2 minute read
From The Principal
The recent showing of the acclaimed educational documentary “Most Likely to Succeed”, hosted by Kinross Wolaroi School, has promoted ongoing discussion and debate about the future of education and how we prepare students for an ever changing world.
EMBRACING COLLECTIVE AMBITION
Such aspects as communication, collaboration, innovation and expertise in technology applications are on the list of skills and abilities needed. Even more important are the so called soft skills, including an appetite to learn, an inquisitive questioning nature, the empathy to view the world from another’s perspective, as well as tolerance, acceptance and understanding.
These are not new concepts. As far back as 1941, Sir Richard Livingstone stated: “The test of a successful education is not the amount of knowledge that pupils take away from school but their appetite to know and their capacity to learn.”
The school is conscious of the role it plays as one of Australia’s leading boarding and co-educational schools in regional NSW and there is a real sense of urgency in education in the 21st Century to change the current approach. At KWS we are committed to moving from an effective school to a highly effective school, fostering independent and creative learning amongst students and staff. A whole-school focus on Visible Learning continues to be at the core of all that we do. This entails a focus on the learner, where the learner is recognised as both the teacher and the student with a sharing of the learning task.
The key to the successful implementation of Visible Learning requires teachers to seek feedback about their impact on student learning and then modify teaching approaches in light of this feedback. In summary, Visible Learning creates environments that: — encourage teachers to set challenges based on a clear understanding of where the student is currently at in their learning and where they are moving to; — have high expectations that all students can learn; — welcome errors as opportunities to learn; and — passionately promote the language of learning. This Visible Learning approach deliberately underplays the notion of teaching. This is not to say that teaching is unimportant, but rather it is to highlight that the purpose of any teaching relates to the learning process which includes learning by the student and by the teacher. All learning starts from what we already know and moves toward where we want to be. The year 2016 is an impressive milestone for KWS, celebrating 130 years of educational excellence, a rich history and the outstanding opportunities enjoyed by KWS students in days gone by. It would be easy to look back at our multitude of achievements and rest for a while on our laurels. But that is not what we do at KWS. It is an exciting time to be part of the KWS community. The learning opportunities into 2017 and beyond look bright. It is my pleasure to welcome you to this new look magazine and I hope you enjoy reading the inspirational stories which epitomise the pride of the staff, students and the wider community of KWS.
Brian J Kennelly Principal — KWS
