Active Learners: Move, Make, Motivate.
What a wonderful theme for this year’s Education Week in all Victorian Schools.
The theme encapsulates a celebration of physical activity, hands-on learning and student voice in education.
It has been a tough three years and there are still significant challenges ahead.
That said, we are all looking forward with hope and enthusiasm – the theme speaks to so much that goes on within our school and will continue to do so.
It is no surprise that during the pandemic, for some children, their involvement in physical activity was reduced.
The proliferation of the use of digital devices, for all their worth, hasn’t helped either.
I am proud to say that our school has a long and rich tradition of providing a diverse and challenging outdoor education program for all students.
Sport and physical education are but two elements of this program.
Our award-winning sensory garden and community garden provide wonderful opportunities for our students to engage with nature in their learning.
Hands-on learning covers many areas of the curriculum in our school – be that in the practical activities associated with our numeracy and literacy programs or our radio program and performing and visual arts programs to name but a few.
Student voice, which we prefer to refer to as student agency at Berwick Lodge, has been a central focus of ours for many years.
This began with the implementation of student Learning Maps, the purpose of which was to enable students to identify their best learning styles and tools.
From this they developed their own learning goals and so things flowed.
As we move through 2023, our thirty fourth as a school, we celebrate the journey to today and the legacy our students are creating for those that follow with great pride.
Henry Grossek,
Principal
