POST-LOCKDOWN LEARNING
Back to the future, with a twist or two Classroom learning is being embraced again as schools evaluate lockdown strategies. BY KATE STANTON
T
hough it’s still unclear whether we’re living in a post-pandemic world, it’s safe to say that Victorian students are well into a school year that has remained relatively uninterrupted by COVID-19 concerns. So far, the general consensus is that educators, parents and students are grateful to be back at school.
“The feel from our St Leonard’s College community was one of excitement and relief,” says acting principal Pat Kenny. “The start of the year has been so positive, and it is just so lovely to see the smiling faces of our students, parents and teachers.” But now that schools have resumed normal service, are teachers incorporating any aspects of remote learning, such as flexibility and self-directed education, into their post-lockdown world? Wesley College principal Nick Evans says students and teachers were so “overwhelmingly” happy to return to the classroom that the school has focused on settling back into pre-
COVID learning structures, rather than testing hybrid models or alternative roles for teachers post-lockdown. “It’s a ‘new’ normal,” he says. “We are still processing the last two years, and we wouldn’t want to jump into anything too quickly.” Though the school hasn’t put anything formal in place yet, staff are “giving quite a lot of thought” to flexible learning
Think forward. Think Cornish.
models inspired by the pandemic, particularly for senior students. “I think the last two years have probably made many people a little jaded about self-directed learning,” Evans says. “But there were students who really appreciated that greater flexibility. “Of course, there were students for whom that didn’t work,” he adds. “So it’s a balancing act.”
2012–2022 C E L E B R AT I N G 1 0 Y E A R S
Forward-thinking education At Cornish College we believe education goes hand in hand with exploration. Our students are encouraged to identify problems and seek out solutions, to cultivate their entrepreneurial spirit and pioneer new ground.
Book a tour cornishcollege.vic.edu.au/school-tours For more information E: admissions@cornishcollege.vic.edu.au T: 9781 9008
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I N DEPE N DE N T SCHOOL S GU IDE 2022
