Attendance Matters

I have often read about how important it is for a student to attend at least 80 percent of lessons.

If they miss some lessons, it is reasonably likely that they will catch up, or not miss too many important parts, so that they can move forward and pass a subject quite easily.

The more a student gets behind, the more they are required to catch up, as well as stay current with classes that continue. An issue with this is, if you are in a class that is talking about a specific topic, often the learner will not be able to understand what is being taught as they won’t have had the referential background developed by the earlier lessons.

I recently saw the graph below and it really hit me hard, the difficulty missing classes puts on a student. When you see data that shows the likely grade output from students that have missed classes, it is disturbing. Noticeably, to stay in the good zone of learning, a student needs to stay within the 95% to 100% range. This will enable them to learn at their optimum level.

So, one of the biggest indicators of success in students at school is an above 80% attendance.

If you have a child away from school, please make sure you call to let us know they are away so we can record it in our register. 

If your child has attendance issues, please call the school so we can work with and assist you in trying to maintain a higher attendance level.  We really care about our student’s education and want to help out where we can. 

Ed Moroni - Secondary Co-ordinator

Student Success in 2022

“Christ is all, and is in all.”

— Colossians 3:11b

I read an article in The Educator Australia on an interesting topic - sleep. More specifically, sleep our students need. Titled, ‘How sleep routines can help kids do better at school’, author Brett Henebery explores the need for sleep and how students today are not necessarily getting the sleep they need to do their best - including how technology can have a negative impact.

Brett Henebery says, “Increasing children’s understanding of why a good sleep routine is important, in the same way exercise and nutrition are focused upon in the curriculum, can help them to maintain healthy sleep behaviours.”

It made me think about ways some young people are not prepared for learning at school before they come through the gates in the morning. Some students come to school with their heads so full of things from their previous 16 hours of social media and online use that subject material has little room to be engaged with.

These two examples, sleep deficit and social media, are just the start of the difficulties facing teachers.

In our meeting yesterday afternoon, Senior Staff started looking at ‘Deep Learning’ and the Six Cs - citizenship, character, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration. We would say, of course, that there is a seventh C - Christ. As the Bible verse says, Christ is all. Drew and I have been discussing this for a while now, and teachers have looked at deeper learning from a different perspective through our Visible Learning professional development.

Emmanuel Christian School wants to reimagine life's possibilities and see our students thrive and see success in their work. As we take the school on a journey to explore deep learning and get students to really sink their teeth into topics and explore subjects and issues beyond any surface-level thinking, we need our students to be fresh and ready to learn. Exciting times ahead.

Scott Winkler — Principal

Valuing Risk Taking

Risk taking. It is a scary term. Often one that is marked with the prospect of failing or losing.

It is not often something we tend to enjoy doing but when learning, risk taking is something we need to value and encourage in our students.

What is risk taking? Intellectual or academic risk taking can be described as “Engaging in adaptive learning behaviours (sharing tentative ideas, asking questions, attempting to do and learn new things) that place the learner at risk of making mistakes or appearing less competent than others.”

Many students often become reluctant to take risks when learning due to the fear of failure and having their ideas dismissed or due to the thought of having their peers ridicule them. Risk taking in the classroom setting is encouraged, due to the benefits of intellectual gain and the possibility of the acquisition of new skills, as opposed to the concept of risk taking in such domains like extreme sports, which often pose a risk of physical harm.

So why is risk taking in the classroom important? Academic risk taking can be associated with a wide range of thinking and learning skills. These such skills can help develop the individual's ability to be prepared for the workforce and for life beyond school. “Engaging in intellectual risk taking behaviours also promotes learning and academic achievement. Sharing tentative ideas helps form student identity, which in turn supports academic achievement”

At Emmanuel, we encourage students to take risks and value the lessons that can be learned when a student makes a mistake. The power of “Yet” is one that can help students to re-think and see their mistakes as an opportunity to learn and dive deeper into the concept that they are trying to acquire. Carol Dweck powered the term yet in her book Mindset. You can watch her TED talk focusing on this term. The term yet can transform those negative outlooks into positive statements that further encourage learning and challenges. You can do this by helping students to turn phrases such as “I cannot do this” to “I cannot do this yet”. The power of yet is transformational and allows students to remember that learning new skills is a journey, not a destination.

Being that it is the start of the new year, now is a wonderful time to reaffirm with your child that mistakes are okay! That if a task is feeling difficult, that is wonderful because they are learning and it is definitely acceptable to make mistakes in front of your peers. With this in mind, I am also reminded by God’s word that says “Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing” 1 Thessalonians 5:11. Reflecting on how we should be encouraging our children to strive towards the plans God has for them, thinking about how their learning in school today, is preparing them for a life of serving our amazing God with the gifts He has given them.

Laura Ferguson — Head of Teaching and Learning Primary

Growth Mindset

A key focus for teachers is trying to develop intrinsic motivation in students.

That is, encouraging students to perform tasks for the satisfaction it brings, rather than needing to receive a reward because they finished.  Carol Dweck, a psychologist from Stanford University has been a pioneer in researching why some people derive pleasure from the challenges they face and why there are those that do not.  Through her research, Dweck identifies two core mindsets that individuals can hold. A Fixed Mindset and a Growth Mindset.  

The traits we see for an individual with a Fixed Mindset are that they believe their abilities are etched in stone and were predetermined at birth.  They approach tasks with preconceived ideas about what the outcome will be, based on their own beliefs, before the task has even started.

However, individuals who possess a Growth Mindset believe that their skills and abilities can be cultivated through effort and perseverance.  These individuals view tough situations as challenges and are willing to apply multiple strategies or seek assistance to solve the problem.

For most of us, going between these two mindsets is a daily occurrence depending on the task we face.  Being able to identify when we are developing a Fixed Mindset and being able to turn that around is critical.

For educators trying to motivate students, this can be a challenge.  Being able to identify students who get stuck can be tricky, particularly if they are quiet.  Fostering an environment and creating a culture where students feel safe and are able to make mistakes is vital.  At Emmanuel, teachers are doing this by actively engaging students in discussions about Growth Mindset, having students refer to Growth Mindset statements, displaying Growth Mindset vocabulary, and of course, modelling a Growth Mindset themselves.  All these examples can assist students in changing their thinking and their approach to learning.

Next time you are in your child's classroom, look out for the Growth Mindset displays. You will see statements like:

 Instead of thinking —> Try Thinking

• I’m not good at this  —> What am I missing?

• This is too hard —> This may take some time and effort

• I made a mistake  —> Mistakes help me to learn better

• It’s good enough —> Is it really my best work

• Plan ‘A’ didn’t work —> Good thing the alphabet has 25 more letters

Another important strategy for teachers trying to develop a Growth Mindset is by giving feedback. Feedback is also an integral part of the Visible Learning approach that we, as a school, are committed to. Feedback has an effect size of 0.70. According to John Hattie, “everything works, but what works best?”. The graphic below shows that 0.40 is theeffect size that we can expect from a year’s schooling. Therefore, a score higher than this can only have a positive impact on learning.

Feedback needs to be given with consideration though.  Teachers and parents alike need to ensure that praise is being given in a meaningful and purposeful way.

Unfortunately, some people provide feedback that centres on effort and praising effort and believe that they are promoting a Growth Mindset.  Sadly, this is what Carol Dweck refers to as a ‘False Growth Mindset’.  Learning requires more than just effort.  Effort is a single part of a larger process.  This process involves a variety of factors, hard work, perseverance, multiple strategies, collaboration, and focus, to name a few.

Feedback needs to be given with ‘where to next’ in mind. Students need to understand where they currently are in the learning process and what they can do to take themselves to the next level. At Emmanuel, we want to see every student become the best version of themselves as possible. Growth Mindset is a journey and needs to be encouraged at both home and school. Students engaging with a Growth Mindset will help them achieve success in their lives.

Drew Roberts — Deputy Principal

Authority

“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. ”

— Romans 13:1

Most people want to do the right thing, and we follow the law and reasonable directives. It is this mass expectation that allows society to function.

Even at school, most of our students are obedient and do what is expected of them. Classroom learning can really only function if that is the case.

Interestingly, there are times when some people do not like being told what to do, and there are times some people have difficulty being obedient. At the same time, we do not like it if people do not do what we want them to do.

I have heard people complain when they get pulled up for speeding and fined. I have heard this referred to as a voluntary tax because it is money paid to the government that we choose to pay. I have spoken to parents who hate it when their children do not do what they are told, and we see this with a few of our students too.

As we see in the first four verses of Romans 13 - verse one is at the beginning of this article - authority is important to God, and authority is essential to framing social order.

I am grateful for the support we have at school from our students and families as our system and processes work well.

I have been thinking about those few students who complain that they are being ‘picked on’ but consistently do the wrong thing and defy authority. One student complained he was being ‘picked on’ for not wearing a tie. He could not see, or at least was not prepared to accept, that if he had a tie on, he would not have been on a teacher’s radar. A teacher rang home to follow up, and, sure enough, the family had done the right thing and purchased a tie.

Although examples like this seem trivial to some, a bonus of school life is that school is a safe place to learn to do what is expected of you. This is part of the huge contribution Emmanuel Christian School makes to the lives of our young people.

Scott Winkler — Principal