FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Future Proofing

Most schools and educators continuously look for ways to improve the education system. We recognise that the world beyond school changes, sometimes very rapidly, and we need to ensure students are prepared for the world they live in rather than the world as it was.

Embedded within the vision statement for Moama Anglican Grammar is the concept that, as educators, we will ‘equip students with the skills and confidence to help create their future’. To be successful in this goal, we are adapting new ways to teach students skills for the future.

The school has started to work to enhance the teaching of what has been termed ‘soft skills’ or ‘21st Century skills’. These skills have been identified as crucial for young people to have to flourish in life, yet they are not always explicitly taught. These skills include effective communication, collaboration or teamwork, ethical behaviour, personal skills such as persistence, analytical thinking, creativity as well as the need for entrepreneurial and enterprise skills.

Our goal at MAG is to find ways to teach these skills, offer students feedback on their development in these areas plus ways to grow and improve their mastery of these skills. This of course does not replace the focus on developing the mastery of literacy and numeracy in the early years of school and then growth in other curriculum areas.

We have engaged all teaching staff with strategies to strengthen their skill development to support this growth and development. We have partnered with the Association of Independent Schools NSW and other schools with a pedagogy strategy called Deep Learning. The essence of this work is for teachers to adapt the way they teach their curriculum (knowledge) to include the explicit teaching of the 6C’s (Character, Citizenship, Collaboration, Communication, Creativity and Critical Thinking). We have begun to adapt as educators to be more explicit with students so that students, teachers, and parents can track progress and development across these skills as well as progress across their academic subjects.

Our world will continue to change rapidly, and we all want to see young people thrive in their world. As educators at MAG we are committed to adapting our practice to meet these changes for our students. We are excited about the possibilities open for learning and particularly to see our students engage in real life learning that encourages the growth and development of the whole person at school and beyond.

MRS CARMEL SPRY

PRINCIPAL