Foundation Years Masterplan

What a Season to Remember!

With hours of training under their belts across three terms, two week-long camps, and competing at multiple regattas, our crews were constantly improving, showing continual determination throughout the season, motivating, and helping each other out.

Just two weeks in, the squad made the transition online, improving strength, fitness, and technique. Once we could return to in-person training, all squads were out in full force working hard at both on-water and strength and conditioning sessions. At the peak of the season at the Head of School Girls Regatta, the squad were prepared to showcase their best rowing. The weekend saw Strathy rowers supporting one another, bringing strong competition and showing determination and drive. We came away from the weekend finishing 5th in the overall medal tally and making history, winning Open Div 1 and Div 2 — one of the most successful results for the School ever. To conclude the season, our Senior Blues and Inter and Senior Blacks competed at the Australian Rowing Championships. Over an exciting few days of racing, we saw some great rowing from our crews; and in an outstanding finish, our Senior Blacks finished 2nd in the country for the schoolgirls’ division. Coming off one of our most successful seasons yet — we already can’t wait for next season!

HOLLY MITCHELL

Senior Squad Coordinator On the world stage

Congratulations to Year 12 student, Chloe Amling, who represented Australia in the World Junior Rowing Championships. This is an outstanding achievement that reflects Chloe’s commitment and dedication to Rowing across many years at Strathcona. In order to achieve this feat, Chloe participated in the week-long National Underage Selection Trials in Canberra in May. There were over 400 athletes at these trials across multiple age groups. Chloe has been selected in the U19 Women’s Eight crew which is made up of other students from across Victoria. We congratulate Chloe on this exceptional achievement and wish her well in her rowing endeavours.

KEIRA WILLS Head of Sport

• NET B ALL •

The first half of 2022 has seen a large number of students involved in netball, including both Saturday Netball and Girls Sport Victoria (GSV) Netball. Our representation at Boroondara Netball Association includes 26 teams, with 230 students from Year 4 to Year 12 representing Strathcona each week. This large group of netballers build connections and a strong sense of belonging to Strathcona’s community.

It is pleasing that our Senior student community are also heavily involved in coaching our younger teams and inspiring them to enjoy their netball, with 22 student coaches in Years 11 and 12 taking up this opportunity. These coaches lead our students in both their training sessions and matches and through this, are able to learn lifelong skills in organisation, leadership and compassion amongst other things.

Alongside our Saturday Netball program, our GSV program has been continuing to gain momentum. In Term 2, we had 19 teams across Junior, Intermediate and Senior levels competing in the GSV weekly sport competition. Our Junior Strathy6 team made the finals event for their division which was a wonderful achievement.

We love seeing all of our students enjoying being involved in netball, whether it be GSV, Saturday Netball, coaching or playing!

KEIRA WILLS Head of Sport

Unleashing Student Potential Through Mathematical Mindsets

Have you or your daughter ever felt anxious or lacked confidence in Maths? If alarm bells are sounding, take comfort. Research in recent years has shown that no one needs to feel this way and we can reverse damaging experiences with Maths. Strathcona teachers are on a path to implementing the findings of research on Mathematical Mindsets and the outlook is extremely positive.

What does an ideal class look like where Mathematical Mindsets are prevalent? According to Jo Boaler, the principal researcher and author of Mathematical Mindsets 2nd Edition (2022), students are highly engaged, asking questions and driving their own investigations. Mathematical concepts are being explored and expressed visually and creatively, and learning is primarily about making connections and reasoning. Messages about students’ capabilities are positive and mistakes and challenges are valued.

If this sounds like an inspiring Maths classroom, you might be thinking, “How is this possible?” There are a few keys to improving students’ relationships with Maths, the first of which is changing our messages to students. For example, if we comfort a student by saying “Don’t worry, not everyone can be a Maths person”, we are inadvertently sending an incorrect message. The truth is that everyone is a Maths person, and the messages we convey to our girls can impact their Maths pathways and even their career prospects. So at Strathcona we are focusing on productive messages.

Another key to improving achievements in Maths is teaching it well. Maths classes should be about investigating big ideas in Maths through visualisation, reasoning, creativity, making connections, discussion and asking good questions. Gone are the days when we valued memorisation, speed, innate ability and isolated correct answers, above thoughtfulness, investigation and effort.

Another cornerstone to resetting a student’s relationship with Maths and nurturing her potential is Mathematical Mindset. Students with a fixed mindset are more likely to give up easily while those with a growth mindset will be persistent and embrace their mistakes and struggles in Maths.

As teachers, we must resist the temptation to save students from challenging Maths. We encourage students to become comfortable with challenge and know this is when the most productive learning occurs. Research has shown that students who learn Maths with the correct messages, good teaching and a growth mindset achieve higher levels than those who are taught in a traditional manner. So, next time your daughter says, “I can’t do this”, you might like to sit with her to explore the underlying ideas, play with the numbers or visually represent them. Remind her that everyone is a Maths person and when she feels challenged, it’s a sign she is learning something new.

PENNY WILLOUGHBY

Enrichment Teacher