“I love nature. I love the great outdoors. I care deeply about our natural environment. I am blessed to work at a school that has 100 acres of natural parkland as part of its classroom.”
Deputy Principal, Nicola Forrest spoke with passion and conviction at the ‘leading learning + caring’ conference in Hobart run by the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia during April.
Promoting education for a sustainable future, she described our four Rings of Sustainability (personal, natural, social-cultural and urban-technological sustainability) and how they have become the lens through which we view curriculum at Cornish College. “The rings need to be in balance to represent a sustainable future” she explained.
Nicola challenged the audience of senior leaders to ask themselves “what are you educating for?” If we care deeply about our world and the young people in our schools, then we must be educating for more than a score. In 2017, 60% of undergraduate university offers were made on a basis other than the ATAR. “Such measures of success are useful and necessary, but I think we would all rather see our students represented as more than a number.”
Nicola referred to research that explains that for a student to gain a deep understanding, they require dynamic learning experiences and opportunities to apply their studies to real-life contexts, something that we encourage here through units of inquiry and the Make a Difference philosophy.
The Leading, Learning + Caring Conference, presented by the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia is a program for the senior, curriculum and pastoral care leaders at Australian independent schools for professional and personal exchange.
