Gross National Happiness

I’ve been on long service leave for a few weeks.

Many of you might remember I spent a week in Bhutan on an educational tour with the Asia Education Foundation. As always, when I return from overseas I am astonished at the contrast between our education system and its generosity and quality, and that of countries still developing. However, equally amazing are the similarities. I visited a lovely primary school the same size as ours in Thimphu, the capital – children performed on assembly, the school was focused on recycling and teaching about the environment and growing food, they had a maker space for learning to be creative, teachers spent time every week on social and emotional literacy and measured their progress on student happiness, and even more amazing and quite funny, the school also had car parking problems! I loved it.

A stand out in the developing world is the high value parents and students place on their educational opportunities. Education is viewed as the singularly most important activity in the community and parents commit enormous energy in getting their children to school and providing them with the resources they need for participation. Hardly a day of school is missed for any reason except extreme sickness, and teachers and other staff are held in very high esteem. Australia is certainly the lucky country in comparison with other systems from around the world. Our governments provide fantastic facilities, high quality and highly trained teachers and other staff, and most of the resources Australian children use every day. I walked around our school on Monday morning on my return and marvelled at our beautiful well-maintained school and quietly thanked the lucky stars that have helped us amass the best teachers and teacher aides you will find anywhere in the world.

Bullying. No way!

Every Thursday I take prospective parents on a tour of our school. It is a wonderful opportunity to walk and talk with new families, put new students’ minds at ease and answer any questions or worries people have. I am often asked ‘do you have bullying here?’

Friday 17 November was National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence. 4W and 3D performed an entertaining assembly item which outlined the issues behind bullying and appropriate responses to it. I really do love how our kids can describe what bullying is and also understand what ‘mean moments’ are, and how the two are different. Teaching children a language they can use to help themselves and their friends is such a powerful way to end this insidious behaviour.

So, at Assembly on that Friday I asked the kids what they thought I said when new families asked me if there was bullying in our school. Overwhelmingly, most thought I said ‘no’. I’m hopeful that this is because so few actually experience bullying in its pure form of repeated negative attention that won’t stop. A few kids piped up that they thought I would say ‘yes’.

And they were right. I do say ‘yes’. And when parents ask this question, I add that any school who says their kids don’t bully others is not being quite truthful, and that bullying, unfortunately, exists everywhere in society – in schools, in sporting clubs or other cultural pursuits, and in the workplace. However, I also tell parents that every single teacher in this school is committed to assisting children who report bullying (and mean moments) or who ask for help – every single one. It’s a commitment we make at the beginning of every year. That commitment leads to every teacher explicitly teaching conflict resolution, assertive behaviours, the language for asking for help and just about any other skill that is developmentally appropriate for a child to grow the strength to take a stand and say ‘Bullying. No Way!’

Activism starts early

There's one thing that gives me hope for the future... and that is

1. kids these days seem to instinctively know that they have a voice
2. their teachers encourage them to use it

I remember when I was in Year 6 and Mr Williamson set us a task at the end of the school year which included a presentation to the class. The task was to pick something you want to know about, research it, and find a way to communicate what you find out to the class.

At the time Melbourne was in the throws of a really serious drought. The dams were drying up and there was no rain in sight. The media were imploring citizens to save water, and I remember asking Mum what we had to do to save water - it was the ideal topic for my research. To cut a long story short, I wrote to the Ringwood Croydon Mail and was interviewed by a journalist. It was all very exciting for my family. Mum was so proud she kept six copies of the paper (which I am now the proud owner of!)

These days kids are writing to all kinds of movers and shakers demanding social and environmental change.

Recently, Maeve in 2M has written eloquently to every single local, state and federal politician imploring them to act on behalf of the environment. And to their credit they have all replied and she has rushed excitedly to the office so we can read the letters together. We are both actually learning so much about what steps are being taken to lessen human impact on the environment in Australia.

The future is in the hands of our youngsters; let's ensure they have to tools and the voice to make the difference that's needed.

(By the way, it rained the day my article was published in the Ringwood Croydon Mail!)

Art...for art's sake!

In the years since our school opened many parents have requested more art - I sometimes think this is a response to just not knowing how often art is a feature of our every day programs. I see children painting, creating, designing, decorating, and using colour and texture in classrooms every day of the week - even though the official time allocation for this key learning area is somewhere in the vicinity of 45 minutes per week!

And then came the Art Fair! Friday afternoon was an explosion of colour, craft and visual excitment. It's clear some of our students will make their future careers in art of some sort - the inherent creativity and talent of children fostered by skillful teachers on show all afternoon was astounding. The wow factor was shining out of each child's (and many teacher's faces) as they toured the school and appraised the exhibitions.

Balancing arts with the right mix of more 'academic' subjects is always tricky in a general education program - everyone always wants a different mix. I'm pretty happy with our mix - it's collaborative, there's variety, and appreciation of the work of others underlies all activity.

Impromptu class visits

Some excited children from 32BH burst into my office just before lunch and dragged me down to their classroom to see their parachutes. They were testing different materials, lengths of string, how to carry a passenger and numerous other high level scientific theories around forces and tension. Lego people in cupcake pans have never had so much fun!

The discussion was incredible - so was the collaboration and team work. There was so much learning going on; excited voices comparing and contrasting and experimenting. This is a modern day classroom - and it also mirrors a modern day workplace. The work gets done when people talk, share, work and play together.

And at the end is a celebration of the success. Thank goodness for our double story building!