PREPARATORY SCHOOL
The voice
Too often in schools there is a voice missing from the process . Be it the program , classroom , rules or even school culture . We think that we value this voice … but do we really ? Do we really listen ?
This year in the Preparatory School we have begun in earnest to actively listen to this voice and to include it in our practices and procedures . We are fully recognising that young people ; our students , have a perspective on this school and the world that adults can ’ t always see , and that perspective is welcomed alongside the experience and wisdom that the adult perspective brings as well .
This year we have been looking into the positive impact of student voice and agency on our Preparatory School as we recognise the students ’ important role as stakeholders in their own learning . Class teachers have regularly asked for student input in decisions around academic and inquiry topics , rites and responsibilities , school culture , physical space and activities .
Classroom walls , once adorned with commercially produced posters chosen by the teacher , were mostly empty at the start of the year . Now they are full of information prepared by the students depicting their personal strengths , learning goals , rites and responsibilities and their own work . This sense of ownership and connection has an immediate and deeply positive impact on student learning . Students have been assessing the School and developing programs and ideas to create understanding and practice around such school issues as lost property , rubbish on campus , playground rules and our weekly assemblies . Their voice ; when talking about a student-led initiative has had an impact on all our students from Little Explorers to Year 6 . In doing so we are equipping our students with tools for lifelong success ... their ideas and their voice matter .
When curious teachers went to investigate they found a robust , hilarious and very talented group of students performing a range of activities .
We have had some epic failures along the way . Some ideas failed ; others never made it “ off the ground ” as the adults listened , but knew that the idea did not align with our School Purpose and Values . So , there will not be a “ Bring your Pet ( even your horse ) to School Day ” or a “ Pyjama Week ” or “ Lego Masters for a whole month ”.
At the end of Term 1 , four Year 5 students had planned a student talent show during morning tea and lunch every day . Two weeks before it was to start the Talent Show was in a shambles . No one had signed up , the communication about the event was sparse and not all that coherent . If this had been an adult run event , we would have cancelled it . We didn ’ t . The lesson was going to be that not all things work out and what do we learn from that ?
Fast forward to the final week of term ; what is that noise ? Why are all those students filling the outside amphitheatre and clapping madly ? When curious teachers went to investigate they found a robust , hilarious and very talented group of students performing a range of activities . It lasted the entire week and was a huge success . It is now part of every term and 100 % student organised and driven .
Recently the Perth Convention Centre hosted the National 2019 Learning Environment Australasia Transformance : Transforming the Learning Landscape Conference . In attendance were hundreds of school leaders , architects , designers , builders and two Guildford Grammar Preparatory School students and their teachers . They were met with surprise as they presented to the conference on how they , as students , had adapted and changed our learning spaces to suit their ( and their peers ) learning needs . Attendees couldn ’ t believe the confidence and poise our two girls ( Pippa Junk and Mikaela Hyman ) demonstrated . The teachers and I just looked bewildered and asked why they had never thought to get student voice into school design and classrooms at the conference ( the 19th such one held in Australia !).
These are just some of the many examples from our 3-year-olds to our leaders in Year 6 where students have shared their thoughts and turned them into action , learning , growth and an even better Preparatory School .
We want to prepare our students in the Preparatory School for a future where their voice matters , their opinions and thoughts matter as they will be the ones who challenge centuries of often archaic beliefs around schools , curriculum , work and life . They are our future ; we believe in their voices .
Mr Clark Wight Head of Preparatory School
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