Hind sight is a thing apparently. The problem is that you can’t have it before you’ve got it. An in order to get it, you have to go though not having it. Like so much else in life!
So how will we look back on 2020? I figure the journey had better start now so that there is some useful material to view it through.
First things first. Let’s start at the beginning of the year. But in order to do that, we have to stroll back to the conclusion of last year.
All of which to say that the process of reflection on school performance in my educational jurisdiction is through a four yearly review. For us we beleagueredly staggered across the finish line in mid January. This was through the haze of bushfire smoke faintly tinged with the threat of COVID-19.
This process clarified some core values for our school community. Who are we? What makes us ‘us’? What does success look like in our community?
We exist to give power to our learners to shape their world.
So,
We curate playlists of affordances that cause learning to happen.
In order to be
Relational, Relevant and Rigourous ……
There is a whole heap more that goes with that. The irony is, I’m sitting here in a hospital waiting room writing this. Not any hospital waiting room – but a fever clinic. I don’t have a fever. None the less, I’ve been dutifully sent to the COVID clinic to get tested.
How then do we make sense of our plans when given the context we find ourselves in. Can a vision for what learners look like survive the impact of drought, flood, bushfires, pandemic, lockdowns, isolation and economic disaster?
Well – if the reason for being for any school is going to get tested – it is right now. And frankly, I’m proud to be part of a learning community that, in the face of unprecedented disruption – can maintain the core values, and even begin to flourish.