident.

As one Year 12 student put it: “You’re able to be more open … everyone has an equal chance to speak up and be heard.” And another: “Before I came to an all-girls school I was almost lost in the classroom … now academically I get a lot more out of it.” And on boys: “There’s plenty of opportunities to socialise with boys outside of school.

“We see boys everywhere but at school my focus is on learning.”

In some countries, most notably the US, single-sex education is in favour and on the rise. However, recently in Australia, five well-known boys’ schools announced that they would move to co-education. Yet since 2000 only one prominent girls’ school has converted to co-ed. Dig behind the rhetoric used to explain the decision of boys’ schools to change to co-ed and the driver is usually enrolment numbers, not students’ academic, social and emotional wellbeing.

Some research points to co-educational schooling having some benefits for boys but there is no evidence to suggest that girls do better academically in a co-ed environment.

Fundamentally, girls do better at girls’ schools, not just academically but in terms of their confidence and approach to challenges, risks and leadership. If we want fearless, strong girls who choose their own path and challenge gender bias and stereotypes, girls’ schools are able to provide the foundation.

uFuture leaders 2017

Strategies for success

How did this school on Sydney’s north shore become one of the highestperforming primary schools in Australia for NAPLAN results?

By Beauty Point Public School principal Shanti Clements wenty-first century teaching and learning is not just about activating students as digital learners in a techno-world, it is also about empowering students to be change makers in their schools.

At Beauty Point Public School we empower students to be “change agents” and active co-designers in their learning. Since the introduction of this approach in 2012, we have seen enormous benefits.

Within three years our school’s student performance results grew exponentially so that in 2015 we were ranked in the top 300 schools across Australia for our student growth results in the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN).

The journey continued in 2016 when our school was rated as Excelling in all 14 elements of the NSW School Excellence Framework. Our school’s success story demonstrates the power of student co-design and co-facilitation to help them reach their potential.

Traditionally, we give adults the power to enact change within a school, forgetting that it is equally important to give children the same opportunities. The reality is that we are not just preparing students for higher education, we are also preparing them for life in a VUCA world.

VUCA is a military and managerial acronym for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. Most recently, it has evolved into a new acronym known as VUCA PRIME: Vision, Understanding, Clarity and Agility.

Teaching this new perspective to students is essential if we are to help them balance the dynamic between volatility

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and vision or to manage change with the ages students, staff and parents to use the 7 habits to manage themselves, colability to self-regulate.

We have designed our programs to help laborate with others, develop their leaderthem to live their lives as confident and suc- ship abilities and unleash their potential each cessful global citizens and leaders, which is day at school. Specifically, the 7 habits help students to handle the aim of the education charter Principal Shanti challenging and complex situaendorsed by all Australian states tions with emotional and leaderand territories, the Melbourne Clements (pictured below with some ship intelligence.

Declaration (2008). We do this of her pupils) was in four ways: made a 2017 2 From Uncertainty To UnderCommonwealth standing – The Importance Of 1 From Volatility To Vision Bank and Schools Teams. We use the Imagina– The Importance Of LeaderPlus teaching tion First program to help our ship. To teach students how to fellow. students develop collaborative, be leaders and change agents, we implemented The Leader In Me pro- project-based learning skills. The Imaginagram in 2010. We promote the 7 Habits tion First approach encourages students to for Highly Effective People (designed by think in creative ways. It also develops team Stephen Covey) to cultivate key interperson- building and leadership skills to dream, design, problem-solve and develop proactive al skills to manage change and transitions.

The Leader In Me program encour- strategies for lifelong learning.

3 From Complexity To Clarity – The Importance Of Transdisciplinary Curriculum For Brighter Futures. We have empowered students to be active co-designers of their curriculum and assessment activities by creating a “flipped” co-constructed approach.

In the past six years we have designed a whole school 21C K-6 transdisciplinary curriculum model.

This approach creates a classroom learning environment that combines a focus on the academic and affective (emotional, social, spiritual, physical, mental) domains of learning.

4 From Ambiguity To Agility – The Importance Of Developing Growth Mindsets.

Through our Peer Coaching program, students in Years 5 and 6 are mentored to become coach and facilitator. Teachers role model the communication and coaching skills needed to support student-run leadership and wellbeing workshops with students from Years 3 to 6. Students participate in four workshops to enhance their skillsets as “change agents” and peer coaches: l The Interpersonal Shift - provides students with an overview of their social and emotional development. l Being At My Best - focuses on emotional awareness and self-talk. l Learning How To Self-Manage where students develop intrapersonal skills by learning strategies to selfregulate and manage their emotions. l Growth Conversations - to develop trusting, healthy friendships by using “growth mindset” conversations.

A Mandate for Excellence in Girls’ Education Established in 1908, Roseville College is the proud educator of current and future women leaders. Every girl in Kindergarten to Year 12 is known and valued here, where students engage in enriching learning experiences that challenge and empower them to pursue and attain their personal best in all areas of life.

Commitment to Innovative Learning The College ranks among NSW’s best in HSC achievement and is the only North Shore school approved to deliver prestigious Cambridge Courses in Years 9–10, while also delivering worldclass learning initiatives including as the IB Primary Years Programme for Kindergarten to Year 6.

Excellence in Teaching Leadership Our educators, each continuously developing their craft, share a vision for delivering a progressive, innovative education that equips each girl to embrace her future with purpose and meaning.

We collaborate with UNSW to acquire and inspire the latest teaching practices, and to engage in progressive professional learning for all staff.

Tours with our Registrar, tailored to your daughter’s specific needs and interests, are held weekdays during term time, by appointment: Roseville College | An Anglican School for Girls 27 Bancroft Avenue, Roseville Registrar 02 9884 1109 E registrar@roseville.nsw.edu.au

A school within the Anglican Schools Corporation

NSTEFL17

www.rosevillecollege.com

uFuture leaders 2017

Lessons from Finland The Finnish education model has become one of the best in the world.

By Brooke Stoddart

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here has been a lot of attention on the Finnish education system over the past few years. From being fairly unremarkable a few decades ago, the country has worked on its education model to become one of the best in the world.

Since 2000, the country has received consistently high results in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA).

Conducted every three years by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), PISA compares 15-year-olds around the world in reading, mathematics and science.

Australia still ranks higher than the OECD average for PISA but our results have declined since 2006.

One of the architects of the Finnish education system and the author of bestselling book Finnish Lessons: What Can The World Learn From Educational Change In Finland, Professor Pasi Sahlberg, was recently in Australia to give a series of lectures on the myths and realities of his country’s great success and to give our educators and governments valuable insights.

Prof Sahlberg says there are three factors which Finnish educators focused on when they started to embark on changes to the system. Firstly, they pushed the authority from the central administration to local communities and schools – entrusting the day-to-day decisions to the people who are at the coal face.

“Teachers in Finland have a fair amount of professional autonomy,” he says. “This independence in schools is not a total freedom to do whatever teachers want. It is

Facts and figures l Finland has been a top performer in OECD’s PISA study (15-year-olds tested in reading, maths, science) since 2000. l All six-year-olds attend half-day preschool, 75 per cent of threeto-5-year-olds in kindergarten. l Compulsory education is from age seven to 16, provided by publicly funded basic schools. l No private schools, no school uniforms, very few religious schools. l No stream or tracking during basic education. l Upper secondary education has two pathways: academic and vocational. l About 95 per cent of basic school leavers attend upper secondary schools of their choice (close to 50-50 split between two pathways).

rather autonomy that is built on professional collaboration and trust within schools.”

Secondly, the role of the teacher has been elevated with higher pay and entry into the profession set at a much higher level than it is in Australia. “In Finland and in Singapore, there is a great importance put on training to become a teacher,” he says. “If you get into teaching at university, you are guaranteed at the end of your degree to have a job. This creates demand.

“Having this system in place, where you are training less teachers but spending more money on the training by requiring they have a Masters degree, it can only elevate the profession. Of course, having higher teacher salaries and also giving them easy access to doctoral studies if they wish to pursue that in the future makes it better.”

And thirdly, Finland has focused on making schools as equitable as possible – giving each child the same resources and opportunity as the next. They have also abolished standardised testing as a means of rewarding students for competing against their peers or evaluating teachers and schools.

“Finland takes an alternative approach.

Students receive only narrative evaluation instead of marks or grades until Grade 5,” he says. “Thereafter, their grades rely on how they’ve performed relative to their individual potential rather than as compared to their classmates.

“Teachers stress grades as little as possible. This means that students compete against themselves, not one another.” The ideas of introducing more equitable education into the Australian system were first published in the Gonski Report in

2012, at the same time Prof Sahlberg first visited Australia. “On paper everything looks good but I think in reality there has not been enough importance on investing into education to make it equitable,” he says.

Prof Sahlberg says there has been too much politics and not enough action to put some of the important reforms into action.

“There are many good things about the Australian education system, for example the focus on leadership and the efforts to raise teacher quality,” he says.

“However, I think the Australian system is still too heavy on the control side of things and standardised tests like NAPLAN

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THE AUSTRALIAN VIEW Dr Don Carter, a senior lecturer in English education at the University of Technology Sydney and a former Inspector of English with the NSW Board of Studies, agrees we have too much testing in our schools and that Australia is moving further away from the lessons of Finland.

“Why are we ignoring the significant body of international and Australian research that shows three main negative consequences of mass testing?” he asks. “These are a narrowing of the curriculum as teachers ‘teach to the test’; the elevation of teachercentred instruction at the expense of other teaching approaches and a decrease in student motivation.”

Dr Carter says there is talk about introducing a compulsory phonics test for Year 1 students.

“That means you’ve got that test in Year 1, then NAPLAN in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9, the Year 9 minimum standard test, Critical Thinking in Year 11 and the HSC in Year 12,” he says.

“To me that is mass testing gone mad.

“We are in danger of our schools becoming testing factories.”

Students at Peruskoulu School in suburban Helsinki are free to read and study anywhere they wish around the school.

Pictures: Ella Pellegrini Bottom right: Author and academic Professor Pasi Sahlberg

are driving schools’ behaviour, where there should be more work and consideration going into how the system can improve.”

One of the great myths of the Finnish system is that students are not given homework, Prof Sahlberg says, but homework on its own as a learning tool is not the solution to improving student results.

“In Finland, homework has been meaningfully designed and directly linked to what the students are learning,” he says.

“You have to be very careful whether you say homework is good or bad. When I was teaching mathematics I was very careful to make sure what work I gave them sparked

their curiosity and helped open the subject more. And in mathematics, it’s important to keep practising as it is what helps you improve.” Prof Sahlberg is a great believer in the value of play for children, something he believes has been lost in many countries as parents strive to push their children to success by rote learning and tests.

“I’m a great believer in the role of play for children, rather than behaving like a Tiger Mother,” he says.

“I think across the world there is not so much fun or curiosity in schools anymore.

Education has become a very serious business, there’s so much pressure to perform

and excel. Play has been linked to helping children find their interests and meaningful pursuits for when they are older.”

He says because of Australia’s wonderful climate and the opportunities we have to spend time outside (unlike Finland), we as parents should be insisting our children spend as much time as they can outdoors.

“Australia has so much beautiful landscape and space, parents should not forget that there is a huge classroom out there as soon as they step out of the school,” he says.

“Being outdoors and discovering nature is a wonderful way to learn together and to ensure they are doing everything they can

to make sure their children are learning outside the formal classroom.”

Prof Sahlberg has advice for Australian parents: allow your children to fail.

“Kids need to understand that a good way to learn is to make a mistake and fail, and for parents to reinforce the importance of failure when they are learning, or in life, sports or hobbies,” he says.

“Parents need to make sure that the school is helping in that regard as well.

“It’s important not to build the illusion that everything is easy and that, if you fail at it, it doesn’t mean you won’t be good at it in the future.”

uFuture leaders 2017

High flyers look to the future These students all achieved exceptional HSC results last year and are now on university scholarships for their chosen courses. Here they share what they learnt from their final year of school.

Sam Goldberg, 19 School: Sydney Grammar (ATAR: 99.9) Studying: Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws at the University of Sydney Received: Sydney Scholars Award What did you learn from the HSC? I learnt to balance hard work and enjoyment, and that I had to do my utmost to enjoy my time at school with my friends while we were still all there together.

What advice would you give to HSC students?

You often hear that the key to success in the HSC is hard work – I found that it’s a bit more nuanced than that. What I found to be key, personally, was learning as quickly as I could to recognise when I was lying to myself about the effort I was putting in and then having the mental strength to act upon it. I found that learning to recognise when you really had to do work and having the strength to go do it was key.

Why did you decide to study your course?

I always knew I wanted to do an Arts degree.

Humanities were always my strongpoint.

In Year 12 I studied three units of history, French and English and I knew I wanted to continue to study them in more depth at university. I hadn’t really thought about law as a degree much until I spoke to some students about it at university open days. I realised it could be a nice challenge and allow me to develop critical analysis skills.

What are your plans for the future?

Just as I had little idea what degree I would

Study goals The University of Sydney has compiled tips for HSC students about the most effective ways to study. l Be smart - create a study timetable.

For each study session, have a clear purpose and time allocated. l Minimise distractions and procrastination - Avoid distractions (yep, that means no phones). l Hit pause and keep it balanced - take regular and rejuvenating breaks.

See: sydney.edu.au /study/studygoals.html

do until near the end of the HSC, I have no idea where my degree will take me. While I do think I will practise law at some point, my current focus is just enjoying my university experience.

Amy Chang, 18 High School: Abbotsleigh (ATAR: 99.5) Studying: Bachelor of Actuarial Studies at the University of NSW Received: Co-op scholarship What did you learn from the HSC? My main takeaway from the HSC was that although it’s important to study for exams, it was extremely necessary to balance study and having fun. Also, keeping up to date with work was an absolute necessity.

What advice would you give to HSC students?

Stop stressing as much about the end result your ATAR - as much. There are other ways of going into a degree than just your ATAR. And at the end of the day the thing that matters more is your personality and your own values and achievements, regardless of whether they are academic or not.

Why did you decide to study your course?

I didn’t know much about actuarial studies before going into my degree, but what I did know was that I wanted to do something related to maths and economics, two of my favourite subjects in high school.

What are your plans for the future?

Hopefully, after making it through my degree, I’ll work in Australia for a while.

I’d love to move to another country to work as well, maybe visiting it first through an exchange program next year.

Louis Wright, 18 School: Killara High (ATAR: 97.15) Studying: Bachelor of Electrical Engineering at the University of NSW Recieved: Co-op scholarship What did you learn from the HSC? The two most important ones were how to use my time most effectively and the importance of keeping up to date with work.

What advice would you give to HSC students?

One bad mark isn’t the end of the world make sure you’re always aware of the bigger picture. Putting things into perspective in

Sam Goldberg “I found that learning to recognise when you really had to do work and having the strength to go do it was key.”

this way helped a lot in getting me through.

Why did you decide to study your course?

I have always had an interest in electronics and I was looking for a degree that would challenge me.

What are your plans for the future?

Ideally I would like to start an engineering firm or a charity to assist in delivering infrastructure to developing countries.

Vaidehi Mahapatra, 18 School: Baulkham Hills High (99.9) Studying: Bachelor of International and Global Studies / Bachelor of Laws at the University of Sydney Received: Sydney Scholars scholarship

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Amy Chang “At the end of

Vaidehi Mahapatra

the day the thing that matters more is your personality and your own values and achievements.”

“I learned the value of surrounding myself with positive influences.”

Louis Wright “One bad mark isn’t the end of the world - make sure you’re always aware of the bigger picture.”

Bethany Greentree “The most important lesson that I took from my experience...is that hard work and determination can yield results.”

What did you learn from the HSC? Most importantly, I learned the value of surrounding myself with positive influences. My family, friends and teachers formed a strong support structure that I could always depend on to help me through any low points.

What advice would you give to HSC students?

Three pieces of advice that I would give to students studying for the HSC are mix things up, get outside and reward yourself.

The HSC is a marathon, not a sprint, so I would always make sure to recharge after every exam period by giving myself a week off to relax, go out and catch up with friends. This helped me stay focused during the exam periods by reminding me that there was an end in sight.

Why did you decide to study your course?

I am extremely passionate about human rights and social justice and I felt that studying Law and International and Global Studies would equip me with the skills for humanitarian work.

What are your plans for the future?

After graduating, I aspire to pursue a career in the non-government sector and work towards higher levels of social welfare, development and equality.

Bethany Greentree, 19 High school: Wenona (ATAR 99.05) Studying: Bachelor of Advanced Science (Infection and Immunity) and Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation at the

University of Technology Sydney Received: Science Dean’s Scholarship What did you learn from the HSC? Firstly, time management is often the key to success. If you aren’t efficient with your time and plan according to your workload, then often the end product will fall short of its potential. Arguably the most important lesson that I took from my experience with the HSC is that hard work and determination can yield results.

What advice would you give to HSC students?

My advice to students studying for the HSC is to be sure to maintain balance in your life. It is easy to be snowed under by the workload but you will be much more pre-

pared to face it if you have social activities, sporting events and activities that you love to look forward to.

Perspective, perpective, perspective.

Why did you decide to study your course?

I decided to study my course as I’ve always loved science, especially life sciences.

I wanted to do a double degree to broaden my perspective and equip myself with a larger skill set.

What are your plans for the future?

My immediate plan is to see how I like the research side of my degree, to determine whether this is something that I am passionate about pursuing. It is important to me that I end up in a career that I love.

uFuture leaders 2017

Parenting down pat UK teaching expert and author Phil Beadle shares his top tips for being a good parent.

By Kimberley Caines s your relationship with your partner version should not be too in thrall to othmore important than your children? er people’s ideas of what they should be,” If the answer is yes, then you have Mr Beadle says. “Mainstream culture is parenting down pat. UK teaching expert generally pretty worthless and any presPhil Beadle revealed his five top rules sure to assimilate into its clutches can to being a successful parent during a only ever result in unhappiness and mevisit to Sydney recently. diocrity. It is important that parents role “The pressures on kids to model a healthy lack of regrow up too quickly are all spect for conformity.” embracing,” the author of Mr Beadle, who is rec10 books on teaching and ognised as “Britain’s best learning says. “Give them known and most radical the permission to be chilteacher”, shared teaching l Eat meals at the dren. Talk about your readtips on delivering results dinner table while talking ing. Suggest books,” he says. in challenging classroom with your children “Let them know that, circumstances to teachers l Let your children as important as they are, at International Gramcatch you reading your relationship with your mar School in Ultimo l Give them permission husband, wife or partner is last month. “Kids were still to be children by more important. distracted 20 years ago; playing with them “This will allow them cerit is not new,” he says. l Be a role model by tainty and security.”

“The difference is in the working hard The English high school prevalence of devices. l Put your teacher, who features on “Every child will have a relationship first BBC television’s series The mobile phone and, unless Unteachables, says parents schools have robust polishould enforce structured bedtimes for cies about their places in lessons, then their children, with no devices or televi- those phones lwill find their way out sion in bedrooms. “With peer pressure, it of pockets into palms and will is important that your children construct become the focus of the child’s their own version of self and that this attention.”

I

Five rules for being a good parent

Phil Beadle was recently in Australia to share his teaching experiences and (below) in the BBC TV series The Unteachables.

John Colet School

...always ‘a little bit different’

J

ohn Colet School has always been a little bit different.

The school’s founders, Judith Donald and Mary McKendrick, who will be retiring after 32 year careers at the end of 2017, believe that it is John Colet’s difference that has made it successful. Since 1985, the school’s enriched curriculum aims to produce outstanding students of strong character. A school’s incorporation of mindfulness into their curriculum is not unheard of in 2017, but mindfulness has been an essential part of the John Colet program from day one.

Whilst John Colet is consistently a leader in terms of NAPLAN results, Mrs McKendrick and Mrs Donald have always emphasised that achieving top results was never the school’s focus. Rather, what sets John Colet apart is the conviction of founders and staff to instil students with strong values. As they approach the end of their final year at the school, both women believe that the school’s core values of Stillness, Truthfulness, Courage, Service and Respect, will remain the cornerstone of the John Colet curriculum.

The school’s founders Mrs McKendrick and Mrs Donald with the original Register of Admissions book

Both founders have seen the positive results of these practices in creating well-rounded adults, capable and willing to create positive change. As a multi-faith school, John Colet encourages students to broaden their horizons and celebrate ‘difference within the unity’. Mrs McKendrick and Mrs Donald believe that by observing all cultures and faiths, students better develop their sense of compassion and empathy.

Reflecting on their legacy, Mrs McKendrick and Mrs Donald still believe in the importance of introducing students to philosophy, fine arts and mindfulness from the beginning of their education. Annual Shakespeare productions involving every child, Sanskrit and Latin all add to the richness.

Access to the best resources has facilitated the strong academic results that John Colet has become known for.

While its reputation for academic excellence has grown, the school remains committed to shaping students of strong character who grow into compassionate, honest and successful members of society. For 32 years, John Colet has always been a little bit different.

Mrs McKendrick in the early years

Mrs Donald on the very first day

The original school building

“The strong music program at John Colet is what initially nurtured my love of music, kindling a lifelong passion.”

Oscar Smith, Class of 2008

Oscar is completing a Bachelor of Music Composition at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

He was Head Chorister at John Colet School.

“… I’m completing a Bachelor of Psychological Science with Honours – a school of thought I consider somewhat a sibling of Philosophy – researching the neurological processes which underlie some of the thoughts, experiences and perceptions I remember discussing in the Philosophy classes at John Colet School.

Sally Youdale, Class of 2006

JOHN COLET SCHOOL K-6 co-educational, multi-faith school

@JohnColet1 #JohnColetSchool

6 Wyatt Avenue, Belrose, NSW 2085 Telephone: 9451 8395 V0 - CNGE01Z01FE

www. johncolet.nsw.edu.au , Monday, September 11, 2017

21

uFuture leaders 2017

Encouraging self-motivation

By St Luke’s Grammar School principal Jann Robinson

T

he knowledge world has shifted significantly with the impact of technology. This has put access to information in the hands of young people.

No longer will success be measured by what young people know, rather it will be measured by their ability to know what to do with what they know.

Young people still need a grounding in the fundamentals of knowledge but they need to be able to be adaptable and flexible if they are to adjust to the changes they will encounter. This shift comes at a cost because uncertainty does unsettle young people as they seek to make sense of the world and their place in it.

Developing learners In response to the challenge, there needs to be a shift in education, not only in what is studied, but in how students are developed as learners, and, ultimately as people who can take their place confidently in the world. The work of Guy Claxton in Building Learning Power, shifts the emphasis from students being passive learners and having education “done to them” to empowering them to be learners who can meet the challenges of a changing world confidently. The model actively teaches 17 learning dispositions allowing students to take ownership of their learning. The dispositions needed to be powerful learners are the same character traits needed to be able to cope in a rapidly changing world.

Claxton’s model has four domains (Resilience, Resourcefulness, Reciprocity and Reflectiveness) encompassing the intellectual, emotional and relational aspects of personhood. Claxton’s work is well researched and there are a number of schools in the UK and Australia which have become building learning powered schools as they face the challenge of developing students who will be able to

Five tips

For students to build powerful learning habits:

that results in the habit being formed.

Seeking to establish good habits comes about with the explicit teaching of the dispositions for becoming powerful learners.

Reflection: Ask yourself “how will this shape me as a person”?

Resilience: Don’t give up when learning is hard.

Reciprocity: Develop empathy by learning to listen.

Resourcefulness: Think about the choices you make and the impact of those choices.

Restoration: Be humble enough to engage with new ideas.

For parents to build powerful learners: Reflection: When your child is stuck don’t just give the answer but ask questions such as “Have you seen something like this before?’

Resilience: Encourage perseverance.

Reciprocity: When asked a question about something, before you answer say “what do you think?”

Resourcefulness: When things go wrong ask, “what might you have done differently?

Restoration: Allow children to take risks in their learning. Don’t just look at the marks but ask about the learning. flourish beyond school because they are people of character.

Building character Character is built by the habits developed day by day. These habits start with every choice made to act in a particular way. It is the repeated nature of making the choice

At St Luke’s, for the past three years, this is what has been happening. In every classroom teachers design learning experiences not only with knowledge outcomes but with an explicit opportunity for students to develop the dispositions.

Working together As the students grow their learning dispositions, they grow into people who are not just focused on themselves. Many of the dispositions have a focus on others with the dispositions of empathy, listening, collaboration, perseverance and making links being critical. Students are being enabled to become critical and creative thinkers who can see more than one dimension.

Giving back Beyond Claxton’s four domains, St Luke’s added a fifth domain, to reflect the school’s Christian faith. This domain, Restoration, has the dispositions of grace, humility, justice and compassion. They are being encouraged to give back to the world, not to just be consumers of it and to know that with privilege comes responsibility.

uFuture leaders 2017

Studying maths adds up Sparking a child’s interest in mathematics at a young age increases the chance they will continue to study it at high school and university.

By Brooke Stoddart

A

merican author and satirist Fran Lebowitz once said: “In real life, I assure you, there is no such thing as algebra.” But she was wrong. Algebra forms the basis of many industries in our world and it is vital for anyone looking to study medicine, engineering, computers or economics.

The struggle many teachers and parents have when their children are learning mathematics is to bring it to life and show them how the problems they are solving can open up opportunities for them in later life.

The earlier this engagement can happen, the more likely students will continue to study mathematics into later high school years and into university.

A landmark Australian study, The Continuing Decline Of Science And Mathematics Enrolments In Australian High Schools, authored by researchers from Queensland University of Technology and published in 2014, found there had been a steady decline over the previous 20 years in the number of Year 12 students studying

mathematics and science.

The research found the total number of students in Year 12 had increased by around 16 per cent from 1992 to 2012 while the participation rates for most science and mathematics subjects, as a proportion of the total Year 12 cohort, fell (biology -10 per cent; chemistry -5 per cent: physics -7 per cent; multidisciplinary science -5 per cent; intermediate mathematics -11 per cent; advanced mathematics -7 per cent) in the same period.

There were increased participation rates in earth sciences (+0.3 per cent) and entry mathematics (+11 per cent).

The research called on government, industry and the education sector to be “alarmed” and to work together to find a solution to make maths and STEM subjects more attractive.

Mary Mulcahy, director of education and outreach at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) says we use maths every day as an integral part of our lives – whether we realise it or not.

“Maths is a critical part of many jobs,” she says. “It underpins science, technology and engineering and is a really important part of psychology, anthropology, social sciences and so on. It is used in mining, astronomy, nursing, hairdressing, driving buses. There isn’t a single job or type of job that doesn’t require it in some way.

“We wouldn’t have cars, planes, mobile

Video modules from Maths Inside l Maths in 3D (mapping 3D objects using a hand-held scanner). l Stargazing with the SKA (using the biggest telescope in the world). l Bees with backpacks. l Prawns for profit (breeding and farming prawns). l Big data, better hospitals (a remarkably accurate predictive tool). l There are three more in development - Cleaner coasts; modelling climate changes; knowing nutrition.

Maths Inside program results Of the 1230 students in years 8 to 12 participating in project trials and workshops (with completed surveys), evaluation of the data found: l 88.6 per cent of respondents approved of the resources and looked forward to more activities from the project. l 81 per cent of respondents found that as a result of the project activity they were more able to connect maths to real life. l 72 per cent of respondents found the resources made them more able to see themselves using maths in a future career.

Pictured: Maths Inside project manager Dr Marco Angelini.

phones without it. We wouldn’t be able to do our job, travel, buy or rent a house, get a loan. Maths is a critical enabler. It enables us to live.”

One of the programs formulated to combat the decline was the Maths Inside project, a collaboration between the University of Technology Sydney, Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers (AAMT) and the CSIRO. Maths Inside is a video-based learning program which takes students into the lives of scientists and the mathematics that they use. Each module is based around a short video featuring scientists involved in cutting-edge research.

The scientists explain the mathematics that they use every day in their work - mathematics which ranges from simple number operations to very sophisticated concepts.

More than 1700 teachers and students across 85 schools and colleges in public, Catholic and independent sectors (mostly in NSW with some in Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania) have engaged in the program with videos and class activities.

Dr Marco Angelini, project manager of Maths Inside, says the decline is not unique to Australia as it is reflected across the world, particularly in the US and the UK. He says the number of subjects on offer and the ability to opt out of higher-level maths has been one of the reasons for the decline in the number of students enrolled in those subjects.

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Future leaders 2017 t

“The maths curriculum has been unpacked and unlayered with many different routes into and out of maths study,” he says.

“This has led to a counter-intuitive effect where street-smart students (and their parents) have figured out ways to get better ATAR scores without maths.

“They’re not lazy but they’ve figured out how to maximise their scores without doing the harder high levels of maths – which is ironic, really.”

He said one of the core features of the Maths Inside program was to show the practical applications of maths in the “real world”.

“We’re really lifting the lid on practical maths and showing students the maths inside many jobs so students can get an understanding of how maths informs and shapes their world,” he says.

“By understanding that algorithms will really define their relationships with the world and relate that to them personally.

“If you look at social media, at Facebook, it’s all algorithms, which is the way we interact with the world.”

Dr Angelini says we do have reason to be optimistic about the future as the program has delivered some promising results and, by making it “fun” for students is the key to lifting the popularity of maths and STEM subjects.

“Technology is being used in a really wonderful way, rather than just for the sake

How to keep your kids interested in maths l Never say: “Oh, I was no good at maths at school.” This can encourage a “does not matter” attitude, when it is crucial for students to learn that understanding maths is more about attitude and application, than natural aptitude. l For smaller children, use counting and games as much as possible.

“How many steps to the street corner? Let’s count them together”; “How many cars will we see with numberplates that are multiples of three?” And check out the local library - there are many attractive story books based on numbers. l For older children, show how you use maths in everyday life. To choose best buys when shopping, find the best deal when planning outings and holidays or scaling up a recipe. l As a family, play board games (discussing dice and what chances there are that certain numbers might come up) and card games and try some of the puzzles at brilliant.org l Read the Position Paper On Positive Attitudes, developed by the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers, available at http://www. aamt.edu.au/About-AAMT/ Position-statements/ Attitudes From UTS senior lecturer in maths and Maths Inside project director Dr Mary Coupland

of it,” he says. “There is online problem doing maths at school gives you options solving where students can work together for what you can do after you leave school – whether you defrom their homes and come back into cide to go on to future class and discuss what they’ve done.

Above: Dr Paulo study or not. “If you don’t “It’s a departure as it’s always de Souza from the Bees With study maths at school it seribeen tough to get students to do Backpacks project. ously limits your options.” maths for pleasure, whereas in Thousands of Ms Mulcahy says we English it’s easier as many peohoney bees were are undergoing a digital revple already read or write at home fitted with senolution, which makes math for pleasure. sors as part of literacy even more critical.

“There are free resources which the world-first “A number of studies have are connected to schools and really research program predicted that up to 40 per construct the maths work as a game, led by the CSIRO. cent of current roles will be which opens up a lot more opportuPicture: CSIRO impacted by automation in the nities for students to advance their next 10 years and that many jobs that our skills in maths.”

Ms Mulcahy says the CSIRO got in- current students will have haven’t been volved in the Maths Inside prgram because invented yet,” she says.

“Studies have also shown that people with it wanted to lift the lid on how integral science, technology, engineering and maths the subject is to research.

“We wanted to show how maths is (STEM) skills are more flexible and creative and will be able to take advantage relevant, applied and fun (yes, fun).

We also wanted to highlight that of a changing workplace and new jobs.”

uFuture leaders 2017

Setting an example in the schoolyard Before we critique and analyse how schools are dealing with bullying behaviour we need to look at ourselves.

By Wenona School principal Briony Scott

or many years, schools were places where we would educate young men and women to prepare for the outside world. We would admire and respect those in leadership; learning all we could from their words and actions.

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the way we react and they think the way we think. To get rid of bullying in schools we must stand up to bullying in our own world and role-model an alternative.

Nevertheless, schools do what they can against this tide of adult behaviour.

Less so today In a strange quirk of history, I would argue that schools are now setting the benchmark in leadership. They are counter-cultural.

The behaviour that we increasingly see played out by political leaders around the world, not to mention examples closer to home, such as road rage, would not be tolerated in schools.

This is not to say schools are perfect. Far from it. There are way too many people on one patch of ground, with different agendas and maturity levels, for things to flow smoothly all the time. And this is just the adults. But we do know what good behaviour looks like. We focus on raising citizens with a strong sense of social justice and an ability to be kind, compassionate and respectful.

There are differences Where adults should know better, young people are constantly experimenting and learning about their impact on others. They are young. They will make mistakes and they are allowed to make mistakes. But not the same mistake over and over.

Young people need to know there are rules about how we behave in community. And there have to be consequences if they continue to ignore those rules.

It is important to know that even wonderful young people can fall into patterns of bullying behaviour.

You might have a lovely child who is less than lovely to other people. Rather than being defensive if this is raised, it is far more helpful to work through this with your child, be explicit about your expectations and hold your child accountable.

If you can do this they will learn. They will grow up.

For the child who is at the receiving end of bullying, firstly, I am sorry. It is really tough for anyone to be at the receiving end of ongoing harassment and mean behaviour.

And it is tough to watch as a parent. Your role, in the first instance, is to listen and to believe. No child wakes up in the morning wanting to be bullied and to have to admit it to others. It is embarrassing.

Responding with respect and kindness, even if you are tempted to minimise feelings or argue alternative per-

Which brings me to bullying Before we critique and analyse how schools are dealing with bullying behaviour we need to look at ourselves. Bullying does happen in schools. I wish it was not so.

The only way bullying will not happen in schools is when it is discouraged and censured in the adult world.

Young people look to adults a thousand times a day, seeking clues on how to manage themselves and interact with others.

They learn how to react and respond by watching how adults treat each other.

They speak the way we speak, they react

Battling bullying l Listen and believe your child if they confide in you. l Respond to them with respect and kindness. l Avoid minimising their feelings. l Friends outside of school act as a key protective factor. l Talk to your child’s teacher and work together as a team to tackle bullying. l As an adult set clear expectations about how to behave and interact with others.

spectives, goes a long way to restoring your child’s dignity. Sometimes, all a child needs is to be heard and believed.

This strengthens them to act. Secondly, even if your child says, “Don’t tell anyone’’, if they’ve told you they want you to know.

They are at the end of their ability to manage it and they need help. This does not mean we need to call in the troops, mount a rearguard action and take out someone else’s child. It does mean your child needs help managing their way through a tricky situation.

A key protective factor is to have friends outside of school. Being strong in groups outside of school minimises the risk that a child personalises bullying and makes it a little easier for them to keep perspective.

When there is only one world and this is dominated by bullying behaviour it is all too easy to think this is the only world - and that you are the problem. Nothing could be further from the truth.

If bullying behaviour continues it is important to talk with your child’s teacher. Not in an adversarial manner but as a team. It is possible for behaviour to go under the radar at school just as it is possible for it to be hidden at home.

Bringing it to the surface is a great start in being explicit about expectations.

Young people do not always have the skill set to extricate themselves from tough social situations. And they should not be expected to. They are young and need us to role model and support them when life gets tough. As adults, we need to be setting clear expectations for our children about how we behave in the community and with each other.

This is not easy when the adult world appears to be struggling. But in this case, although not perfect, I believe schools are leading the way.

Future leaders 2017 t

“Young people look to adults a thousand times a day, seeking clues on how to manage themselves and interact with others.�

uFuture leaders 2017

Schools of tomorrow Education has come a long way from the days of a one-size-fits-all model and it needs to continue to evolve to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

By Catholic diocese of Parramatta executive director of schools Greg Whitby

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ber has transformed local travel. erally revolves around the user/customer/ Airbnb has changed forever learner/gamer and so on. This has forced how we book accommodation. businesses to operate in an environment Amazon is revolutionising shopping. But where high quality is expected, low cost is necessary and user experience is critical who will shake up schools?

When I finished school in the 1970s, it to success and long-term sustainability.

Compare this to the exwould have been hard to imagperience of schools where, ine the kind of world we live in so many cases, the old in today. Technology has transways of doing things still formed life, including how we apply. Most still operate shop, bank and do business.

Pictured below: the way they did when I Today it is the customer and the Classrooms from user experience that drives the the 19th century to went to school, despite business model. the introduction of the enormous societal and technological changes that Yet, not so long ago, it was computers in the have occurred. This crethe other way around. Take 1980s and the ates a gap between what is banking for example, which has present flexible learning spaces. happening in schools and moved from a model where evwhat is happening outside erything happened in a branch them. The danger is that to one where services are available online 24/7. Television is also being students go from school into a 21st redefined by the internet. Once upon a century workforce with 20th century time viewers had to wait a week before skills, experience and expectations.

Critical thinking, creativity, watching their favourite TV program.

Now, it is available on demand - we can communication and collaborawatch what we want, whenever on any tion must be embedded from the early years of schooling connected device.

Old norms such as using a travel agent and be continually nurtured to book a flight or standing in a taxi queue through a dynamic curare rapidly becoming artefacts of another riculum designed around time. We live in an age where the world lit- the needs of each stu-

Past and present

Future leaders 2017 t dent and the demands of a modern society.

It is no longer enough for students to have a bit of knowledge about everything - they need a deeper understanding of concepts and to be able to apply this knowledge in the real world. With the volume of information available to us and in this age of #fakenews, today’s learners must also be able to read and interpret information in order to work out what is useful and truthful.

And in this fast-paced world they need to learn how to apply to the world they know. We are living at a time where everything is personalised. This should be the case for schools as well. The good schools are no longer teaching to a class, they are teaching to individuals.

The one-size-fits-all model has given way to an approach that is focused on the needs of each learner. This means that there is no one right method for delivering learning. Successful schools may differ in their approach but they share common features. They do not operate in isolation but in partnerships with other schools, businesses and the wider community.

They share ideas, challenge thinking and provide meaningful and relevant learning experiences for every student.

Ten years ago, Parramatta Marist introduced project-based learning as a way of teaching students the skills needed for success in today’s world. The inquiry focus allows students in Years 9 and 10 to work together on projects, to learn from their teacher and their peers and to assess projects critically.

The project-based learning model brings together the skills of communica-

New ways of learning l Critical thinking, creativity, communication and collaboration are all skills that must be developed from the early years of schooling and nurtured through a dynamic curriculum. l Successful schools do not operate in isolation but in partnership with other schools, businesses and the wider community. l The learner needs to be at the centrre of the teaching model rather than the teacher. tion, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity in real-world contexts.

In Year 11, students spend one day working to solve one problem. This concept was adapted from the university model of training student doctors to diagnose and treat patients in a short amount of time. The Montessori approach, which has been around more than a century, is focused on the learner as an individual and the natural inquiry process. Unlike the current model of schooling, where teachers have to get through a set curriculum, students are able to work at their own pace until they fully master a concept.

Teachers spend their time observing each child and enabling the learning rather than just instructing from the front of the classroom.

Other schools, such as St Luke’s Catholic College, Marsden Park, have a focus on developing students’ critical thinking and entrepreneurial skills through partnerships with local businesses. While still in its early days, the school will eventually cater for up to 2000 students from preschool to Year 12 and be available to the community for a variety of uses around the clock.

Northern Beaches Christian School in Terrey Hills is a terrific example of how state-of-the-art spaces and technology are supporting contemporary learning and teaching. The school’s agile learning spaces are designed to cater for different learners and different learning activities by allowing students to work individually, in small groups and in larger groups.

The spaces have been specifically designed to change and evolve as the needs of learners change.

These schools, along with many others, are taking an innovative approach to providing great learning experiences for each child. These are not the schools of the future - they are the schools of now.

They are examples of what is possible.

Each school, in its own way, is acknowledging that the learner needs to be at the centre of the teaching model, not the teacher at the centre of the learning model.

My youngest grandson was born this year and he will finish his formal schooling in 2036. My vision for him and for those yet to begin their schooling journey is that learning, however it is delivered, will excite him, challenge him, energise him and engage him every single day.

What do you want for your child?

uFuture leaders 2017

Waking up to sleepy teens Parents are often at their wits’ end when it comes to getting teenagers out of bed in the morning but should we be taking another approach?

By Channel 7’s Sunrise parenting expert Dr Michael Carr-Gregg

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hakespeare called it the “chief nourisher in life’s feast” and all through the animal kingdom sleep ranks up there with food, water and sex for survival of the species. As a child and adolescent psychchologist, one of the most frequent complaints I hear from parents is the seeming inability of their offspring to get out of bed.

Many mums and dads point to the fact that they’ve been out late, watch Netflix all night or spent the night online or texting mates. But the research boffins would beg to differ. While laziness and staying up all night do play a part the main culprit turns out to be their brain.

Circadian rhythms, or body clocks, first came under scientific analysis from French astronomer Jean-Jacques d’Ortous de Mairan in 1729. He was puzzled as to why the leaves of mimosa plants went rigid in the day and drooped at night. He had stumbled upon one of biology’s central facts - that plants, insects and mammals move to a daily rhythm that is determined by their internal body clocks, not the environment.

It would be another 230 years before the process was given a name.

In adults, the body clock is on for about 16 hours a day, generally corresponding to daylight. As daylight disappears the body clock switches off, we feel sleepy and it is hard to stay awake. Before the advent of the electric lightbulb this was a non issue - people hit the sack after a couple of hours by candlelight and stirred at daybreak.

Getting enough shut-eye l Research shows teenagers need about nine hours sleep a night l When the body clock turns off the brain secrets the sleep chemical melatonin l Melatonin is produced later in the evening for teenagers than young children. For most teens it is produced around 11 pm. l REM sleep is a particularly deep sleep vital for memory and learning. l A lack of REM sleep is associated with anxiety, depression, poor immunity, accidents and poor judgement and memory.

But the invention of electricity and the subsequent introduction of shift working has progressively detached all of us from the 24-hour cycle of light and dark.

But with teenagers it is different. An error has crept into the hard-wiring of their internal body clock, known as delayed sleep-phase syndrome.

When puberty arrives the body clock seems to work differently. Research shows that teenagers need around nine hours sleep. If your adolescent finally

drops off at midnight they are a long way from being ready to wake up when parents throw the curtains open at 7am.

This is why across Australia, when school time comes along, many parents tear their hair out in frustration.

I know of some who have resorted to playing their old John Denver records at high volume to encourage their sleepy teen out of bed. I’m told Rocky Mountain High is particularly effective.

When the body clock turns off, the brain secretes the sleep chemical melatonin and sleep researchers have found that melatonin is produced very much later in the evening than in younger kids, for most teens around 11pm.

By being forced to get up after only seven hours sleep instead of nine, teenagers across Australia are building up a sleep debt, losing up to 10 hours or more every school week.

This only begins to change about the age of 20, when young people start to become more awake in the morning.

Apart from the fact that these students will be up to 25 per cent less alert when they arrive at school, the problem with being woken up too early is that they are missing out on REM sleep, a particularly deep sleep vital for memory and learning. A lack of REM sleep is associated with anxiety, depression, poor immunity, accidents, poor judgment and memory.

While many kids make up for this lost sleep by sleeping in on the weekends, significant numbers still show symptoms of severe sleep deprivation.

Given that the natural body cycles of teenagers mean they function better later in the day and are most alert in the afternoon there is a growing consensus that we should let them sleep in and start school later in the day.

Australian schools should be open to a variation in starting times to optimise learning, for three main reasons.

First, there is an evidence base.

One of the brightest stars in the Australian psychological firmament, clinical psychologist Andrew Fuller, trialled later start times at two Victorian schools and found a decrease in bad behaviour and an improvement in academic results with the introduction of a 10am start and 4pm finish.

Second, teachers - often unfairly maligned - also suffer from sleep deprivation and their psychological and physical wellbeing would have to improve with a later start time.

Third, our congested roads and trains would be a lot less clogged if commuters did not have to compete with the kids going to school at the same time.

Because melatonin levels change as children get older, the ideal situation would be to have staggered start times, earlier for primary school pupils and later at high schools.

The Victorian State Secondary School system has led Australia on any number of issues, such as drug education.

Can anyone seriously suggest why we should not trial later school starting times for teenagers, on a larger scale?

uFuture leaders 2017

Main picture and below left: Scenes from controversial Netflix film To The Bone, which featured anorexia.

Most common eating disorders Anorexia nervosa: Characterised by a marked restriction of food intake relative to energy requirements, leading to a significantly low weight and malnutrition. Despite being underweight, individuals with anorexia nervosa have an intense fear of gaining weight and often believe they are overweight or fat.

Bulimia nervosa: Out of control eating (binge eating) and compensatory behaviour to prevent weight gain including fasting, vomiting and laxative use.

Binge eating disorder: Periods of out of control eating and distress and shame about eating and weight.

Body image in the spotlight How can parents differentiate between fussy habits and an eating disorder and what are some of the causes?

By Dr Sloane Madden from the Eating Disorder Service at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead

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s children begin to mature, increased awareness of their body is common. They might consider how they look relative to their peers and a degree of anxiety about their appearance is normal. But an obsession with food, their weight and a distorted view of themselves should raise a red flag. Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses in which individuals have severely disturbed eating behaviours and extreme concerns about their weight, shape and body image.

Eating disorders are estimated to affect nearly one in 10 people and are often associated with significant physical complications and psychological, social and functional impairment.

On the rise l In the past 15 years The Children’s Hospital at Westmead has seen a fourfold increase in eating disorder admissions and is providing 10 times the number of outpatient consultations.

Eating disorders increasingly affecting younger children and boys While eating disorders can occur at any age, they most commonly have their onset in mid to late adolescence. Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa are increasingly being seen at a much earlier age.

At The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, children as young as eight have been treated for anorexia nervosa.

While eating disorders more commonly affect females, eating disorders are more commonly being recognised in men and boys with approximately one in four eating disorder presentations in children under the age of 13 occurring in boys.

Over the past 15 years The Children’s Hospital at Westmead has seen a fourfold increase in eating disorder admissions and is providing 10 times the number of outpatient consultations.

Each year up to 150 children and adolescents with an average age of 13 are admitted to the hospital with complications of their eating disorders.

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Early warning signs include l Food restriction and hiding food (this can start with becoming “healthy”, including vegetarianism) l Food obsessions/unusual food habits such as cutting food up into tiny portions and eating food in tiny bites l Calorie counting and obsessive reading of nutritional information on food items l Rigid and irrational ideas about food l Interest in food, recipes and cooking but not in eating l Excessive exercise l Vomiting/laxative use l Excessive time in toilet after meals l Rapid and or excessive weight loss l Social withdrawal l Difficulty concentrating

The effects of malnutrition are not pretty Eating disorders in children and adolescents are associated with significant physical and psychological complications. The severe malnutrition seen in anorexia nervosa and similar eating disorders impacts on all body systems, leading to growth failure, poor bone health and loss of bone density, infertility and loss of academic ability due to brain shrinkage.

Eating disorders are associated with high rates of depression and anxiety with up to 80 percent of individuals affected. Death rates for anorexia nervosa are among the highest of all eating disorders with the mortality rate in 15to 24-year-olds 12 times higher than for those without eating disorders

Complex causes The causes of eating disorders are multiple and complex. There is increasing evidence and recognition of the role of genes in the onset of eating disorders.

While there is not a single gene known to cause eating disorders, recent large research studies have identified multiple genes that combine to increase a person’s risk for developing an eating disorder. Individuals with these genes are often characterised by increased drive to succeed, perfectionism and difficulty with emotional communication.

Finally, the continuing focus on weight and shape in traditional and social media, with a focus on thinness and health has impacted not only on the rates of eating disorders but also on the age of onset.

Despite the severe complications of eating disorders, with early recognition and the correct treatment, the majority of people with eating disorders will recover.

Current evidence emphasises the importance of weight recovery and normalisation of eating early in the course of treatment and the importance of involving the family in treatment for children and adolescents with eating disorders.

If children are seen early in the course of their illness, the severe physical complications associated with eating disorders can be successfully treated and reversed. The first changes parents notice in their young people are eating less, exercising more, weight loss and moodiness or irritability.

Another way young people restrict their

food intake has been coined “orthorexia” – disordered eating masquerading as an obsession with clean eating. People eat healthily, but exclude whole food groups from their diet and become increasingly focused on what they eat.

It is critical if parents become concerned about their child’s eating, or are concerned that their child may have an eating disorder, that they see their family doctor immediately and explain their concerns. The next step is contacting more specialist services, such as the Eating Disorder Service at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead. l The Butterfly Foundation also provides support for eating disorders.

Visit: thebutterflyfoundation.org.au

uFuture leaders 2017

Leaders share old school lessons NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes and Opposition Education spokesman Jihad Dib share stories from their own schooling and explain their vision for the state’s future.

NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes

Minister. To me, Scott is a great role model of how a teacher should be.

Schools attended: Gordon Public School, Sydney Church of England Grammar School (Shore) Higher education and qualifications: Macquarie University, Oxford University, Moore College, College of Law. BA, LLB, LLM, PHD, Grad Dip. Legal Practice, Dip. Biblical Studies, MSC (continuing) Did you have a teacher who inspired you at school and if so how?

Scott Campbell, a teacher I had at Gordon Public School, now deputy principal at Lindfield East Public School. Gordon Public was his first posting out of university.

Mr Campbell cared for every one of us and helped each of us discover our individual gifts. So much so that when we had a class reunion 25 years later he made the effort to come along and see how life had worked out for us.

Scott had a passion as an educator that to this day remains undiminished. His current students at Lindfield East are lucky to have someone like him.

Did you develop any leadership skills at school and if so what did you learn?

As a prefect in high school I learned that leadership is ultimately all about service.

You become a leader by being an example to all those who follow. Leadership must be about putting the interests of others above your own. And I learned that if something goes wrong, a leader should not complain but focus on fixing the problem.

He was a wonderful role model as a person and I had a sense that he genuinely cared.

He was probably the first experience I had of someone outside my family who I looked at and could see really wanted the best for me.

I’ll often think of him as a comparison measure, a yardstick, when I meet a teacher for the first time in my role as Education

Is there something you would like to change from your own school days?

I had a great school experience overall.

I remember well a music teacher in Year 9, Mr Fox, who told me directly and in a concerned way that you get out of school what you put in. It was a message that connected for me and from then on it did make me realise that my school days were short and that I should make the best of the opportunities that arose.

From then on I did what I could to make the most of what was on offer to me at school.

Looking back, I would have thrown more effort in my school work earlier if I had understood this as a younger student.

What do you tell your own kids about education?

I tell them to think of what I realised only towards the end of school that you must take every opportunity.

My kids are involved in school sport and school drama and dance and all those activities that keep them very busy and active. It does open the doors to friendships and opportunities that they might not otherwise have had. So maybe they are listening to me.

I also tell them to respect their teachers.

Teachers have a demanding and challenging job and they deserve respect. I also tell my children that teachers will help you if you ask and listen to them. I tell my children to ask as many questions as they can, especially when they don’t understand what is going on.

What is your vision for education in NSW? Education is the foundation of all our community’s aspirations. The best way to establish a good health system, a safe and just world, and a cohesive society and all the other things we desire is through a quality education system accessible to all.

This is where it starts.

A strong public education sytem needs to be a top priority for every government. The NSW Government has a number of initiatives in place to improve our education system. One of them is building 123 new or upgraded public schools over the next four years to house the additional 32,000 students we expect to have in our public schools over the next 15 years.

A big part of my job is to ensure we have the schools for these kids of the future.

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NSW Opposition Education spokesman Jihad Dib

and gave everything a go, however, like any 13- or 14-year-old, I was probably a bit too cheeky at times.

I imagine my teammates who lost the under-16s rugby league grand final probably wished I hadn’t dropped the ball right near the try line … one of my mates still reminds me of it to this day.

Schools attended: Hurstville South Public, Hurstville Boys’ High, Heathcote High Higher education and qualifications: Bachelor of Arts (Literature and History) Graduate Diploma in Education – University of Wollongong and Honorary Doctorate in Education – University of NSW Did you have a teacher who inspired you at school and if so how?

Mrs Dawn Northey – my year advisor and also student representative council and prefect co-ordinator always encouraged us to be civic minded. Joe Milgram – my English teacher who had an incredible ability to bring out the best in each person through some of his unorthodox teaching methods, especially when it came to teaching the so -called “classics”.

His teaching gave me a love of literature which has inspired me throughout my career. Alan Thomson – my history teacher who brought the importance of history to life with a gift in linking events of the past to relevance in the present and shaping of the future.

As part of my university studies, I spent some weeks as a student teacher under the guidance of Mr Thomson and I strongly be-

lieve he played a major part in my teaching philosophy and approach to the way we can see the best in every child and situation.

Did you develop any leadership skills at school and if so what did you learn?

I was always involved in the student representative council and as a Year 12 student, one of the senior prefects.

The most important thing I learned and what I have carried through life, is that regardless of where you are in life and whatever position you may hold, you should always do everything you can to make things better for others; there is leadership within each and every person.

Is there something you would like to change from your own school days?

I had an enjoyable time at school

What do you tell your own kids about education?

That whilst school and learning is incredibly important and they must complete all of their work, homework and assignments, it is not the be all and end all of who they are as people.

Working hard and giving the best of themselves to every academic task is complemented by the importance of involvement in sports, the arts and school-based community work. I am proud they see the importance of helping (and standing up for) anyone less fortunate than themselves and to always be respectful to their teachers.

What is your vision for education in NSW? In the first instance, to see that every single student, regardless of their background, social context, ability and personal complex-

ity, has the strongest possible opportunity to succeed in all aspects of life. It is very important that our schools produce students who are academically strong but we cannot understate the importance of a philosophy that also produces well-rounded graduates.

In addition to the very important academic rigour, our education system must provide the skills for students to be able to succeed in life, the ability to work collaboratively and to become critical thinkers, contributing to a better Australia.

I am also a very strong advocate for schools as community hubs, where schools become more than just a place where only students walk in at a certain time, receive instruction and then leave; there’s a great deal more we can do in this space to create a sense of belonging for everyone including families and community organisations.