The Foundations to Flourish
It has been an absolute delight to see our students’ smiling faces, listen to their laughter around the grounds and see them engage in rich learning experiences on campus this week at St Peters Springfield. This is especially the case for our Prep students and our new students, many to Year 7, who we welcome with open arms.
We commend all students on their efforts last week with At Home Learning – their ‘can do’ attitudes, adaptability and agility have shone through as they have connected with their teachers, their classmates and with their learning. We thank the teachers for their hard work in preparing the At Home Learning experience.
Our school would also like to thank you, our parents and caregivers, for the support you have provided to your children during At Home Learning. You have role modelled to your children the importance of facing new situations with confidence, perseverance and resilience. Through our partnership and collective efforts, we are certainly laying the foundations for our young people to flourish in 2022.
As we well know, the only predictable thing since 2020 seems to be unpredictability. Our children are without a doubt growing up in a world that is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous – what many business strategists refer to as a VUCA world. The pandemic is but one challenge that creates a VUCA world.
St Peters Springfield’s Strategic Intent Plus Ultra 2025 refers to our VUCA world. Our school’s vision is that, within, such a world, we “Provide a learning community where people flourish.”
A VUCA environment can be disruptive for all of us. So, the question is: how can we prepare our children to cope in a VUCA world and even flourish within it?
In reading an article from an organisation called MindTools, I came across the following strategies:
- Level VOLATILITY with VISION. Create a compelling vision of hope for our young people. With a clear focus on the most positive way forward, our children can respond more confidently to change.
- Face UNCERTAINTY with UNDERSTANDING. Be empathetic towards our children and encourage our children to be empathetic also; help our children to better understand issues so that they can anticipate, problem-solve and take advantage of new opportunities.
- Hone COMPLEXITY with CLARITY. Communicate clearly with your child and encourage them to do the same; when there is clear direction, you can work as a team to solve problems together.
- Temper AMBIGUITY with AGILITY. Encourage your child to be adaptable and flexible; encourage your child to question and inquire into uncertain situations and critically and creatively consider ways forward.
Reference: www.mindtools.com
source: microtool.de
If we wish to help our children to flourish in an unpredictable future, we need to focus on helping them flourish right now. Making purposeful choices today to shape our future selves is the best preparation for tomorrow. At St Peters, we will continue to create a place where our students feel valued and are seen and where they can develop hopeful visions for the future, deeper understandings, clear communication and agility. Through this, they can face current and future VUCA worlds that we cannot even imagine, with greater curiosity, creativity and confidence.
Our students have made a very positive start to school on campus this week. Over the coming weeks, St Peters will appreciate the support of every person in our community as we navigate the current phase of the pandemic and the government guidelines surrounding its management. We all need to do the right things to keep our community safe and work together to constantly adapt to the changing COVID-19 landscape. We ask for your full cooperation by following our school’s Caring for the Community and Managing COVID-19 at St Peters documents which have been sent to you last week and are on our COVID-19 Firefly page.
Our students flourish through the partnership that exists between you, our parents and caregivers, our children and our school. I ask that you work with your child to ensure they are ready to flourish this year. Talk with your child about their goals and aspirations and about striving to do their personal best in all they do at school and beyond; ensure that they are developing their organisation and effective routines for homework and study; and emphasise the importance of treating every person they encounter with care, dignity and respect.
I look forward to sharing the exciting strategic directions of St Peters Springfield in future articles. I wish you every blessing for the coming week.
Natalie Houston
Principal
