Sometimes these reasons can be an enormous source of entertainment. Take this one for example.
And it came complete with a photo!
And then arrived the after shot - just love it!
Showing posts with label achievement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label achievement. Show all posts
03 December 2015
Putting a cat among the pigeons...or in this case, the hens!
Attendance at school is so important for academic and social progress - so important that when a child's rate of attendance falls below 85%, their academic progress is severely effected. Most families know that we take attendance very seriously, and they concientiously provide us with the reasons why their children are away.
Sometimes these reasons can be an enormous source of entertainment. Take this one for example.
(Names have been changed to protect the 'not so innocent'.)
And it came complete with a photo!
And then arrived the after shot - just love it!
So the moral of the story is - if you are going to be away from school, an entertaining reason softens the blow, and a photo always helps! :)
Sometimes these reasons can be an enormous source of entertainment. Take this one for example.
And it came complete with a photo!
And then arrived the after shot - just love it!
15 September 2015
A Principal's Award - something to aspire to
Then a week or so later all the classes were doing an exercise about the capabilities they wanted to achieve by the end of Year 6. Little Chuneve in Year 2 'just wants to be able to get a Principal's Award.'
It's amazing how much weight that little gold sticker carries and the importance some children attach to it. They are a bit special. I give them out when effort and achievement goes hand in hand and children demonstrate the power of their learning. Obviously I'm not there every time this happens throughout our school - I'd go through packets of the things if that was the case! But I keep them in my drawer and kids know they really mean something. This is the point of an award - recognition and attention for learning and effort - and the knowledge that it's been earned and not just given out with no meaning attached.
Now that I look at these stickers - they are very pretty. I would have loved one as a kid!
14 March 2015
Developing a sense of independence and achievement - by riding, scooting or skating to school
You can't buy that feeling of independence and achievement but as humans when we experience it we want more and more of it. And riding to school with a group of friends is a way to get it. I'm not suggesting kids ride down the David Low Way or the Motorway to get to school! (What were my parent's thinking?). The majority of our kids live on a safe estate where nearly everyone drives slowly and looks out for them. It's the perfect environment for parents to allow children to stretch their wings (and their legs) and increase their child's sense of achievement and purpose.
And if nothing else, a ride to school in the morning will fill their lungs with oxygen ensuring a clear head for the start of a busy school day.
 |
| Hands up if you rode, scooted, skated, car pooled walked or bussed to school today? |
13 October 2013
Joyful about achievement - so lovely to see
Not so many years ago as a new Deputy Principal I had some awards to distribute to children on Assembly. I called the children out and told the Assembly how well they had done, and to my horror watched children very reluctantly stand up and come to the front - some had to be cajoled by their teachers and one flatly refused. A couple of boys stood uncomfortably trying to hide their faces behind too long fringes and surf burned hair. And so was the culture of this school - it's not cool to achieve, to stand out in front of the group, and learning was not publicly congratulated. For these children, it was more like public humiliation. Over the years, I've seen this a lot - especially in Queensland. And even though I never stopped trying, it was hard to change
But not so at Peregian Springs...
Our NAPLAN results arrived in the school last week and over the last few days I've been congratulating children (and whole classes) whom I've noticed have done exceptionally well. By exceptionally well, I mean not just those children who performed above the average scores in the state and nationally, but also, and probably more importantly, those children who have made faster improvement than expected.
In the Drop Off Zone the other day, I said to a boy from Year 5 - 'Congratulations on your NAPLAN results. Mum and Dad are going to be very pleased when they see your report. Good job!' The other boys around him clapped him on the back and echoed my congratulations, and this little bloke was just beaming. Then before Assembly on Friday I did the same thing with one of Year 7 boys. His teacher was there and so were his friends - a risky environment to applaud the learning efforts of an adolescent boy! 'Well done, *, on your NAPLAN results. You have made a huge leap in your learning since Year 5. Good job!' He looked kind of surprised, and his teacher joined in saying 'Yes, I saw that too.' And again all the boys around him nodded and one shook his hand.
This is what I love about our kids. They highly value learning and they readily applaud achievement - their own and the achievements of others. They happily offer their congratulations and are genuinely pleased when one of their mates does well, no matter what the area. In a country that regularly cuts down its tall poppies and where there is a culture of not standing out from the crowd, it is exceptional to see children breaking the mold and raise the 'cool factor' of doing well, of doing your best, and being pleased with your efforts.
But not so at Peregian Springs...
Our NAPLAN results arrived in the school last week and over the last few days I've been congratulating children (and whole classes) whom I've noticed have done exceptionally well. By exceptionally well, I mean not just those children who performed above the average scores in the state and nationally, but also, and probably more importantly, those children who have made faster improvement than expected.
In the Drop Off Zone the other day, I said to a boy from Year 5 - 'Congratulations on your NAPLAN results. Mum and Dad are going to be very pleased when they see your report. Good job!' The other boys around him clapped him on the back and echoed my congratulations, and this little bloke was just beaming. Then before Assembly on Friday I did the same thing with one of Year 7 boys. His teacher was there and so were his friends - a risky environment to applaud the learning efforts of an adolescent boy! 'Well done, *, on your NAPLAN results. You have made a huge leap in your learning since Year 5. Good job!' He looked kind of surprised, and his teacher joined in saying 'Yes, I saw that too.' And again all the boys around him nodded and one shook his hand.
This is what I love about our kids. They highly value learning and they readily applaud achievement - their own and the achievements of others. They happily offer their congratulations and are genuinely pleased when one of their mates does well, no matter what the area. In a country that regularly cuts down its tall poppies and where there is a culture of not standing out from the crowd, it is exceptional to see children breaking the mold and raise the 'cool factor' of doing well, of doing your best, and being pleased with your efforts.
10 February 2013
Whole School Assemblies - a precious part of our culture
I love our Assemblies!
Assembly occurs every Friday morning in the Central Covered Games Area and involves every student and every teacher (unless they are at swimming lessons!) It's the one time of the week when we all get together in one place and celebrate our learning journeys.
Our Assemblies are full of colour and fun. They are not the time of the week when we use the opportunity of everyone being together to have growl - although sometimes there are some messages that everyone needs to think about!
Our Assemblies are a time when students get to practice appropriate audience behaviour - we teach these skills explicitly and expect every child to demonstrate them. And they do this very well - although I long for the day when they can all stand QUIETLY for the Anthem!
The items from the classes are always wonderful - the Preps are usually colourful and very cute and command much attention. The Year 7s usually manage to make everyone laugh and then occasionally, we have a student steal the show (like last week) with her stage presence and skill in commanding a large audience of wrigglers! The items classes present are entertaining and also often focus on a point of interest about out school - for example, this year already we've seen skits on using the Take 5 and on our Code of Cooperation and getting along in the playground.
Assemblies are a time when we celebrate the successes of our students - in sport (both individually and in teams), in music and in any other area of endeavour. I love to see kids really appreciate the achievements of others - as we did last Friday with our record breaking swimming students from the 2012 Swimming Carnival.
I love that parents come along - and when they walk up the pathway afterwards everyone is smiling.
We also acknowledge Country - a very important tradition for all gatherings in Australia, and we proudly sing our Anthem - both verses! We learn a lot from all being together at least once a week - over the last few years as we have grown from 264 students in 2010 to 464 students in 2011 to 511 students in 2012 to a record breaking 712 students in 2013, I've watched all the space in our Central Covered Games Area gradually disappear under a sea of uniforms. But I'm determined we will continue to meet altogether once a week and somehow find a way to make all those bottoms fit!
Assembly occurs every Friday morning in the Central Covered Games Area and involves every student and every teacher (unless they are at swimming lessons!) It's the one time of the week when we all get together in one place and celebrate our learning journeys.
Our Assemblies are full of colour and fun. They are not the time of the week when we use the opportunity of everyone being together to have growl - although sometimes there are some messages that everyone needs to think about!
Our Assemblies are a time when students get to practice appropriate audience behaviour - we teach these skills explicitly and expect every child to demonstrate them. And they do this very well - although I long for the day when they can all stand QUIETLY for the Anthem!
The items from the classes are always wonderful - the Preps are usually colourful and very cute and command much attention. The Year 7s usually manage to make everyone laugh and then occasionally, we have a student steal the show (like last week) with her stage presence and skill in commanding a large audience of wrigglers! The items classes present are entertaining and also often focus on a point of interest about out school - for example, this year already we've seen skits on using the Take 5 and on our Code of Cooperation and getting along in the playground.
Assemblies are a time when we celebrate the successes of our students - in sport (both individually and in teams), in music and in any other area of endeavour. I love to see kids really appreciate the achievements of others - as we did last Friday with our record breaking swimming students from the 2012 Swimming Carnival.
I love that parents come along - and when they walk up the pathway afterwards everyone is smiling.
We also acknowledge Country - a very important tradition for all gatherings in Australia, and we proudly sing our Anthem - both verses! We learn a lot from all being together at least once a week - over the last few years as we have grown from 264 students in 2010 to 464 students in 2011 to 511 students in 2012 to a record breaking 712 students in 2013, I've watched all the space in our Central Covered Games Area gradually disappear under a sea of uniforms. But I'm determined we will continue to meet altogether once a week and somehow find a way to make all those bottoms fit!
01 December 2012
Learning to struggle
There's a growing body of writing focusing on the importance of finding learning difficult in the overall development of children. And there is a plethora of examples comparing the difference between Eastern and Western classrooms and parenting.
A post by Alix Spiegel discusses the differences eloquently.
Over the years I've been an educator I've seen an interesting phenomena develop. We (parents and teachers) don't like to see our children find things hard. We don't like them to have to struggle for too long. We don't like them becoming distressed if they can't do something, and over time we have rescued and rescued and now we have many many children who simply don't make the link between hard work, struggling with a problem, perseverance and achievement. The net result is that children give up too quickly, and perhaps, are not learning to live with a feeling of 'uncomfortableness' for any amount of time.
I recently witnessed my own daughter struggling with studying for an end of year exam in anatomy. The procrastination, the complaints about the teacher, the whining about not being smart enough and 'everyone else is so clever; I'm not' and the claims that 'we haven't even been taught this' were extraordinarily creative. It really took me by surprise. And it took her more by surprise when I said, 'Yes, anatomy is hard, and no, it's not good enough to be able to give a detailed description of the digestive system when the exam requires one about the eye! Clearly you haven't studied enough and you're going to have to work at it harder now'. And I couldn't resist adding 'I hope you've learned your lesson'. (I probably could have done without that last comment!)
I often hear teachers comment that the children in their classes that find learning more difficult (eg. have to try harder to get the same result another has achieved effortlessly) are the ones who seem to be able to work away at a problem and who have developed a tolerance to having to struggle a bit - as opposed to the ones who have been rescued, and have learned they can just give up.
The problems of our future require people who can struggle away at something very hard and not find that uncomfortable feeling so distressing they don't want to continue. As parents we need to let our children struggle and encourage them to view the struggle positively. We need to let them find things hard and not rush in to rescue them, worrying that their 'distress' is going to cause some unimaginable harm. In the end the harm it may cause is a generation of children not willing to persist and not willing to struggle to achieve something great.
A post by Alix Spiegel discusses the differences eloquently.
Over the years I've been an educator I've seen an interesting phenomena develop. We (parents and teachers) don't like to see our children find things hard. We don't like them to have to struggle for too long. We don't like them becoming distressed if they can't do something, and over time we have rescued and rescued and now we have many many children who simply don't make the link between hard work, struggling with a problem, perseverance and achievement. The net result is that children give up too quickly, and perhaps, are not learning to live with a feeling of 'uncomfortableness' for any amount of time.
I recently witnessed my own daughter struggling with studying for an end of year exam in anatomy. The procrastination, the complaints about the teacher, the whining about not being smart enough and 'everyone else is so clever; I'm not' and the claims that 'we haven't even been taught this' were extraordinarily creative. It really took me by surprise. And it took her more by surprise when I said, 'Yes, anatomy is hard, and no, it's not good enough to be able to give a detailed description of the digestive system when the exam requires one about the eye! Clearly you haven't studied enough and you're going to have to work at it harder now'. And I couldn't resist adding 'I hope you've learned your lesson'. (I probably could have done without that last comment!)
I often hear teachers comment that the children in their classes that find learning more difficult (eg. have to try harder to get the same result another has achieved effortlessly) are the ones who seem to be able to work away at a problem and who have developed a tolerance to having to struggle a bit - as opposed to the ones who have been rescued, and have learned they can just give up.
The problems of our future require people who can struggle away at something very hard and not find that uncomfortable feeling so distressing they don't want to continue. As parents we need to let our children struggle and encourage them to view the struggle positively. We need to let them find things hard and not rush in to rescue them, worrying that their 'distress' is going to cause some unimaginable harm. In the end the harm it may cause is a generation of children not willing to persist and not willing to struggle to achieve something great.
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