On Monday we were able to welcome back our children from all the age groups across the school. This was truly a moment we had been waiting for in anticipation. As our staff were helping the children carry their full bags up the stairs, I felt overjoyed to see all their faces again in 3D! Many children told me how happy they were to be back in school, learning together with their friends and their teachers.
As before, our return to school was made as safe as possible by adhering strictly to our SOP’s in practice. For this I need to complement our students for their disciplined behaviour and thank our staff for the constant reminders and guidance they provide our children. On Tuesday an inspection team from the Ministry of Education visited the school and concluded that the school was meeting all the requirements that are in place to keep our children safe as much as possible. This confirmation was welcomed but we can assure you that we will remain vigilant for as long as it takes.
Returning to the learning in school, I’d like to share with you an exercise we completed with our primary faculty about two years ago. We asked our team to agree on one single line that would describe their motivation. Something that would express what they wish to dedicate themselves to. A number of great ideas came up and eventually they all agreed on a sentence that summed up just how they feel about their profession here at Taylor’s. Our primary faculty felt they all aim ‘TO INSPIRE, AND TO BE AN INSPIRED LEARNER’. Up till today, I still feel that this is a truly powerful statement that really expresses the sense I get when working with our driven teachers through the primary school.
The next question is obviously what is it that these inspired teachers wish to achieve for our learners when it comes to learning outcomes? For that, I would like to use the IPC (International Primary Curriculum) notion that we provide three kinds of learning.
First of all, we obviously have the academic, subject based learning where we wish to provide all students with as much relevant knowledge as possible, build their key skills as much as possible and help them to gain as much understanding as possible.
Secondly, we have personal learning where characteristics and traits get developed further and the children further develop their value system. For us, that’s where we talk about our RECIPE. We wish our children to be (even) more respectful when they leave our school. We wish for them to become fearless in striving for excellence. In this connected world, we also believe we need to help them to become strong communicators. The ‘I’ in RECIPE stands for ‘Integrity’ where we aspire our children to be guided by a strong sense of moral purpose. We also hope that the passion we have for learning is shared in such a way that we maintain and further grow the passion that our children have for learning. The last letter in RECIPE indicates that we wish for all of us to take individual responsibility for creating an enjoyable environment in which we can enjoy learning in abundance. We wish to expand from the RECIPE a bit further by also including the building of resilience in all of our students and further develop their leadership qualities.
The third kind of learning that the IPC identifies with is international learning. In this world, which is ever more internationally connected through technology, it is important to learn to work, learn and think as a global citizen. This is also something we strive to develop further in all of our children.
Reading through all of the above, it does feel like all of this sounds rather ambitious, However, we know that when we act like the joined-up community we are here at Taylor’s school, we can make this come true!
