Global Education

Empowering students to find their voice

Our students live and learn in an interconnected, diverse and ever-changing world. At Kincoppal-Rose Bay we therefore believe in providing a contemporary education that supports the development of global citizens who, through the discovery of themselves, others and the world around them, work to create new futures not yet imagined.

A key component of global citizenship is cultural intelligence. To thrive, our students must understand the cultural forces that have shaped them as individuals in order to develop their ability to relate and work with people from a variety of cultural backgrounds. One of the ways we do this at KRB is through empowering our students to share their cultural perspectives and worldviews. Such an example was this year’s National Sorry Day Assembly, where our whole school gathered to hear the stories of our First Nations students and their families. We heard of their resilience, strength and determination and committed ourselves as a community to work towards reconciliation through our words and actions. This commitment is recognised through the continuing development of our K-12 Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), which follows the approved RAP of our Early Learning Centre. The RAP outlines our priorities for embedding reconciliation in our classrooms, at School and in the community and communicates how we will honour and share the stories of our First Nations culture; the oldest continuing culture in the world. Through initiatives such as these, KRB works to build an inclusive community where each child celebrates their own story and values the diverse perspectives and worldviews of others.

A unique gift of a KRB education is the opportunity it provides for our students to experience learning alongside other Sacred Heart students from around the globe. Our Sacred Heart Exchange Program offers a myriad of opportunities for this through our domestic, international and virtual exchanges. The newest addition to this offering, our ‘Virtual Collaboration Program’, was launched this year and gives Year 9 students an opportunity to connect virtually with other Sacred Heart students from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Across a semester, students in the program discern the global issues they wish to investigate, such as climate change, mental health and gender equality, and then lead discussions on how these issues impact different countries and peoples. In doing so, students build their ability to facilitate dialogue with others from different cultural contexts and backgrounds, and understand more deeply how they can co-construct global solutions to global problems.

At KRB we believe in empowering the voice of students so they develop agency to not only speak up about issues of concern, including those regarding justice, peace and integrity of creation, but to lead informed action for the betterment of all. Whether it be our Year 6 Global Leaders voicing their concerns regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the subsequent lessons they developed and delivered to Years 5 and 6 on the issue; or the Student Leadership Committee working alongside our staff from KRB and other Sacred Heart Schools at this year’s Sacred Heart Conference to share their wisdom on the challenges and opportunities of our contemporary education, our students are empowered to find their voice and use it to be active changemakers in our local and global community. Through this and other experiences, our students understand their skills and abilities and use this to be global citizens who will shape the world for the betterment of all.

Sarah Daff Director of Global Education