Today the world is being challenged. Here at Nowra Anglican College we too are being asked to be resourceful and resilient as we face changes to our normal routines. The staff, students and parents have experienced a week full of learning, as we have adapted to a new platform for teaching.

We have witnessed:

• staff learning with and from each other through imitation and collaboration;
• the resilience of students as they persevere to learn through connection with teachers and peers in Canvas and Seesaw; and and we have seen 
• the flexibility of parents as they positively support their children as they learn remotely.

Our leadership team at the College has been very strategic, as they have distilled State and National educational directions to plan for the continued best learning for all our students. This process of continuous reflection and application of what’s working well, has allowed our students to keep learning the content of the curriculum and to grow themselves into powerful learners, able to adapt and flourish in an ever-changing world.

To adapt to remote learning, we have all been thrown deep down in the learning pit. James Nottingham used the Learning Pit analogy for taking on a challenge. We have all been forced out of our comfort zone and it has taken effort and resilience to adapt to a different mode for learning.

Cath Richardson, Head of English, felt she was deep down in the bottom of the learning pit when the current unprecedented situations required her to change the way she facilitated learning with her English classes.

“This has been the greatest challenge I have faced as a teacher, as it has forced me out of my comfort zone. I still had to teach but I had to do it differently. But through perseverance and support, I have learnt so many things, and so quickly, and my students are still learning and improving in English. I am now so excited about the potential for the future as I will apply my new skills continually to my teaching practice and make me an even better educator.”

We encourage all parents to support your children with remote learning and allow them to do the work, and make mistakes and learn from them. Encourage them to be resourceful and to search for answers from teachers and peers before you step in and do the learning for them. The students need to do the work and the teacher’s job is to support the students' learning. Students are still learning the same content and skills, they are just doing it in a different way. 

Remote learning does have it’s challenges, but like anything worthwhile, it provides a great platform for building and growing positive learning behaviours and attitudes in everyone. Enjoy the journey as we look after the wellbeing of everyone.

Mrs Therese Connor
Director of Teaching and Learning