There is a famous Chinese proverb that states “Learning is a treasure that follows its owner everywhere”. So far, 2020 has been a year of learning in many unexpected ways that have provided the MSJ community with the opportunity to open treasures in our learning that we may not have previously anticipated. During Learning from Home, teachers worked diligently to develop their skills in many areas of teaching pedagogy. There was a constant buzz as we had the opportunity to embrace online learning in practice using tools such as Zoom, Screencastify and Classroom. Since returning to face to face teaching, we have been reflecting on how we can continue to incorporate learnings from this experience as part of our ongoing practice. Our new Learning Framework based around Spirituality, Global Citizenship and Personal Attributes has provided the perfect platform for these ongoing teaching and learning reflections. 

Our students have also demonstrated how their experiences in the Learning at Home space have provided great opportunities to understand learning strengths. For each individual student, this is unique. Upon returning to face to face learning, we asked students to reflect on learning areas such as 

“What would you like to keep as part of your learning now that you are back at school?” – 

“Working to the best of my ability and working individually.”

 “I would like to keep the level of organisation I have developed.” 

“I really enjoyed learning online and using Google Classroom as the main platform all our work was on. I really want to keep this as all the work is easily accessible and if you miss a class you know where to go to get your work.” 

“Knowing what work I have for the week in advance, so I can work on it at my own pace, save class time for the harder work that I need in advance so that I can prepare for the work’. 

You may also wish to reflect with your daughter about her learning experiences this year. 

What has she learnt about herself as a learner this year? 

What have you observed that is different about her way of acting and thinking?

What will she keep doing? 

More of something? 

Will she start working in a different way? 

As a learning community, we will continue to reflect on our learning experiences as we look towards the future and embedding our MSJ Learning Framework into our MSJ community. 

As parents, you will have experienced many aspects of your daughter’s learning that you may not have experienced before. Whilst there may have been challenging times, I am confident that you will have encountered your own “treasures” with your daughter’s learning that you will carry with you everywhere. “Learning is a constant process of discovery – a process without end.”