Staff Insights
By Mr Brad Cooney, Deputy Principal and Head of Secondary School
Dear Families,
Learning is our core business at Radford College, and we pride ourselves on measuring the impact that our teachers have in the classroom and on creating learning opportunities for our young people to enable them to achieve their full potential across a broad range of academic disciplines.
Our
teachers work hard to plan and prepare contemporary, relevant, and engaging
pedagogy based upon three key principles.
Learning Intentions: Research demonstrates that teachers who are clear about what they want their students to learn as a result of each lesson, have greater impact on their students' learning outcomes.
Success Criteria: Our teachers clearly articulate and, in some instances demonstrate what learning outcomes are required for our students to experience success. This includes sequencing teaching to focus on the steps that lead to new knowledge, deeper understandings and increasingly sophisticated skill, varying instruction in response to immediate or real time feedback and asking questions to monitor understanding and progress.
Strong Teacher-Student Relationships: Teacher-student relationships shape the way our students think and act in school and in the classroom. Positive relationships lead to students feeling more confident about learning, classwork and school in general. A strong teacher-student relationship also fosters risk taking in learning and mistakes and a growth mindset for learning.
This is not new or revolutionary information about teaching and learning; however, it does highlight fundamental concepts and skills necessary for keeping a focus on learning and helps us to begin to build a shared language and understanding with colleagues about what learning looks, feels and sounds like in our context.
By providing our academic staff with ongoing professional learning opportunities to develop these core principles, we aim to encourage a culture of learning and character education to enhance the quality teaching and learning that is happening at Radford College.
By Rev. Dr Katherine Rainger, Senior Chaplain
Last week I was talking with a priest from the South Coast about the place of the arts in exploring spiritual ideas. He said to me, “it’s like opening a window and letting the air in”. I thought it was a great image that could apply to a range of contexts.
I wonder what activity we might engage in intentionally this week that can metaphorically open a window and bring an element of surprise, fun, meaning, purpose, or connection? For each person it will be different. It might be playing Taylor Swift loudly in the car, going to the Emily Kam Kngwarray exhibition at the NGA, kicking a football, drinking some tea on a balcony or going for a morning walk. The possibilities are endless.
This semester Year 9 students are studying a unit on Spirituality and the Arts in Religious and Values Education (RaVE). The Year 9 cohort recently had the opportunity to be immersed in their learning through an excursion to Goulburn. Students moved through three rotations as they explored the local art scene through public art, engaged with the Archibald Prize regional tour and visited St Saviour’s Anglican Cathedral.
St Saviour’s Cathedral was a chance to engage with the story of Radford College as we saw plaques dedicated to our namesake Bishop Lewis Radstock Radford as well as his pectoral cross and robes (which are over 100 years old). Students also commented on the sense of awe they felt on entering such a historic place of worship as their senses were engaged by the art and architecture.
The Public Art tour was a highlight for students, in particular Radford Collegian Luke Chiswell’s Hold Your Head Up, Jason Wing’s Tree Spirits and Bill Doorman’s Ma baby gone and left me. I find Will Coles’ Burden and Memories at Goulburn Railway Station a great piece for reflecting on the way the location of public art making a difference to interpretation. There was much discussion amongst students as to what these two suitcases represented in their location.
You can repeat our excursion by visiting St Saviour’s Cathedral (which is open daily) and the Goulburn Regional Art Gallery. The gallery has free guides for the Public Art around Goulburn. A guaranteed good day out.
Upon our return to the College, we had some time for reflection in the Radford chapel. Staff and students shared the things that they noticed. Year 9 student Olivia Christian recalls, “the cathedral was a peaceful place that was beautiful to look at. It was bigger than many churches I have been to and had a strong sense of history about it. My favourite activity of the day was visiting the Art Gallery. The highlight was that each piece of art in the Archibald exhibition was unique and had a story behind it.”
As we continue our Lenten journey, we participate in the dual movements of tending to our inner lives through connection with God and ourselves and our outer lives lived in the world. Violence and suffering in Gaza, Israel, Myanmar, Ukraine and other places calls us to lament and take action. The Anglicans in Development Lent Appeal is one practical way to contribute to a more just and peaceful world.
A prayer by Michael Leunig:
Dear God,
We pray for another way of being:
another way of knowing.
Across the difficult terrain of our existence
we have attempted to build a highway
and in so doing have lost our footpath.
God lead us to our footpath:
Lead us there where in simplicity
we may move at the speed of natural creatures
and feel the earth's love beneath our feet.
Lead us there where step-by-step we may feel
the movement of creation in our hearts.
And lead us there where side-by-side
we may feel the embrace of the common soul.
Nothing can be loved at speed.
God lead us to the slow path; to the joyous insights
of the pilgrim; another way of knowing: another way of being.
Amen.
News
Kindergarten students started their short school week by visiting the Life Education Van and learning about healthy habits.
They enthusiastically answered questions on when you should wash your hands, brush your teeth and take a bath or a shower. Some were of the opinion that less is more.
The students also received valuable information on choosing healthy foods, the benefits of physical activity and sleep and safety at home, school and in the community.
Life Education, along with its mascot, Healthy Harold have been teaching children and young people health, safety and well-being skills for more than forty years.
But what did the little ones take away from Harold's visit?
"You have to eat carrots, wash your hands and eat green things every day" – Amelia (5)
"Junk food is sometimes food and healthy food is everyday food" – Tiffany (5)
"I have to wash and brush and tie my hair every day" – Anna (5)
