Principal's Message T4 W2 2021

Secret Sauce

I received an email this week that was circulated to all staff by one of our team. It was a cartoony kind of graphic with a big bottle in the middle, a bottle of secret sauce.

The heading read, ‘Guiding Questions for Inquiry Teachers’ and suggested that the secret sauce for good teaching practice were the following questions.

• How do I get to know my students?
• How do I build a foundation of relationship and trust that allows authentic and sustained inquiry to thrive?
• How am I creating space in the curriculum for students to co-design and co-construct with me?
• Am I doing something for my students that they should be doing for themselves?
• How am I making learning equitable for all of my students?
• What strengths does each student bring to the inquiry?
• How would they like to show me what they know?
• How am I being responsive to the unique needs and interests and identities of everyone in my classroom?
• How can I bring the curriculum to life for my students?

Here at Faith, we are growing an energised learning community. These 3 words are quite deliberate and appear as the foundation of our Strategic Planning over the next few years. Our College Council are currently finalising the printing of this Strategic Plan and it will be available to families in the coming weeks.

The secret sauce for me though is the energy. Having our teachers ask themselves the questions above about how they do their work is one ingredient in getting the energy right. School should be a place where people want to be, there should always be something to look forward to. A program, an event, a way of doing something, a project. When we get the inquiry process right, our kids want to be part of what’s going on, there is hopeful anticipation, joyful expectation.

When I walk with people around our College, both campuses, I often get comments like, ‘there is just something special here, you can feel it’. They are right. I thank God for the wonderful students we serve, the dedicated and connected families who have chosen us to be part of their journey, our amazing team and of course our exemplary leaders.

You see Jesus was a teacher, Martin Luther was a teacher too. We have a powerful heritage to draw upon, stretching back beyond 500 years to thousands of years. So, we sprinkle on the secret sauce and keep on doing our best for the kids in our care.

Enjoy the term ahead.

Shane Altmann
Principal